4.5 out of 5 stars
Belinda’s aunt sends her to stay with Lady Delacour, the most popular lady in all of London, hoping that Belinda will meet lots of wealthy young men and make a brilliant match. Although Lady Delacour spends her nights at various sparkling high society events, her days are full of misery and despair. Belinda discovers that there is a rift between Lord and Lady Delacour, and Lady Delacour is hiding a terrible secret.
Belinda’s sweet and serious nature inspires those around her to look for more in life than the next glittering ball or dinner party. She doesn’t lecture or condemn, but stands with quiet strength and compassion, which causes others to think more carefully about their own life choices. Through Belinda’s influence, Lady Delacour starts on a road of personal introspection, mourning her past mistakes, and attempting to make better decisions in the future. But she worries that her repentance might be too little and too late. I was really inspired by Lady Delacour’s humility and courage to try to change the course of her life. I loved her flamboyant personality!
Belinda meets two charming young men – Clarence Hervey, a man of high fashion; and Mr. Vincent, a Creole gentleman under the tutelage of a highly respected and serious family, the Percivals. Belinda trusts the Percivals implicitly, relying on their good sense and reason to guide her, but she isn’t quite sure if she cares for Mr. Vincent in the same way that he loves her.
Clarence Hervey is charming and intelligent and altogether impressive, but Belinda does not think she can entrust her future happiness to a man who is so unreliable. His behavior toward her is hot and cold, so she comes to the conclusion that he must not really love her, but just enjoys flirting. Somehow Belinda must carefully observe the personalities of these two men and determine whether one of them could make her happy.
The plot is full of drama and suspense and mystery! There are lots of little plot threads that go weaving around various secondary characters until it all comes back to Belinda in the end. It was so satisfying to see those little mysteries resolved, and see the part that each person plays in the overall story.
I really liked Belinda’s character! She independently decides for herself and relies on her own intuition and common sense, even when others are bombarding her with advice. She learns prudence from seeing the imprudent behavior of other people. She has a quiet intensity that everyone notices and admires.
I still have mixed feelings about Clarence Hervey. He has a wild and dissipated life in the beginning, but after a near-death experience when none of his fancy society friends lift a finger to help him, he breaks off contact with his old friends, and finds better friends among serious people like scientists and scholars and doctors. His character development is strong, but I still felt that he was really foolish at times. He struggles with the consequences of his past mistakes, and tries to make it right and do the honorable thing, but he is such an idiot that he bungles everything! For a super-intelligent guy, he can be really dumb sometimes.
I found it interesting that Belinda is navigating all the temptations and pitfalls of society, and all around her she sees others who have had weak morals and poor judgment. She takes those lessons to heart, and develops her own wisdom and strong character despite all the flattery and flirtation that might drag her off course. This gives her some difficult and lonely times, but she remains firm in her resolution to keep herself unstained by the world. I really admire her courage in the face of so much opposition from her peers. She has an inner tranquility that sustains her even when an emotional storm comes.
The writing sparkles on every page! The dialogue is witty and clever, and so much of the story is really hilarious. Even in a serious scene, there will be this one brilliant line that made me laugh. I truly cared about the characters, and was on the edge of my seat will all the exciting drama! Everything about this book is so enchanting!
Luminous Libro 