Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin
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Book Reviews of Mary Reilly
Book Review: Good (4.5 stars)
Summary: 4 Stars
Mary Reilly is an alternate telling of the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It's told from the point of view of Dr. Jekyll's housemaid, Mary, an observant young woman who is nonetheless somewhat blind to what's going on around her. She keeps a journal of her observations, in which she chronicles the increasingly bizarre behavior of the man she calls Master; and her encounters with his new assistant, Edward Hyde.
It's not a long book, only about 250 pages, but there's a lot packed in. At first glance, it would seem odd that Dr. Jekyll seeks out the company of a lowly housemaid; but they really have a lot in common, both having gone through, or going through, periods of darkness in their lives--Mary with the demon her father, and Dr. Jekyll with his demon Mr. Hyde.
The tension in this novel, especially in Mary's encounters with Mr. Hyde, is palpable, as is the London fog, which seems to surround everything. Right from the opening scene (which I won't describe; you have to read it for yourself), I was immediately hooked into the story May's language and grammar are colorful, too, and make her voice unique. The end of the book is somewhat marred by the anonymous postscript, but otherwise I enjoyed this novel. It's been a number of years since I read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but from what I can recall, Valerie Martin stays pretty close to Stevenson's book. Mary is for the most part knowledgeable about the world; but in several others, she's a complete innocent.
Book Review: no title
Summary: 4 Stars
Egrossing novel, especially in the last pages, but I cannot help feeling that it is somewhat of a cheap shot to use a famous classic upon which to build your story. So much of the suspense was already written by Robert Louis Stevenson, that Martin has less to imagine than most authors. Really should have read Jekyll and Hyde first. Martin was obviously a fan of "Upstairs, Downstairs". Probably where she got the idea. Slow moving, but because the reader always knows much more than the novel states, because of the earlier classic, it works. Lots of tidbits about Victorian life and housekeeping. Did Mary's father abuse her sexually? Of course, we think of that in these days, even though Martin really give us no reason to. Well written and plotted.Book Review: Oy vey!
Summary: 2 Stars
I had to read this book for school and boy what a drag it was! This book is so focused on symbolism that it made me want to puke! If your like good literature stick to the classics.Book Review: Mary Hartman! Mary Hart...uh, oh - Mary Reilly! Mary Reilly!
Summary: 1 Stars
I have been trying to learn about the system of using servants in 19th & 20th c. England, and somewhere I read that this book gave a good picture of what it was like. Alas, I should have just gotten it from the library. The idea behind this story is a good one, but unfortunately what we got amounts to a dressed-up soap opera, sloppily written, pointless and uninvolving. I found myself counting the pages to the end, and I learned absolutely nothing new or useful about how servants worked. It's rare that I buy a book I decide not to keep, but this is one.
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