Rebecca and Rowena

by Willliam Makepeace Thackeray
Category: "Fiction - Historical"
Pages:82
Year of Publication:1850
Date Added:11/01/2007
Date Read:10/31/2007
Notes:A decidedly contrary self-confessed "middle-aged novel" that begins where most novels end: with marriage.

Rebecca and Rowena calls into question the ending of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, exploring the miserable marriage of Sir Wilfrid to the "icy, faultless, prim" Rowena. In an irreverent and theatrical plot, in which the dead come back to life, marriage is exposed as really quite dull, and imperialism is mocked mercilessly, Thackeray ridiculously reunites Ivanhoe with his first love.
My Rating: 8

Reviews for Rebecca and Rowena

Review - Rebecca and Rowena

This was a hilarious sequel/spoof of Ivanhoe that picks up shortly after the earlier book ends. I had to keep reminding myself that it was written in the 1800s because the humor seemed so modern. I have to warn you — once you read it, you won't be able to take Ivanhoe seriously ever again.
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