Between brother and sister they conspire to convince their parents that Clarissa should marry the hideous Mr Solmes when Clarissa refuses she finds herself in isolation with her whole family turned against her and her only means of communication with the outside world being the letters to her friends, sent by means of secret delivery. Sister Bella is not happy with this and joins forces with spoilt, selfish brother James who is displeased that Clarissa has been left independent property by their grandfather - property that would normally have gone to him. So far, Mr Lovelace has been introduced to Clarissa's sister when really he meant to be introduced to Clarissa he therefore turns the sister down and turns his addresses to Clarissa, who is not interested. Lot of letters between friends - could have said as much in less but there you go! I found out on Wikipedia that the original audience was unhappy as a whole with how Richardson finished the novel, so he felt that they didn't really 'get' it correctly. I will continue a bit more, but may not finish the whole thing, we'll see.

But I still found several very excellent quotes to underline, and I was intrigued by the basic plot and writing style. Half of the conversation and action could have been cut out, since it was all extremely repetitive, and upsettingly abusive in an emotionally manipulative way for the heroine Clarissa.

Well, I'm not sure I want to wade through more. AND apparently it's going to end tragically. I thought for sure that this free copy was simply mislabeled on the title but nope, looked it up today and it's over 1,500 pages-the longest or one of the longest English novels ever written. Wowzers, I had no idea how long this novel was when I read this volume. #LitLife2for22 Favorite Author of Your Favorite Author I'm hoping it gets better, but I'm a good way into the second volume and not much has changed. In usual Richardson style, the story is presented in a series of letters written by Clarissa and various other characters - it's a bit of a tedious format for a book this long.

Lovelace, only to inexplicably change her mind after he accosts her in the garden. Solmes hovers on the edges of the plot and wrings his hands while he waits for the family to prevail in convincing Clarissa to marry him.įor the first two-thirds of the volume, Clarissa insists she has no interest in Mr. Lovelace lurks in the shadows and plots how he can conquer Clarissa, although her family despises him since he tried to kill her brother in a duel. Various family members: 'Why must you be so obstinate and spoiled? You're locked in the house until you learn to obey.' Here is a quick synopsis of nearly 200 pages:Ĭlarissa (with the back of her hand pressed to her forehead in classically melodramatic style): 'I shant! I shant marry Mr.

The history of clarissa harlowe