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Amelia is the most beautiful women, devoted mother and perfect wife surrounded by misery, poverty, betrayal and dishonesty. Her husband, Mr Booth is one of those falling in trouble, getting in prison, cheating his wife, while she stands true and honest beside him. She is willing to sacrifice everything, including her last clothes and valuables in order to save her husband from debts and prison. By the way, London prison from that time seems to be more of a hotel, offering private rooms, drink and food for those willing to pay.
I wasn’t impressed with the story, nor did I enjoy very much in characters, including “poor� Amelia.
My rating: 2 stars.

Rating: 3 stars


This book is not in the same league as The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, in my opinion, but not bad. It is the story of a young woman who falls for a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Her rich mother doesn't approve, so they elope. The husband wrongfully winds up in debtor's prison, which further complicates matters. They work through many obstacles in their relationship together, including his infidelity. She sticks by him through thick and thin, until eventually, their fortunes take a turn for the better. Amelia is portrayed as the beautiful, devoted wife, but comes across as weak and one-dimensional.

I Agree with others here that this isn't the strongest book in the world- even for Fielding specifically (Tom Jones was much stronger in my opinion).

I also gave it 3 stars (a low 3) because I found the twists in their fates interesting to follow, but agree that Amelia is a flimsy barely-there character other than being pretty and devoted.

There is constant dialogue in this book about whether or not women have the same capacity for education and intelligence as men, which is a bold topic for the time that I wanted to like more. But I think Fielding fumbles it by not seeming to put any commentary in there about the topic, so both sides of the argument are just...there. So, it is hard to tell whether he meant to be empowering and it isn't clear, meant to be misogynistic, or heard these conversations but had no real thoughts on them. Comes off a little weak regardless of which is true.

read Dec. 2024

I enjoyed this book greatly. I had planned on reading it while we were at an all-inclusive resort and I think this helped my reading experience. The ‘instalment� nature of the structure of the novel worked well when you are fitting it in between time at the beach or the pool. This novel is the progenitor of the (TV) soap opera or telenovela. There are so many ups and downs for our main characters � Amelia (Emily) and Captain Booth (Billy) � are they innocents or just plain dumb? Who knows, but it is entertaining. The philosophising/moralizing was a bit much at times, but the melodrama made it tolerable. I was pleased with the ‘happy ending� � often I find this annoying but here I was glad poor Amelia got her due. 4*