suspicious suspicions

In volume 7 of Clarissa, my suspicions about something that went on between Lovelace and Clarissa were confirmed.  I am not going to get into much detail so as not to spoil it for anyone (Marissa) who may eventually attempt to slog through all 9 volumes of this book.  But Richardson was quite smart to set up this book in this style as a series of letters.  We have a whole posse of unreliable narrators here.  Richardson was also able to tackle difficult topics in a way that did not offend the sensibilities of his readers.

Clarissa is sick.  Will she recover?  Will her family ever forgive her?  Let's find out as we dive into volume 8.

malevolence

Volume 6 of Clarissa really makes it evident what a bad guy Lovelace really is.  He goes through endless contrivances to keep Clarissa confined in the house with his spies.  He uses the pretext of a house fire to burst in upon her at night.  He intercepts Clarissa's letters and controls the narrative that is presented to her.  She has now seen his true colors and has incredible difficulty getting away from him.

Finally, toward the end of this volume, she is able to sneak away and discovers exactly what sort of nonsense he is up to.  Will he recapture her?  Will she be reunited with her family?

Now that things are happening, the story is moving more quickly.  I am still amazed that it is 9 volumes though.

And on it goes...

Volume 5 of Clarissa is in the can.  Lovelace's schemes are working on and off and Clarissa, though attracted to him, is wary of him.  On and off he talks about marriage but one or the other of them has reservations every time it is brought up, or the settlements take a long time, or the house they plan to stay at is not ready, etc.  Most of these delays are of Lovelace's making, so that he gives Clarissa the impression that he wants to marry her, but he actually will not.  She sees through his ways about half the time.

This volume really highlighted what a difficult position Clarissa is in.  She has left her family but can't really trust the person she left with.  She really has no good options here.