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THE SIGN OF FLAME by E. Werner
Sep. 7th, 2013 10:25 pmEssentially the German answer to Mary Elizabeth Braddon.
MOTHER. (stage-whisper) I must break this news gently and gradually to the girl I hoped to make my daughter in law. She is a sheltered innocent soul. Alas for the notorious conduct of my son!
GIRL. Mamma, are you whispering something?
MOTHER. (sheds a tear) My darling girl, there is sad news I must impart. I pray you, sit down so that you do not faint.
GIRL. Goodness!
MOTHER. It is about my son, your fiancé. Alack that this terrible day has come!
GIRL. Yes?
MOTHER. My son...walked a singing girl to her home.
GIRL. I had heard that.
MOTHER. O noble girl to bear this news! My son...fought a duel to defend the singing girl from an attacker.
GIRL. I heard that too. He was very heroic.
MOTHER. My son...eloped with the singing girl.
GIRL. I was their bridesmaid!
As far as I'm concerned, this is the top work by E. Werner on Project Gutenberg - I tried the others but they do not measure up to this standard of sensational novel.
The characters are all conflicted by passion, duty, family, and romantic attraction, and solve these conflicts in ways that hinge upon melodramatic plot twists. A young man runs away from military academy with his divorced mother to pursue his artistic dreams, but realises that the sources of his mother's income involve the betrayal of his country. Two stolid young folk of similar background and position seem made for each other in a marriage to join landholdings and families - but, when he runs off with a singing girl, his fiancée is perfectly willing to aid and abet. (The singing girl is also her best friend since childhood, so she's very happy for both of them.) A wealthy woman married a nobly born man she did not love for the sake of doing her duty and has since turned into ice. Can the sign of flame melt even her cold heart?
Highly enjoyable, reasonably intelligent for its genre, and above all a thoroughly good read.
(NB: I am eliding and exaggerating details in the summary dialogue above, but I believe it's true to the spirit of the story!)
MOTHER. (stage-whisper) I must break this news gently and gradually to the girl I hoped to make my daughter in law. She is a sheltered innocent soul. Alas for the notorious conduct of my son!
GIRL. Mamma, are you whispering something?
MOTHER. (sheds a tear) My darling girl, there is sad news I must impart. I pray you, sit down so that you do not faint.
GIRL. Goodness!
MOTHER. It is about my son, your fiancé. Alack that this terrible day has come!
GIRL. Yes?
MOTHER. My son...walked a singing girl to her home.
GIRL. I had heard that.
MOTHER. O noble girl to bear this news! My son...fought a duel to defend the singing girl from an attacker.
GIRL. I heard that too. He was very heroic.
MOTHER. My son...eloped with the singing girl.
GIRL. I was their bridesmaid!
As far as I'm concerned, this is the top work by E. Werner on Project Gutenberg - I tried the others but they do not measure up to this standard of sensational novel.
The characters are all conflicted by passion, duty, family, and romantic attraction, and solve these conflicts in ways that hinge upon melodramatic plot twists. A young man runs away from military academy with his divorced mother to pursue his artistic dreams, but realises that the sources of his mother's income involve the betrayal of his country. Two stolid young folk of similar background and position seem made for each other in a marriage to join landholdings and families - but, when he runs off with a singing girl, his fiancée is perfectly willing to aid and abet. (The singing girl is also her best friend since childhood, so she's very happy for both of them.) A wealthy woman married a nobly born man she did not love for the sake of doing her duty and has since turned into ice. Can the sign of flame melt even her cold heart?
Highly enjoyable, reasonably intelligent for its genre, and above all a thoroughly good read.
(NB: I am eliding and exaggerating details in the summary dialogue above, but I believe it's true to the spirit of the story!)
