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Rating: 
Summary: Charming! Diverting! Provoking!
Review: "The Wanderer" is a wonderful novel detailing the struggles faced by a single woman in England in the era of the French Revolution, who due to circumstances beyond her control must remain nameless and "family-less" and thus rely on the charity and goodwill of strangers. Readers familar with Jane Austen's writing will recognize a similar style, indeed Fanny Burney was an inspiration to Miss Austen, yet with an even more critical eye turned towards the upper-middle-class social structure.I found it a little more plodding in parts than "Evelina," my favorite of Burney's novels, as Burney occasionally gets bogged down in minutiae of social interactions, but even those long descriptions give insight into what details would have been considered monstrously important to Burney's contemporary audience. Regardless, the difficulties faced by the nameless heroine and the mystery of her circumstances are more than enough to engage any fan of 18th and early 19th century literature.
Rating: 
Summary: A Truly Involving Tale Well-Told
Review: Fanny Burney does not disappoint in this, her final novel. The issues seem surprisingly fresh and almost contemporary, the characters are unforgettable, and the travels and trials of "Miss Ellis" offer glimpses into many different aspects of society in England and in France during the time period of the French Revolution. William Hazlitt hated this book, but what did he know? Read it and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Involving Tale Well-Told
Review: Fanny Burney does not disappoint in this, her final novel. The issues seem surprisingly fresh and almost contemporary, the characters are unforgettable, and the travels and trials of "Miss Ellis" offer glimpses into many different aspects of society in England and in France during the time period of the French Revolution. William Hazlitt hated this book, but what did he know? Read it and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Engaging Book!
Review: Fanny Burney's _The Wanderer_, her last published book, is the best of all her works. The heroine is easy to love, and only a callous reader could not feel pity for her friendless situation. The basic premise is this: a young, elegant woman of obvious good breeding is suddenly forced to flee France for mysterious reasons. But she has lost all of her possessions during her crossing of the Channel, and she finds herself in England, friendless, penniless, and completely dependant on the charity of those around her. The crux of the novel is how she is able to get by under these circumstances. Her fortitude is uplifting, and her plight shows us the problems women had two centuries ago in merely obtaining a subsistence upon which to live. The plot gets more and more complex as we find out about the life of the Wanderer herself. We don't discover her name for the first time until the middle of the book! _The Wanderer_ is a truly engaging novel, and once read, it becomes clear why Fanny Burney was one of Jane Austen's favorite authors.
Rating:
Summary: It Pays to Listen to Your Literary Spouse: Enjoy a classic!
Review: My wife waxed rhapsodic over the prose and poetry inherent in Fanny Burney's neglected classic The Wanderer. The narrativ tells an exciting story of the French Revolution era even though the action occurs mainly in England. The "Incognita" is a fascinating character who moves through English society as a subordinate to the rich and cruel society folk with whom she is forced by circumstances to live. "Miss Ellis endures the slings and arrows of outrageous fortunate to triumph over her enemies at last. Burney's prose is musical and her sentences flow with insight into the human condition. As a friend of Hesther Thrale
she was influenced by that excellent writer. Her father was the famed musician Dr. Charles Burney a close friend of Dr. Johnson. If you want to look at a classic of early feminism and encounter one female difficulty after another this is a good place to begin.
I liked the novel so well I am now engrossed in Burney's second novel "Cecilia" with her first work "Evelina" on my reading list.
Fanny Burney is an excellent new author to explore and be enriched by as you loose yourself in her voluminous pages!
Well recommended!
Rating:
Summary: It Pays to Listen to Your Literary Spouse: Enjoy a classic!
Review: My wife waxed rhapsodic over the prose and poetry inherent in Fanny Burney's neglected classic The Wanderer. The narrativ tells an exciting story of the French Revolution era even though the action occurs mainly in England. The "Incognita" is a fascinating character who moves through English society as a subordinate to the rich and cruel society folk with whom she is forced by circumstances to live. "Miss Ellis endures the slings and arrows of outrageous fortunate to triumph over her enemies at last. Burney's prose is musical and her sentences flow with insight into the human condition. As a friend of Hesther Thrale
she was influenced by that excellent writer. Her father was the famed musician Dr. Charles Burney a close friend of Dr. Johnson. If you want to look at a classic of early feminism and encounter one female difficulty after another this is a good place to begin.
I liked the novel so well I am now engrossed in Burney's second novel "Cecilia" with her first work "Evelina" on my reading list.
Fanny Burney is an excellent new author to explore and be enriched by as you loose yourself in her voluminous pages!
Well recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Heavy book, light reading
Review: Well, as with Burney's other novels, don't let the length scare you. The focus of this book is centered on "female difficulties" as the subtitle indicates, rather than a romantic relationship which many Jane Austen fans might be looking for. The romance is definitely there, so don't worry, but the more interesting part of the book is the interplay between one woman, an Incognito, and the people she encounters and must depend on for her survival. The prejudices she encounters and the female snobbery and male disrespect keep the plot relevant to modern readers' interests. It is really a travel/adventure story about a woman who starts out with nothing (in order to hide herself from danger) and runs into various people and mini-plots along the way. There are a few length philosophical debates between some of the characters at some parts of the book, but they don't weigh down the light style of the rest of the novel. This book really made me think about how others perceive a person and how their opinions, unfortunately, are often based solely upon reputation and prejudices.
Rating:
Summary: Heavy book, light reading
Review: Well, as with Burney's other novels, don't let the length scare you. The focus of this book is centered on "female difficulties" as the subtitle indicates, rather than a romantic relationship which many Jane Austen fans might be looking for. The romance is definitely there, so don't worry, but the more interesting part of the book is the interplay between one woman, an Incognito, and the people she encounters and must depend on for her survival. The prejudices she encounters and the female snobbery and male disrespect keep the plot relevant to modern readers' interests. It is really a travel/adventure story about a woman who starts out with nothing (in order to hide herself from danger) and runs into various people and mini-plots along the way. There are a few length philosophical debates between some of the characters at some parts of the book, but they don't weigh down the light style of the rest of the novel. This book really made me think about how others perceive a person and how their opinions, unfortunately, are often based solely upon reputation and prejudices.
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