Cecilia by Frances Burney
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Blurb
Cecilia is an heiress, but she can only keep her fortune if her husband will consent to take her surname. Fanny Burney’s unusual love story and deft social satire was much admired on its first publication in 1782 for its subtle interweaving of comedy, humanity and social analysis.
Review
I fell in love with Burney’s writing when I first read Evelina so I was determined to read Burney’s other novels. However, I must admit I was not expecting such a hefty tome when Cecilia arrived. There is quite a size difference between Evelina and Cecilia. Clearly Burney wanted the money as the more volumes in a book the more money the author made in the past. Thankfully, the writing was just as good so I didn’t mind the length of the book.
This book really prompted me to do more research into the Georgian period and heiress’ as I was intrigued by the storyline of Cecilia only being allowed to keep her inheritance if she married a man who would take her name. Apparently this was quite a common thing at the time and a way for the family name not to die out if there was no male heir.
As with Evelina the main characters of Cecilia are endearing enough but the main stars of the book are the supporting cast. You have the flighty socialites, the gossip girls, slimy men, haughty toffs who are so ridiculous you just have to laugh. Miss Larolles was an absolute hoot!
The thing I loved most about this book though was the snapshot it gives you of the everyday life of Georgian society. You have members of the Ton right down to the poorest of the poor. You learn about what the etiquette was for females and males socialising, who handed who into a carriage, how you called upon acquaintances, how you made travel arrangements etc.
Cecilia is a caring and very sensitive young lady who has clearly been brought up very sheltered of the outside world. She has a desire to help all who are less fortunate than herself and can not bear to see anyone suffering. Sadly this leaves her open for exploitation. At times Cecilia really needed a friend who would offer her good advice but sadly she had wolves in sheep’s clothing.
I don’t want to say too much as I don’t want to give the story away but I will say that I can see why Jane Austen was such a fan of Burney’s work as I could not put this book down. I will be selecting another of Burney’s books to read very soon I hope. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Also known as Fanny Burney and, after her marriage, as Madame d’Arblay. Frances Burney was a novelist, diarist and playwright. In total, she wrote four novels, eight plays, one biography and twenty volumes of journals and letters.
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