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eBook The Hidden Heart Of Emily Hudson download

by Melissa Jones? Melissa Jones

ISBN: 0751542806
Author: Melissa Jones? Melissa Jones
Publisher: Sphere; Digital original edition (2010)
Language: English
ePub: 1215 kb
Fb2: 1373 kb
Rating: 4.6
Other formats: txt lit mbr azw
Category: Other

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If you love nineteenth century fiction, you will enjoy revisiting the period with a modern author. Part letters and part narrative, this literary romance explores the struggles of Emily for independence and fulfillment.

If you love nineteenth century fiction, you will enjoy revisiting the period with a modern author.

Dear Mr Cornford, It is with regret that I begin the task of writing to you about your niece, Emily. And so Emily Hudson, niece and ward, is dispatched into the care of her distant and cold uncle, to take residence at the family's Newport beach house at the outbreak of the Civil War. She is an orphan, the sole member of her family not claimed by consumption. In that first lonely summer, it is Emily's cousin William - himself an outsider - who is her saviour.

Melissa Jones has created a passionate and beguiling story, yet one that is so delicate .

Melissa Jones has created a passionate and beguiling story, yet one that is so delicate that I felt at times I was leaning over her troubled heroine's shoulder, prying into her intimate letters. It is wonderfully rich and elegantly written. A touching portrait of insecurities and misunderstandings that brings a vanished period to life. Emily Hudson is very Bronte in its lengthy recitation of horrors and misfortune visited upon a spirited young woman, her journey from innocence into jaded adulthood and eventually, the gaining of her independence and personal freedom. It all started very promisingly, but quickly became tedious when I realized how slowly everything was moving. Her recent behaviour, which I have outlined to you in previous letters, compels me to request that she be formally removed from the school and returned to your care with immediate effect.

Unlike James, Melissa Jones, the author of Emily Hudson, creates fairly unlikeable characters, introduces them in ways that seem unnatural, and forces the development of their relationships in quick and irrational ways. The novel does pick up steam around page 200, but this unfortunately does not entirely cover the earlier wrongs.

In London, in 1861, Emily Hudson has been expelled from boarding school for an "abundant defiant life" which includes . Where Emily differs from these characters, and the real Minny, is in her growing sense of independence and her own creative ability

In London, in 1861, Emily Hudson has been expelled from boarding school for an "abundant defiant life" which includes day-dreaming, speaking her thoughts and a close friendship with another student. Her parents having died of consumption, she is sent to New England to live with an uncle. Moving from one cold and claustrophobic institution to another, Emily finds she is an unwelcome reminder of her similarly wild mother. Where Emily differs from these characters, and the real Minny, is in her growing sense of independence and her own creative ability. She refuses to be shackled or "submerged" by masculine forces. Download the new Indpendent Premium app.

Books related to The Hidden Heart Of Emily Hudson.

William's friendship offers Emily the chance to escape to London to pursue her dreams, but his patronage soon turns darker and more controlling. And as Emily's health falters, she turns to some rather unsuitable means to find the release she craves. Books related to The Hidden Heart Of Emily Hudson.

Published in Great Britain as The Hidden Heart of Emily Hudson by Sphere, an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Emily Hudson : a novel, Melissa Jones

View the profiles of people named Melissa Hudson. People named Melissa Hudson.

View the profiles of people named Melissa Hudson.

Melissa Jones is the daughter of the Jamaican poet and screenwriter Evan Jones, and the sister of novelist Sadie Jones. This book was originally published in the UK as The Hidden Heart of Emily Hudson. She lives in an Essex village in England with her husband and two children. More Author Information. Membership Advantages.

Book by Melissa Jones

Comments: (7)

breakingthesystem

I always love a book where you see yourself and realize that you're not the only one on earth to have had such issues. This was beautifully written and I strongly recommend it.

Dorintrius

Good book,

Gralmeena

every young person who has any ambition to get a middleclss job must know what is in this book

Moswyn

I enjoyed this book because the main character, Emily was so upbeat in the face of many obstacles. She was able to deal with her disfunctional family with grace and wit. Her cousin, William was a complex character whose true identity remained a mystery until close to the end of this fascinating novel.

Kefrannan

Emily Hudson is very Bronte in its lengthy recitation of horrors and misfortune visited upon a spirited young woman, her journey from innocence into jaded adulthood and eventually, the gaining of her independence and personal freedom.

It all started very promisingly, but quickly became tedious when I realized how slowly everything was moving. The summary of it made me believe Emily would go to London, realize her cousin was a manipulative creep, and then find adventure as an artist once she escaped to Rome, where the story would really start. But Rome turned out to be at the very end of the book, so the synopsis basically gave it all away, which was unusual and not a little disappointing.

Emily herself was, at first, a character I really liked because she was so spirited and loved to go on adventures with her best friend, but I began to hate her after awhile. It's admirable that she is a pacifist, and hates war on principle, and with good reason. But her absolute refusal to see it as an inevitability was childish and obnoxious.

It is also absolutely incredible to me that in the entirety of a book about an American girl during the Civil War there is not one single mention of slavery, or secession, or President Lincoln. What does she think they're fighting the war for? Catfish and cornbread? She was overly naive about pretty much everything, and it seems a massive oversight that nobody ever says anything about the reasons for a war that ate up an entire nation.

Emily was actually pretty dumb, in my opinion. She lives in a self-centered bubble where hanging at the beach, protesting a war that's being fought to secure human freedoms, and looking down on girls who like to giggle and shop for hair accessories makes her really special. She's the original obnoxious girl who thinks she's too cool for everyone because she's got opinions and makes art. If she lived today she'd have a really dumb blog.

Now that I've written that last part of this review (which started at 4 stars) I realize I don't like this book or its heroine as much as I thought I did.

Cobyno

The heroine of "Emily Hudson," by Melissa Jones, is a nineteen-year old orphan forced by tragic circumstances to live in Newport with her stern, condescending, and verbally abusive uncle, distant aunt, and two cousins, William and Mary. The year is 1861, just before the outbreak of the Civil War. Emily is immature, high-spirited, and moody, with a tendency to blurt out whatever she thinks, regardless of the consequences. Since she has no fortune and her relatives care little for her, it would seem that Emily's future will be bleak. However, William, an aspiring writer loosely modeled on Henry James, decides to finance art lessons and a stay in Europe for his cousin. Before she leaves, Emily has a brief relationship with a kind and agreeable gentleman soldier named Captain Lindsay.

This work of historical fiction traces Emily's intellectual and emotional evolution from a flighty and insecure girl to a self-confident adult. She makes new friends, corresponds with Augusta, a beloved companion from school, and pursues her passionate interest in drawing. She struggles with an illness that could prove fatal and is tempted by a roué to give up her virtue. Emily eventually travels to Italy, where she basks in unfamiliar sights, sounds, and experiences. William remains a bit of a cipher. Although he claims to care for Emily and does a great deal to help her realize her dreams, he can be cold, critical, selfish, and manipulative.

Although Emily is a heroine whom readers will easily take to their hearts, this novel has a rambling quality that is somewhat off-putting. There is a great deal of shifting from first-person narrative to letters between Emily and various correspondents. A variety of men seem to fall in love with Emily at the drop of a hat; one wonders if someone with such limited means and a paucity of social connections would be pursued by so many ardent admirers. On the other hand, Jones effectively portrays the severe restrictions that hampered unattached females in America and England during the 1860's. Someone like Emily had few options in terms of educational opportunities, choice of profession, and even the freedom to choose a pastime without the approval of her guardian. Although Jones relies too heavily on plot contrivances to move her story along, this book is pleasant and diverting enough to earn a marginal recommendation.

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