Moths. A novel. By Ouida. Review

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(More customer reviews)I loved this book, but I'm not sure how others might feel about it - the story is so steeped in the conflicts and ambivalent idealism of the late nineteenth century.
There's a vivid metaphor central to the novel: moths relentlessly eating away at ermine - a greedy insect selfishly destroying something beautiful. The moths are the soulless society that was the jet set of that age. The something beautiful is the character of the heroine, Vere Herbert.
Vere joins her mother on the Riviera after an isolated upbringing on the Northumbrian moors. Her stern grandmother has imbued her with old-fashioned values. Vere's frivolous mother is horrified by her daughter's direct speech and fondness for Greek and mathematics.
Vere is sixteen and exquisitely beautiful. She attracts the eye of a dissipated Russian prince of fabulous wealth - as well as a brilliant musician adored by all of Europe. She will marry one and love the other, propelling Vere and the reader into a hopelessly romantic, totally mesmerizing plot.
MOTHS was a searing indictment of marriage, at a time when the legal status of married women was being hotly debated. Even today, it remains a tour de force of social satire. And it's a love story of Gothic intensity - with fairy tale charm.
It's hard to imagine those times, when marriage could easily become a life imprisonment, and divorce was almost impossible, by law and convention.
Ouida's prose and imagery are gorgeous, and her lovers almost unbelievably sublime. But I was willingly swept away.
The excellent introduction allowed me to revisit the book through the eyes of an accomplished scholar. Ouida was quite a rebel - a coarse, rude, extravagant, cigar-smoking dog-worshiper. Writing MOTHS helped her recover from a faithless lover.
I'd recommend the Broadview edition of MOTHS above all others.

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Title: Moths. A novel. By Ouida.Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.The FICTION & PROSE LITERATURE collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. The collection provides readers with a perspective of the world from some of the 18th and 19th century's most talented writers. Written for a range of audiences, these works are a treasure for any curious reader looking to see the world through the eyes of ages past. Beyond the main body of works the collection also includes song-books, comedy, and works of satire. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:++++ British Library Ouida; 1880. 3 vol. ; 8º. 12640.h.3.

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