The Wanderer
by Fanny Burney
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As a unnamed woman, known only as The Wanderer (although later identified as Juliet Granville,) flees the Reign of Terror to England, where she finds herself alone--friendless and without means--in a foreign land. Focusing on the difficulties women faced in gaining the independence, The Wanderer was part of a new genre of literature that grew out of the tumultuous period following the French Revolution in which authors examined the events of the past through fiction. The last novel to be show more written by Frances Burney, The Wanderer took fourteen years to write and was influenced partially by the author's time as an exile in France. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is the last novel Frances Burney wrote and, for some reason, the only one not currently in print which I think is a shame because for me this is the strongest of her novels (although not necessarily the easiest to read).
Published in 1814 (the same year as Jane Austen's Mansfield Park) but written more in an 18th century style and set mostly in England in 1793 against the background of the French Revolution, [The Wanderer] sets out how difficult it was for young women to survive at that time without the protection of a man or money (which generally also came from a man).
From a modern day viewpoint the book suffers from some repetitiveness in that Burney makes her heroine repeatedly try different solutions to her difficulties only show more to fail at each attempt but from an 18th/19th century perspective the point needed to be repeated. And whilst women now (thankfully) have more financial independence, the repeated themes of women being threatened by men, mistreated by men and doubted by men sadly felt all too relevant as I was reading this over the summer. So, not exactly a cheerful book despite the convenient 'happy' ending but I think an important one and one that deserves more attention (and an edition in print). show less
Published in 1814 (the same year as Jane Austen's Mansfield Park) but written more in an 18th century style and set mostly in England in 1793 against the background of the French Revolution, [The Wanderer] sets out how difficult it was for young women to survive at that time without the protection of a man or money (which generally also came from a man).
From a modern day viewpoint the book suffers from some repetitiveness in that Burney makes her heroine repeatedly try different solutions to her difficulties only show more to fail at each attempt but from an 18th/19th century perspective the point needed to be repeated. And whilst women now (thankfully) have more financial independence, the repeated themes of women being threatened by men, mistreated by men and doubted by men sadly felt all too relevant as I was reading this over the summer. So, not exactly a cheerful book despite the convenient 'happy' ending but I think an important one and one that deserves more attention (and an edition in print). show less
No eighteenth century novel begins as memorably as this one. Escaping the French Revolution, a group of English people are secreted on board a ship that just manages to flee the Reign of Terror. The last passenger to board is a mysterious black woman...
Okay, the novel never lives up to the excitement of the opening and I wanted 'the incognita' to turn out to be Sir Thomas Bertram's mixed race child by one of his slaves in Antigua but it is incredibly fascinating. A whole other side to Jane Austen's world is here; the jolly determined working seamstresses, cruel rich women and predatory men - the sneer behind Wickham's charming smile. Don't read it because of the Austen connection - read it because Fanny Burney is yes at times like show more treading through mud - awful Johnsonian sentences and some hilarious gothick melodrama - but then you fall in and come across a precious brilliant bauble! show less
Okay, the novel never lives up to the excitement of the opening and I wanted 'the incognita' to turn out to be Sir Thomas Bertram's mixed race child by one of his slaves in Antigua but it is incredibly fascinating. A whole other side to Jane Austen's world is here; the jolly determined working seamstresses, cruel rich women and predatory men - the sneer behind Wickham's charming smile. Don't read it because of the Austen connection - read it because Fanny Burney is yes at times like show more treading through mud - awful Johnsonian sentences and some hilarious gothick melodrama - but then you fall in and come across a precious brilliant bauble! show less
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Group read: The Wanderer by Frances Burney in Virago Modern Classics (October 2018)
Author Information
96+ Works 5,593 Members
Frances ("Fanny") Burney 1752 - 1840 Frances Burney also known as Fanny Burney and, after her marriage, as Madame d'Arblay, was an English novelist, diarist and playwright. She was born on June 13, 1752 and wrote four novels (Evelina, Cecilia, Camilla and The Wanderer). Her first novel was written anonymously in 1778, without her father¿s show more knowledge or permission. After it became a literary success, she admitted to her father that she was the author. Her novels were read by many, including Jane Austen whose title Pride and Prejudice was formed from reading the last pages of Burney's novel, Cecilia. Burney is more well known for her journals. She kept a diary for 72 years. In these diaries she recounts a first-hand look at English society in the 18th Century. In 1810 when she suffered from breast pain, it was believed that she had breast cancer; she elected to have a mastectomy performed. This procedure is retold in her journals, and as there was no anesthesia at the time and she was conscious throughout, the entries for this mastectomy are very compelling. In 1793 Burney married General Alexandre d'Arblay, a French general to Lafayette. They had one child, Alexander. In her later years, Burney lived in Bath, England. She is buried there in Walcot Cemetery with her husband and son. Burney died on January 6, 1840 at 87 years of age. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Wanderer
- Original title
- The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties
- Original publication date
- 1814
- Important places
- Dover, Kent, England, UK; London, England, UK; Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK (as Brighthelmstone); Lewes, East Sussex, England, UK; New Forest, Hampshire, England, UK; Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, UK (show all 7); Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England, UK
- Important events
- French Revolution, Reign of Terror
- First words
- During the dire reign of Robespierre, and in the dead of night, braving the cold, the darkness and the damps of December, some English passengers, in a small vessel, were preparing to glide silently from the coast of France, ... (show all)when a voice of keen distress resounded from the shore, imploring, in the French language, pity and admission.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Yet even DIFFICULTIES such as these are not insurmountable, where mental courage, operating through patience, prudence, and principle, supply physical force, combat disappointment, and keep the untamed spirits superior to failure, and ever alive to hope.
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Statistics
- Members
- 234
- Popularity
- 138,649
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.80)
- Languages
- Czech, English, French
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 17
- ASINs
- 7
