Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

historical novel, set in the Piedmont in the second half of the eighteenth century. This is Wharton's first full-length novel, but after reading her earlier stories I was surprised at how poorly written it is. Not the actual writing -- her use of words is very sophisticated, of course -- but the larger aspects. The first half is reasonably interesting, although there is too much description which is not well integrated into the action, but then the novel turns into a travelogue for over a hundred pages, with the plot (and for the most part, even the protagonist) vanishing under long descriptions of almost every important city in Italy. When the plot finally resumes, it is driven entirely by improbable coincidences, like an early romantic novel by Dickens or Hugo, or even a parody of their style; we get speeches in the author's language rather than natural dialogue appropriate to the characters; in the end, the protagonist undergoes an inadequately motivated reversal of character, and the novel ends as a political pamphlet with a diatribe against the French Revolution. It was indicative that my (1902) copy, bought from a library book sale, which from its condition had obviously been taken out many times, still had uncut pages near the end, showing that none of the borrowers had ever finished it.