Reviews for Diana of the Crossways

The average rating for Diana of the Crossways based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-03-09 00:00:00 Joseph Segreto Peter Ackroyd's "Dan Leno" includes a lot of scenes in the Reading Room of the British Library - I don't know how much historical liberty has to be taken to find a morning where Karl Marx, Oscar Wilde and George Gissing were all sitting there at the same time. Anyway, it was either that book or his "Chatterton" that reminded me I had never actually read George Meredith. Meredith strikes me as a quintessentially Victorian writer; no hint of modernism ever intrudes. He is noted as something of what passed for a feminist man at the time, speaking sympathetically of suffrage and so on. Diana is a character whose struggles against the societal expectations that she will have no ideas and not attempt to engage with men in the realm of politics or writing are depicted sympathetically. She is also depicted as so attractive and intelligent that every man she meets either proposes marriage or makes some less gentlemanly overture. Among the latter is her best friend's husband, leading her to accept the first proposal that comes thereafter, making an unhappy marriage. According to the ground rules of the era, or at least this book, this puts her off limits and she can continue to visit her friend, unmolested. Fairly early on in the book, her hastily formed marriage breaks down, putting her in an anomalous position that guides the story. However, ultimately her happiness seems to lie in finally finding the right man. And, we haven't mentioned the theme of the Irish, emotional children who thrive under their gentle but unyielding English masters. Diana herself is Irish, the best of her kind of course, and as a woman, held to a different standard. Meredith's actual writing is head-spinning, extended metaphors that go on for pages, in equal measure impressive and prolix.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-09-15 00:00:00 Patrick Mcbride It took a while to get through Meredith's slow, fussy, didactic and sometimes turgid prose, especially the first chapter. But what a story, when you finally get to it! Diana of the Crossways is a unique heroine, impetuous, headstrong, vibrant, passionate and in every way in trouble in a Victorian society that sexualizes every relationship between a man and woman. The relationship between Diana and her best friend, Lady Emma, is physically affectionate and emotionally intense in a way we probably associate with romantic love. Read Vivian Gornick's wonderful essay on "The End of the Novel of Love" if you want to see what makes this book so special.