A Simple Story (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Elizabeth Inchbald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1997 | Series: Penguin Classics

A Simple Story by the actress, playwright and novelist Elizabeth Inchbald has remained enduringly popular and almost continuously in print since its first publication in 1791.

In scenes charged with understated erotic tension it tells the stories of the flirtatious Miss Milner who falls in love with her guardian, a Roman Catholic priest and aristocrat, and of their daughter Matilda who, banished from her father's sight, craves his love.

In her use of dramatic methods—expressive gestures, delayed revelations and economical dialogues—to present these two versions of the same power-struggle between an older father-lover figure and a young girl, Inchbald achieves a psychological intensity and subtlety of characterization rarely found in other late eighteenth-century novelists.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'well worth reading, standing as it does at a watershed of the English novel' University of Edinburgh Journal

'A charming marginally pre-Austen tale' Shirley de Kock, Southern Africa Cape Times

'Excellent choice of reprint' I. A. Bell, Aberystwyth

'Excellent text, well edited.' Henry Merritt, C.C.A.T.

'this 1792 novel deserves its place for its charm, its readability and as an early expression of the need for women to have a reasonable education' David Holloway, Sunday Telegraph --David Holloway, Sunday Telegraph --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

After its publication in early 1791, A Simple Story was widely read in England and abroad, going into a second edition in March of the same year. The novel's young heroine, Miss Milner, scandalously declares herself in love with her guardian, Dorriforth, a Catholic priest. Dorriforth returns her love and is released from his vows. Though the pair go on to marry, the second half of the novel reveals the disastrous and far-reaching consequences of Miss Milner's subsequent adulterous affair. The critical introduction to this Broadview edition considers such issues as Catholicism, theatricality, the theatre, and the masquerade, while the appendices provide a wide selection of cultural, biographical, and literary contexts for the novel. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140434739
• ISBN-13: 978-0140434736
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,828,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book of its time, fine characterization and insight, September 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Simple Story (World's Classics) (Paperback)

This is no "Gone With the Wind" -- everybody gets what they deserve, according to the strictest moral code, and some get it with interest.

However, Inchbald excels at characterization -- she unites vanity and passion in one character, and still has a believable personality to show the reader -- and she can show a character in change, without losing the character's integrity. Although the tragedy she creates has a moral "told you so" aspect hard for modern readers to take, it also has the pathetic grandeur of the great tragedies -- small, pointless faults and actions which lead to irreversible pain. The humanity of Inchbald's insight is what makes this book one of my favorites among the 18th century women writers.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellently written novel, May 12, 2002

By 

[e-mail] (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Simple Story (World's Classics) (Paperback)

Inchbald has a great talent with words. This books is insightful, provocative and dramatic. Inchbald talks about love with such candidness and frankness that while your reading you can't help but feel an overflowing of emotions toward the main characters. Very satisfying ending the tidies up all the problems throughout the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Novel by Mrs. Inchbald, January 8, 2012

By 

CT - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Simple Story (Kindle Edition)

Those who like Austen, Edgeworth, and Burney will enjoy this novel by Mrs. Inchbald. The primary characters of Mr. Dorriforth and Miss Milner are written with such humanity and honesty rather than cliched caricatures. (Warning: spoiler alert) Of particular notice is Inchbald's treatment of the adulterous or "fallen" wife. It is quite different than the other portayals given in other 17th and early 18th century novels. Inchbald makes neither a villainess nor a martyr out of Miss Milner (Lady Elmwood), but shows her as a victim of being brought up to be selfish and spoiled. The reader finds themselves rooting for Miss Milner's reform due to her many good qualities and her sincere and ardent love for her husband. You find yourself alternately pitying her and being disgusted by her. Yet the image of her that is left is that of a true penitent. Dorriforth's weakneses are explored as well and his transformation into an unmerciful tyrant as a result of her betrayal is an interesting plot twist of Inchbald's. By the end of the novel, Mrs. Incbald succeeds in convincing her reader to lament the spoiled and indulged upbringing of Miss Milner and to ponder what could have been if she had been raised differently.