Evelina: Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Frances Burney

 

Title:  Evelina: Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World

Author:  Frances Burney

Narrated by:  Orson Scott Card, Emily Rankin, Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle de Cuir

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Length: Approximately 18 hours and 16 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

What is the oldest published book you’ve read (not counting the Bible)?  Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (published in 1748) is one of the oldest I’ve read, besides the Iliad and the Odyssey.  But do the Iliad and Odyssey count?

Evelina Anville has left her secluded county home to visit London for the first time. While there, she discovers there is a lot she doesn’t know about proper behavior at dances and in society.  She also finds she has feelings for the handsome and very nice Lord Orville, but she is also pursued by others she finds despicable such as Sir Clement Willoughby.

Evelina has a tragic past as her mother married Sir John Belmont who then cast her pregnant mother off when they returned to England.  She has been raised by Reverand Aurthur Villars per her mother’s request.  Will Evelina ever get her birthright and be recognized by her father?  Will she find love?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This novel was the JASNA Northwoods read for January.  The book club enjoyed it, and it prompted a good discussion.

·       This novel was published in 1778 and was a best seller.

·       It is an epistolatory novel, or a novel written as letters.

·       It is a true comedy of manners novel.  It was interesting how Evelina tried to navigate the social rules in London.  I was confused on why no one taught her these rules and left her on her own to figure it out.

·       I think we all feel like Evelina at times, trying to figure out how to not dance with the creepy guy.

·       This novel had romance, comedy, and some melodrama.  It was a “sentimental” novel at times, but it really shone more in the everyday exchanges.

·       Evelina meets her Grandma (mother’s mother), Madame Duvall, who was over the top with her behavior.

·       The characters in this novel were real-world three-dimensional characters with real problems, especially Evelina.  This is in stark contract to other 18^th century authors such as Samuel Richardson and his novel Pamela.  Pamela is more discussed and exalted in our modern age, but I felt it was an inferior book with cardboard characters and slapstick situations.

·       Evelina by Frances Burney was one of Jane Austen’s favorite novels and our book club first read about it in Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney.  We are hoping to read more of the books mentioned in Romney’s intriguing nonfiction investigation the books that Austen read.

·       I felt like I could see inspirations for Austen in this novel including a villain named Willoughby, eccentric relations, a young girl going to the big city for the first time, etc.

·       I enjoyed this book and would like to read more by the author.

·       The audiobook was great with a different narrator matching the author of the letters, typically letters between Evelina and Rv. Villars.  I did get confused about the different characters at times and had to stop and look them up.

·       There was a great note at the end of Orson Scott Card read by the author himself.  He described his love and admiration for Jane Austen and how that led him to Fanny Burney and Evelina as Burney was Austen’s favorite author.  He said she wrote the best epistolary novel he had ever read.  One that read like real letters with an authentic voice.  He said it is too bad Burney isn’t read on her own merits as she is an excellent author who deserves to be remembered.

Overall, Evelina by Frances Burney is a classic that deserves to be remembered.  If you enjoy Jane Austen’s novel, I highly recommend reading Evelina by Frances Burney.