Excursion-Pa

by Frances Brooke

Book Overview

" Written for the audience it portrays, The Excursion introduces the heroine, Maria Villiers, to London's ""gentle"" society and its glittering pastimes. For her novel's overarching plot structure, Brooke drew upon the English courtship novel in the tradition of Eliza Haywood, Henry Fielding, and Frances Burney. But instead of concentrating on Maria's romantic adventures, she experiments with unusual treatments of subplots and unconventional characters. This is one of the few portraits of a woma

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813108810
• ISBN13: 9780813108810
• Release Date: December 1996
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Brooke's novel is a delight for eighteenth-century fans.

Frances Brooke is one of the many witty and engaging eighteenth-century women writers who have long languished in the shadow of Jane Austen. This new edition of her novel offers a well-deserved opportunity for Brooke to steal some of the spotlight back from the illustrious Austen. Her heroine, Maria Villiers, will delight literary readers with her naive ambition to win fame and glory as a dramatist and author in the London market. Maria's adventures in the city, her near misadventures with seduction, and her blossoming romance with the "brave, generous, sincere" Colonel Herbert are all sure to amuse readers who have long enjoyed Austen's works, and the introduction provided by this edition offers an excellent sense of the context in which readers should view the author and her work. The Excursion is a great, quick, fascinating read!