The French Lieutenant’s Woman (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: John Fowles
- First Published: 1969
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Long fiction, Antistory, Metafiction, Frame story
- Subjects: Freedom, Voyages, Tradition, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Nineteenth century, Art or artists, England or English people, Women’s issues, Imagination, Mysteries, Victorian era or Victorianism, Biology or biologists
- Locales: London, England, Lyme Regis, Dorset, England
While in Lyme Regis to visit his fiancee, Ernestina Freeman, Charles Smithson, a 32-year-old paleontologist, becomes fascinated by the mysterious Sarah Woodruff. A fallen woman said to have been jilted by a French officer, Sarah is a pariah to the well-bred society that Charles and Ernestina are a part of. While searching for fossils in a wooded coastal area, Charles encounters Sarah alone, and his curiosity and pity for her soon evolve into other emotions.
It is not clear who seduces whom, but when another opportunity presents itself, Charles embraces Sarah passionately....
[The entire page is 501 words long]
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