[hildea]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Sensation novelists were able to deal explicitly with subject matter not normally found, or accepted, in novels available to a genteel reading public -- such as adultery, seduction, illegitimate children, false identities, etc. And, the main characters were women -- who were set up to sin, briefly enjoy the results of their transgressions, suffer, and then repent and be punished. It was up to the reader to decide if the character had truly repented and deserved forgiveness for their sins, or instead, righteous moral condemnation.

Thanks for the background on the genre! Your description definitively fits "Lady Audley's Secret", but in Wilkie Collins' "The Woman in White", the main characters are victims and/or heroes, but don't transgress (except, in Laura's case, by being incredibly naive). Would you say that "Woman in White" isn't a sensation novel, or is it just an atypical one?

...in the extremely heavy handed foreshadowing incident of Captain Levison stepping upon, and breaking in two, Lady Isabel's cross

Heh, yes, it was pretty heavy handed It was about as subtle as the cask of red wine breaking in a Paris street in the beginning of "A Tale of Two Cities". I actually liked that part -- there's something refreshing about a book which isn't afraid to declare loudly what it is.

The description of Isabel made her seem extremely bland. I'm worried she'll turn out out be a sexy lamp ("if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft").
I looked up the description of Laura (the damsel in distress in "The Woman in White") for comparison, and although she's not brimming with personality, the description hints at her flaws which are important to the story.

I'm not fond of the omniscient point of view. I much prefer to see what happens trough the eyes of one or more of the people in the story. Not to say that it can't be done well -- I love Austen's books -- but it makes it that much harder for me to care about the characters.

So far I've just read two chapters. I'm planning to go on, but will most likely read a chapter or two inbetween other books.