Hah, what a lovely little book this is. What a lovely, deliciously ridiculous book this is. Seriously, it’s a romp.
From the title itself, you can discern that it involves some kind of delusional mis-adventurer. Quite right, as the story revolves around the life-story of the Lady Arabella, who is as beautiful as she is intelligent, graceful and kind-hearted. It is a pity that, with all her admirable traits, she is possessed with a mind too swayed by the romances stocked in her library.
In this book, you will see the beautiful lady think that each man she meets has an intention to carry her away, while each woman she beholds has a sob story about a passionate lover or two. She is almost too silly in thinking that the world is still full of the antiquated notions of unregulated passions and murderous violence, but still she is much charming in her pleasant speeches and very elegant grace.
It was somewhat pleasant to hear of her tales, but it was rather sad to see how such an accomplished lady could have such notions of love. I felt quite sorry for her zealous lover for keeping his stead. I laughed with much zest at the story of a man who, wanting to woo the lady by his mastery of the romantic stories of then, saw that his plans backfired on him. I was rather glad at seeing that there were some understanding personalities who tried to help Arabella see reason. (The Countess is just so lovely!)
My only complaint: The climax was very near the end, and the ending seemed rather rushed :/ While I was happy about how it ended, I felt that it would have been nice to see all the rich niceties there.
Delightful, humorous, and with such engaging story-telling. A very happy read for me 😀
[Notes: Randomly picked… Arabella’s just so oblivious and unconscious, it’s simply delicious reading of her “adventures”. SRSLY.]
The Female Quixote: Or the Adventures of Arabella by Charlotte Lennox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
