'Evelina' by Frances Burney

Genre: Classics/Romance

I have to start this review by saying: WOW. I was pleasantly surprised by ‘Evelina’ by Frances Burney, as I have never read any of her works before, and if truth be told it was the first time I had even heard her name, and I was not sure what to expect, but this novel has quickly become one of my favourites.

The main character Evelina is stunningly charming with her witty observations of the people of London and its culture, and simply her pure innocence and friendliness made her a very likeable character.

Much like Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’, I loved the letter format of the book; what I enjoy so much about telling a narrative through letters is that you get a sense of the characters through not only the way they write, but how long long their letters are and how frequently they write. I did find myself laughing at how Evelina’s letters would last for pages upon pages, and then her guardian’s, Rev. Villars, letters would be comically short in comparison. I find it so endearing to have a sense of character’s personalities through their letters.

It seems a common theme with most classics I have reviewed so far, that the beginning is always a bit confusing. Although I truly enjoyed this novel the beginning did leave me a bit confused, with the affairs, marriages, death, and adoptions, it was all a bit much to take in at the very start. However, the book as a whole made up for this, and the plot twists at the end made for all the more drama, which I personally loved!

My only critique is that sometimes Evelina’s letters would drag from her detailing word for word what characters had said, with some male characters talking about obscenely boring topics, I sometimes wondered how on earth she could remember everything they had said if they had spoken for so long!

‘Evelina’ was a pleasure to read, it was easy to pick up and the themes of class, London culture of the time and family made for a very interesting and funny read, I would highly recommend this novel to everyone.

Rating: * * * * *