It Doesn't Sound Like an Adventure Novel

Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed it. Beginning to end. Did not expect that.

I acquired this book in a random way (castoff in the library of the school where I taught) and only started to read it because I had finished all my other "classic" type books. But then--it was good.

This story is told in first person by a young gentleman farmer, John Ridd, who is intelligent, hardworking, brave, honorable, and physically impressive. It's a clear voice, that of a man who is self-reliant and confident, who speaks up when he has something to say, who thinks fighting is often necessary, but he's also sensitive for a tough rural man and shows tenderness to the women in his life and apologizes when he's wrong. Sometimes he's full of insight, and other times the reader is aware of his blind spots and prejudices. He seems real, and he is sympathetic.

This is the story of plain man's love for a beautiful woman, Lorna Doone, who comes from the family of his enemies. It might sound a bit like Romeo and Juliet, but it's more like a Western. Think of John as a regular farmer and the Doones as the rich, bullying ranchers who run everything in the area. They are beyond the reach of the law in 1600's west country England, and everyone around them has to make room for them. Even John, who wants to get justice for his murdered father, must treat them respectfully.

Part of the charm of the novel is learning about the contradictory ways of the people in that area at that time. A man they might seek to kill in one moment will be their honored guest at another. Depending on the situation, the people can be patient and polite or argumentative and ready for a brawl. In some ways, they lived simply and were proud of it, but in other ways they showed a real appreciation for good living. So--complex, like real people. When events occur in London or elsewhere in the country, it takes days to reach them, often in garbled form, and those events feel curiously remote. The reader gets a sense of what it would have been like to live in a distant, rural area in those years.

The subtitle, "A Romance of Exmoor," is meant to suggest something more like a story of chivalry than a modern "romance," but in fact both are true. There is romance in the modern sense, but it is also a novel of action, violence, and bloodshed, along with some mystery. It's an entertaining mix.

I think this is an excellent novel, and I wonder why that should come as such a surprise. Lots of good characters, lots of fun action. Why isn't it more popular? And no spoilers, but I can say that the novel has a very satisfying ending. I recommend it.

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