Although 213 people have given ratings to Thackeray’s Newcomes on Goodreads and 14 people have written reviews, I haven’t met anybody who has even heard of the book let alone read it. I’ve now read all 801 pages and enjoyed the novel, but I understand why it is largely forgotten. It is horribly over

For the life of me, I don’t know why I seldom hear of this novel. Even from fans of “Vanity Fair,” and fans of Victorian literature.

It contains nearly everything I could want from such literature. A duel. A Christmas miracle. A formidable young lady. The East India Company. Aspiring painters & writ

Ever since I read "Vanity Fair" in college I thought that Thackery was one of the most brilliant novelists in British history. "The Newcomes" displays the author's exceptional talent in a number of its episodes, but the gaping hole in this book is the hero, who is a dull, mopey, and in many regards

This is a real 19th-century potboiler with few literary pretensions - and I mean that in a good way. I ended up reading most of it in large chunks because I couldn't bring myself to put it down.

The flavour of the writing reminded me strongly of "Vanity Fair", which turned out not to be a surprise be

I didn't enjoy this as much as Thackeray's Vanity Fair, and I can understand why it's not read too much today (despite being very popular until about 100 years ago). While there are moments of both sly humor and true pathos to pull you in, it's not the kind of story that transcends its time. For exa

[2023]: Finished rereading this while I had COVID (bad fever, aches, tiny bit of delirium) and that is not a position you want to be in if you're going to withstand the sentiment and emotion in one of the greatest and most Victorian Victorian novels. Colonel Newcome, man.

[2016]: The Pendennises are