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nocowardsoul) wrote2018-01-06 07:08 pm
nocowardsoul) wrote2018-01-06 07:08 pm
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Alcott Readathon 2018: The Inheritance
LMA wrote The Inheritance in 1849 when she was 16/17. Joel Myerson and Daniel Shealy found it among the Alcott papers in Harvard's Houghton Library as described in this article. It was published for the first time in 1997, two years after A Long Fatal Love Chase. A movie came out the same year, starring Cari Shayne and Thomas Gibson (Dharma and Greg/Criminal Minds). Another movie came out in 2013. I've only seen the first but they're both better than this tedious book.
Chapter 1
Lord Percy arrives to visit his friend Arthur. Arthur tells his sister amy, his cousin Ida, and his mother Lady Hamilton that Percy fell in love with his cousin, but he heard his brother say her name in his sleep and Angelica Schuyler-like, left them to be happy together until they both died. Percy is "devoted to his aged mother" and "admired for the generous deeds he has done and the blameless life he has led." Edith is also in the room, sitting with tears in her eyes. Percy comes in and wants to visit the estate's ruined chapel. Lady H and Edith stay behind. Percy hears Edith playing organ and singing and Arthur explains Edith is an orphan the dead Lord Hamilton "brought home from Italy when but a child." She teaches Amy music, painting, and Italian. Edith's exact age is never given, while Amy is sixteen.
Chapter 2
Descriptions of the character's personalities.
Chapter 3
Edith plays the harp for them. Lady H reminds Amy that her governess shoudn't socialize with her friends. Amy's like why not? Ida likes Percy but frowns because he bows too low to Edith. We learn that Edith's mom was an opera singer, Ida suggests this might not be true, and Arthur's like HDU. It's a love triangle!
Chapter 4
They explore the grounds. Ida claims Amy "is like an uncaged bird when in the woods." In some ways, like having a perfectly happy life, Amy does resemble LW!Amy. Edith seldom sees such beautiful nature. Lord Percy thinks about how few joys she gets, and how she looks even prettier when happy. Ida leaves Edith out of her sketch, claiming her standing by a tree is "all affection." Arthur like's HDU accuse Edith of affections.
They hear a screan and oh noes, Amy is hanging off a cliff! Arthur wrings his hands, quite literally. Edith says she'll save Amy, the men protest, Edith says nobody will grieve for her, poor sad Italian orphan. She uses her scarf to pull Amy up. Ida blames Edith for leaving amy, Amy says it's her fault for trying to get a flower. Edith is sad at losing her mom's scarf and Percy fetches it and she cries happy tears. Lady H declares that she is no longer a governess but part of the family. Ida is mad.
Chapter 5
Edith hurt her arm last chapter and Amy nurses her. Lord Arlington and his mom arrive for Amy's birthday. Arlington asks who the lovely girl is. Ida says the gardener's daughter and once again everyone babbles about what a good pure beautiful talented noble soul Edith is. All the fauning over her is so annoying that I'm starting to sympathize with Ida. Ida refuses to sketch Edith weaving flower wreaths so Percy does it. Arlington is a spoiled selfish young man, "tired of the pleasures he had once enjoyed," a character note that we'll see in future books. He's hot for Edith. It's a love square!
Chapter 6
Amy's seventeenth. Percy danes with Edith three times. Ida gives her a friendly reminder that lowborn girls shoudn't be too bold. Edith cries why do you hate me? Ida says she is blocking her happiness. Edith says she'll avoid the guests if Ida will be her friend. While rowing on the lake Percy asks Edith if she would like to be companion to his mom, but she won't leave Amy.
Chapter 7
Edith visits Theresa, a sick woman whose teenage son is a servant at the Hamilton's. Turns out Percy has also paid her visits because he's a perfect guy.
They go riding. Arlington wants to help Edith mount but she does it alone, which I find impressive. Edith refuses to whip her horse so Ida whips him. He rushess forward and jumps a high wall. Everyone compliments her on being such a fearless rider. I am so glad this book is short. I couldn't endure 300 pages of this.
Chapter 8
Louis, the servant boy, fetches Edith to nurse a sick man found by the roadside. Mystery dude asks who her parents were, and she gives her name and history. He claims that he "cannot tell the sinful tale with eyes so like your injured father's looking on me." Edith isn't the least bit genre-savvy - her reaction is to assume the man is disoriented instead of realizing she's the long-lost heir to a fortune. It is a truth universally acknowledged that beautiful noble-hearted orphans are long-lost heir.
Chapter 9
For the final night of Arlington's visit the gang gets up some tableaux. First Edith as Rebecca at the stake and Arlington as the Templar. Then Amy's cousin Mary and Arthur as Elizabeth and Raleigh putting his cloak over the puddle. Then Edith as Joan of Arc, and Percy and Edith as Pygmalion and Galatea. Edith refuses to waltz with Arlington and when he says she'd waltz with Percy she responds that he would never ask her to.
Arthur gossips about how Miss Grey, a pastor's daughter, refused Lord Hungerford's heart. Edith says she did the right thing - she wouldn't fit in with his society and it would embarrass him. Percy laments that he wasn't born a peasant.
Edith catches Louis stealing money from Lady H's desk to give to his mother.. She tells him not to do that.
Chapter 10
Edith visits Theresa, who says Louis doesn't bring her money. Arlington proposes to Edith and gets turned down. "You shall learn to fear me if you will not love," he says and Percy show up all HDU threaten her! Edith drops her handkerchief and Percy picks it up, anticipating John Brooke. Edith doesn't appear at breakfast and Arlington feels guilty for upsetting her.
Chapter 11
"Weeks had rolled away. Summer was deepening into autumn" and is it over yet I feel like Mark Oshiro reading Twilight. Heck, Twilight has less boring character than this.
Edith receives a package from the man from Chapter 8. It contains a locket with pictures of her parents and papers. Lord Hamilton's elder brother secretly married an Italian woman and had a daughter. He died abroad and left his servant the locket and his will, but the servant, angry at his master, failed to deliver them to the widow. Later he felt guilty and searched for the daughter. OMG Edith is Amy's cousin!
Edith is happy at first before she realizes that her inheritance is Arthur's money. She decides not to tell. Louis, who has spied on her in return for her watching him, steals a paper from her desk. When she returns to her room she burns the rest "with a silent prayer that she might prove worthy of her parents' love." WTF, lady, you can't get more angelic than you already are.
Chapter 12
Percy asks Amy and Arthur why Edith looks at their uncle's picture with tears in her eyes. They say he looks like Lord Hamilton and Percy's says am I crazy or does he kinda resemble Edith?
There are bank notes missing from Lady H's desk. Ida says WHO COULD HAVE DONE THAT and her aunt's like HDU accuse Edith! Ida looks in Amy's drawing box and finds the notes. Amy cries. When Edith returns from Theresa's deathbed she cries and protests. She explains that her money is from selling her paintings, and Percy proves it by fetching them. Yeah, he secretly bought her art from a dealer, how romantical. But who stole the notes? asks Lady H. Edith ~promised~ not to tell, so Lady H gives her til the next sunset to give in.
Chapter 13
The next morning, everyone but Ida is super sad that Edith stays in her room, presumably with tears in her eyes. Louis arrives and confessed that he stole money to pay for his gambling and that he saw Ida take the notes to frame Edith. He also returns Edith's paper. Lady H reads it and OMG Edith is her niece!
Chapter 14
"Sunset came, and all save Lady Ida assembled in the drawing room." Lady H presents the will to Edith, saying they know everything. Edith rips it up, hoping that her ~noble sacrifice~ makes her worthy of calling Lady H mother. Of course it does!
Ida cries alone. Edith appears and hugs her. "The past in all forgotten and forgiven. We are cousins. Now let us be friends."
Chapter 15
Percy confesses his love to Edith, who responds "I can bring you nothing but a grateful heart." Percy: "Oh, Edith! I need no richer dowry than the love of such a heart. And though I take you without earthly wealth, still in the tender reverence and fadeless gratitude of those you bless, surely, dearest, you have won a nobler Inheritance." The End and good riddance.
I give LMA credit for completing a novel so young. But it's dull and derivative and Edith is so angelically perfect. To be fair, angelic heroines were popular then and if you want to make a living by art then sometimes you have to appeal to what's popular. We'll see some elements in The Inheritance again - hot Italians, repentant sinners, tableaux vivants, and a dude's worth shown by being good to his mother.
Next up is Hospital Sketches, which is much better. Go read it.
Chapter 1
Lord Percy arrives to visit his friend Arthur. Arthur tells his sister amy, his cousin Ida, and his mother Lady Hamilton that Percy fell in love with his cousin, but he heard his brother say her name in his sleep and Angelica Schuyler-like, left them to be happy together until they both died. Percy is "devoted to his aged mother" and "admired for the generous deeds he has done and the blameless life he has led." Edith is also in the room, sitting with tears in her eyes. Percy comes in and wants to visit the estate's ruined chapel. Lady H and Edith stay behind. Percy hears Edith playing organ and singing and Arthur explains Edith is an orphan the dead Lord Hamilton "brought home from Italy when but a child." She teaches Amy music, painting, and Italian. Edith's exact age is never given, while Amy is sixteen.
Chapter 2
Descriptions of the character's personalities.
Chapter 3
Edith plays the harp for them. Lady H reminds Amy that her governess shoudn't socialize with her friends. Amy's like why not? Ida likes Percy but frowns because he bows too low to Edith. We learn that Edith's mom was an opera singer, Ida suggests this might not be true, and Arthur's like HDU. It's a love triangle!
Chapter 4
They explore the grounds. Ida claims Amy "is like an uncaged bird when in the woods." In some ways, like having a perfectly happy life, Amy does resemble LW!Amy. Edith seldom sees such beautiful nature. Lord Percy thinks about how few joys she gets, and how she looks even prettier when happy. Ida leaves Edith out of her sketch, claiming her standing by a tree is "all affection." Arthur like's HDU accuse Edith of affections.
They hear a screan and oh noes, Amy is hanging off a cliff! Arthur wrings his hands, quite literally. Edith says she'll save Amy, the men protest, Edith says nobody will grieve for her, poor sad Italian orphan. She uses her scarf to pull Amy up. Ida blames Edith for leaving amy, Amy says it's her fault for trying to get a flower. Edith is sad at losing her mom's scarf and Percy fetches it and she cries happy tears. Lady H declares that she is no longer a governess but part of the family. Ida is mad.
Chapter 5
Edith hurt her arm last chapter and Amy nurses her. Lord Arlington and his mom arrive for Amy's birthday. Arlington asks who the lovely girl is. Ida says the gardener's daughter and once again everyone babbles about what a good pure beautiful talented noble soul Edith is. All the fauning over her is so annoying that I'm starting to sympathize with Ida. Ida refuses to sketch Edith weaving flower wreaths so Percy does it. Arlington is a spoiled selfish young man, "tired of the pleasures he had once enjoyed," a character note that we'll see in future books. He's hot for Edith. It's a love square!
Chapter 6
Amy's seventeenth. Percy danes with Edith three times. Ida gives her a friendly reminder that lowborn girls shoudn't be too bold. Edith cries why do you hate me? Ida says she is blocking her happiness. Edith says she'll avoid the guests if Ida will be her friend. While rowing on the lake Percy asks Edith if she would like to be companion to his mom, but she won't leave Amy.
Chapter 7
Edith visits Theresa, a sick woman whose teenage son is a servant at the Hamilton's. Turns out Percy has also paid her visits because he's a perfect guy.
They go riding. Arlington wants to help Edith mount but she does it alone, which I find impressive. Edith refuses to whip her horse so Ida whips him. He rushess forward and jumps a high wall. Everyone compliments her on being such a fearless rider. I am so glad this book is short. I couldn't endure 300 pages of this.
Chapter 8
Louis, the servant boy, fetches Edith to nurse a sick man found by the roadside. Mystery dude asks who her parents were, and she gives her name and history. He claims that he "cannot tell the sinful tale with eyes so like your injured father's looking on me." Edith isn't the least bit genre-savvy - her reaction is to assume the man is disoriented instead of realizing she's the long-lost heir to a fortune. It is a truth universally acknowledged that beautiful noble-hearted orphans are long-lost heir.
Chapter 9
For the final night of Arlington's visit the gang gets up some tableaux. First Edith as Rebecca at the stake and Arlington as the Templar. Then Amy's cousin Mary and Arthur as Elizabeth and Raleigh putting his cloak over the puddle. Then Edith as Joan of Arc, and Percy and Edith as Pygmalion and Galatea. Edith refuses to waltz with Arlington and when he says she'd waltz with Percy she responds that he would never ask her to.
Arthur gossips about how Miss Grey, a pastor's daughter, refused Lord Hungerford's heart. Edith says she did the right thing - she wouldn't fit in with his society and it would embarrass him. Percy laments that he wasn't born a peasant.
Edith catches Louis stealing money from Lady H's desk to give to his mother.. She tells him not to do that.
Chapter 10
Edith visits Theresa, who says Louis doesn't bring her money. Arlington proposes to Edith and gets turned down. "You shall learn to fear me if you will not love," he says and Percy show up all HDU threaten her! Edith drops her handkerchief and Percy picks it up, anticipating John Brooke. Edith doesn't appear at breakfast and Arlington feels guilty for upsetting her.
Chapter 11
"Weeks had rolled away. Summer was deepening into autumn" and is it over yet I feel like Mark Oshiro reading Twilight. Heck, Twilight has less boring character than this.
Edith receives a package from the man from Chapter 8. It contains a locket with pictures of her parents and papers. Lord Hamilton's elder brother secretly married an Italian woman and had a daughter. He died abroad and left his servant the locket and his will, but the servant, angry at his master, failed to deliver them to the widow. Later he felt guilty and searched for the daughter. OMG Edith is Amy's cousin!
Edith is happy at first before she realizes that her inheritance is Arthur's money. She decides not to tell. Louis, who has spied on her in return for her watching him, steals a paper from her desk. When she returns to her room she burns the rest "with a silent prayer that she might prove worthy of her parents' love." WTF, lady, you can't get more angelic than you already are.
Chapter 12
Percy asks Amy and Arthur why Edith looks at their uncle's picture with tears in her eyes. They say he looks like Lord Hamilton and Percy's says am I crazy or does he kinda resemble Edith?
There are bank notes missing from Lady H's desk. Ida says WHO COULD HAVE DONE THAT and her aunt's like HDU accuse Edith! Ida looks in Amy's drawing box and finds the notes. Amy cries. When Edith returns from Theresa's deathbed she cries and protests. She explains that her money is from selling her paintings, and Percy proves it by fetching them. Yeah, he secretly bought her art from a dealer, how romantical. But who stole the notes? asks Lady H. Edith ~promised~ not to tell, so Lady H gives her til the next sunset to give in.
Chapter 13
The next morning, everyone but Ida is super sad that Edith stays in her room, presumably with tears in her eyes. Louis arrives and confessed that he stole money to pay for his gambling and that he saw Ida take the notes to frame Edith. He also returns Edith's paper. Lady H reads it and OMG Edith is her niece!
Chapter 14
"Sunset came, and all save Lady Ida assembled in the drawing room." Lady H presents the will to Edith, saying they know everything. Edith rips it up, hoping that her ~noble sacrifice~ makes her worthy of calling Lady H mother. Of course it does!
Ida cries alone. Edith appears and hugs her. "The past in all forgotten and forgiven. We are cousins. Now let us be friends."
Chapter 15
Percy confesses his love to Edith, who responds "I can bring you nothing but a grateful heart." Percy: "Oh, Edith! I need no richer dowry than the love of such a heart. And though I take you without earthly wealth, still in the tender reverence and fadeless gratitude of those you bless, surely, dearest, you have won a nobler Inheritance." The End and good riddance.
I give LMA credit for completing a novel so young. But it's dull and derivative and Edith is so angelically perfect. To be fair, angelic heroines were popular then and if you want to make a living by art then sometimes you have to appeal to what's popular. We'll see some elements in The Inheritance again - hot Italians, repentant sinners, tableaux vivants, and a dude's worth shown by being good to his mother.
Next up is Hospital Sketches, which is much better. Go read it.