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| Plot Summary of According to Queeney |
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""According to Queenie", the latest novel by the award-winning British novelist, Beryl Bainbridge is a fictional account of the last 20 years of Samuel Johnson's life, from 1764-84. Appearances by his contemporaries, David Garrick, the actor, and Sir Joshua Reynolds, the painter, along with Johnson's biographer, James Boswell, spice the novel.
Seen through the eyes of the young Hester (Queenie) Thrale, daughter of the wealthy brewer, Henry Thrale and his wife, the noted writer leads a lively life visiting the Thrales in Southwark , London, where Mrs. Thrale provides him with a room in which she also makes love to him. With the Thrales , he visits Paris and catches glimpses of King Louis and his consort, "queen" Marie Antoinette.
The author chronicles the many illnesses that plagued people of that era. Samuel suffers from "melancholia", (depression),along with gout and "dropsy", (congestive heart failure). Mrs. Thrale suffers multiple stillbirths resulting from 10 pregnancies. Mr. Thrale contracted cancer and dies after consuming inhuman quantities of food.
Queenie has whooping cough and almost dies from a fever witch carries off her only brother, Harry.
Queenie also is dosed unmercifully by her mother with physics and enemas ostensibly from worms.
The author quotes from Johnson's literary works to further the plot. She gives his views on life after death, (he doubts it) and of marriage,(a state unrelated to love)
Reading about the famous author of "The Dicionary" provides a welcome change from plodding throuogh Boswell's "Life". A glossary of placenames and references to people would have enhanced the enjoyment of the novel."
Betty-Jeanne Korson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of According to Queeney |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of story
- 18th century
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Life of a profession:
- writer
Inside culture (main char)
- British
Internal struggle/realization?
Yes
Struggle over
- vague finding self/purpose in life (i.e. no plot to book)
Outside culture (society)
- British
Job/Profession/Status story
Yes
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Parents/lack of parents problem?
- rebelling against parent's expectations
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- scholar
Age:
- 40's-50's
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- eccentric
- mentally ill
- emotionally unstable
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- physically sick
Main Adversary
Profession/status:
- homemaker
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 9 ()
City?
Yes
City:
- London
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Weird Victorian/Shakespearean English?
Yes
Unusual Style:
- written like a journal/diary/letters
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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