This Victorian novel really is a baggy monster, meandering around all over the place, with a lot of different stories which don't really fit together. Some parts are gripping, especially a courtroom drama in the third volume, but other sections drag, and there is a lot of sermonising. Really one for

I like Mrs Wood's sensation novels but this was one of her more domestic novels and a vehicle for her own somewhat simplistic philosophy of life (an unquestioning trust in God will overcome all obstacles and hard work will always be rewarded in the end). It is quite readable and the good solid God-f

Mrs Henry Wood ha scritto più di trenta romanzi, lungo un arco di tempo che ha coperto la seconda metà dell'ottocento: non c'era da aspettarsi che potessero essere tutti avvincenti come 'East Lynne', e di certo questo non lo era. Mrs Alliburton, i cui lutti e i cui problemi occupano gran parte delle