The shuttle Frances Hodgson Burnett 9781176350199 Books
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The shuttle Frances Hodgson Burnett 9781176350199 Books
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Tags : The shuttle [Frances Hodgson Burnett] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages,Frances Hodgson Burnett,The shuttle,Nabu Press,1176350196,General,History,History General,Literature - Classics Criticism
The shuttle Frances Hodgson Burnett 9781176350199 Books Reviews
Only for those who love the English language in all it's splendor. Old fashion romance with a bit of social commentary thrown in for flavor, and the whole to be savored as you would a well aged bottle of fine brandy.
Good Story, interesting characters, a little predictable but a good read. I think the character development was the strongest positive.
I prefer Burnett's Little Princess and Secret Garden, but this is a treasure of itself. Though apparently written for a more mature audience, it does have the unique twists and turns Burnett often uses, and the characters are well-developed, people I would love to meet (for the most part).
This book is surprisingly timely for a book published over one hundred years ago. The story deals with spousal abuse and the ways in which abuser convince the abused they are worthless. It is not all gloom and doom, either. There are some good examples of family members helping the abuse victim restore her life.
The book was first published in 1907, at a time when an estimated more than five hundred American women had married titled foreigners and some $220 million had gone with them to Europe. That money was badly needed, and used to renovate many a great house. This makes for a realistic background of the story, which centers around Bettina Vanderpoel, the beautiful, kind and intelligent daughter of an American multi-millionaire.
Her sister Rosalie, several years her senior, married Sir Nigel Anstruthers when Bettina was but a child. Right after the marriage, Rosalie finds out that her husband was ever only after her money, and when law restricts his access to that money, his plan of making his wife succumb to his authority includes cutting her off almost entirely from all contact with her own family. Rosalie's life turns into a miserable existence; she is not strong and intelligent enough to confront Nigel, and her family hear nothing from her for a long time.
Twelve years later, Bettina is old enough to finally put her plan into action she had been suspecting from the start that Nigel was not going to be good to her older sister, and that her silence meant something bad was going on. She decided back then that one day she would find Rosalie and rescue her, and that she does.
How she does it, how she manages to turn not only Rosalie's life around but also that of the entire village where the Anstruthers have been ruling for centuries, and in the process, her own life as well, is described in much detail. It is mostly credible; the psychological war between Bettina and her brother-in-law; all that managing a great house with its vast gardens and village entails; the way others react to the changes made there; how she comes very close to almost losing not only the love of her life but even her own life - all that and much more is in this book, which was a delightful read, full of suspense (especially towards the end), and written in an elegant, descriptive style I very much enjoyed.
If there is one negative thing to say about the story, it is that the characters are so black and white. There is not one good molecule in all of Nigel Anstruthers, and not one shadow of a less-than-perfectly good trace in Bettina's character. Real people are not like that, but this did not take away my pleasure of reading this book, since the story in itself was credible enough.
It seems that American-British relationships are a recurring theme with Mrs. Burnett, who herself travelled back and forth between the two countries more than 30 times.
Artistically written, this allegory gave me new insight into Frances Hodgson Burnett, as a writer and a person. This gifted
author should be more widely read in our time!!! She brings hope and goodness from her time to ours!!!
5 stars for the plot. 3 stars for the needless droning on of inner thought, family histories... Betty is an amazingly mature, self-contolled young woman. Mount Dunstan is the typical Hollywood hero tall, muscular, handsome, prideful, honorable, hard working, introspective and a bit morose. Sir Nigel is thoroughly distasteful, inhumane, cruel, and evil. Rosalie, Betty's older sister is goodness, frailty, and femininity as is Melanie in Gone With the Wind. Overall a good story, just too long.
Absolutely loved this book. As a Downton Abbey devotee (never missed an episode), one tends to think that all or most of the marriages of titled English lords to American heiresses in the late 19th century were loving and successful. The Shuttle shows us the other side. A sweet young timid American heiress marries an English baronet in need of money, who is an abusive, controlling, cruel brute. Thousands of miles from her family and prevented from communicating with them, she is forced to live in a country house that is falling apart while her husband spends her money in London or on the continent with other women. Things change when her younger sister comes to pay her a visit and works to free her from the prison of her surroundings and her fragile emotions.
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