Summary: A metafictional historical novel about a cast of characters in Victorian England. Charles is a typical Victorian gentlemen engaged to a typical Victorian lady, but then he meets Sarah Woodruff, an enigmatic and tragic woman with a blurry past, and he is drawn to her in ways that he does not understand.

Review: A rich, enchanting work that functions on multiple levels. On one level there is the basic story of Charles and Sarah, their unavoidable passion for each other, and the complications that brings to Charles’ engagement to the traditionally feminine Ernestina. On the other level The French Lieutenant’s Woman is also a reflection on Victorianism and the values of that age, especially Victorianism as it contrasts against modernism. Fowles is particularly concerned with that fine edge, that sense of fin de siecle.

Fowles also writes a lot about the nature of writing itself, and the capacities of fiction. The metafictional aspect of the novel comes from his narrator’s constant interjections about the characters’ motives and decisions. It’s a self-reflexive novel in that it draws attention to the art of writing a novel, as well as the characters’ own life beyond that of the writer’s intentions.

With all that said, The French Lieutenant’s Woman seems like it would run the risk of being dry and boring, pseudo-intellectual with no entertainment. That’s far from true. Fowles writes in a lively manner that kept me interested even when he talked about things that didn’t interest me.

Conclusion: I can see why it’s so popular. One of those novels that’s hard to define because it doesn’t seem like it should be good, but it is. ( )

Sometime in the mid-1970s, when I was home from school (and looking for something new to read), I picked up a paperback in my parents’ library. The red-orange cover, the graphic of a woman lost in thought, the title The French Lieutenant’s Woman, all intriguing. I was riveted. Drawn quickly into the story and the storytelling, engaged on an emotional and psychological level, finding in the words, the story an echo of almost primal origin. A connection that no other novel had ever approximated, even as Fowles, the novelist, kept reminding me this was fiction.Some months, maybe even a year afterwards, my Dad and I went to a bookstore in Coconut Grove, Florida that sold ‘used’ books exclusively. It was the first trip I’d made to a ‘used books’ store, and in it I found a handsome, hardcover copy of The French Lieutenant’s Woman. My memory of the event is not particularly vivid. As with so many experiences, it is lost to the corners of time, a dust mote. But what I do remember is the flood of sensations set in motion as I studied this slightly worn copy of the hardcover edition: the mood of the dust jacket, its enigmatic beauty, so much greater an honor to the qualities of the novel. (If one can attribute causality to a single event, with that purchase, I became a book collector.)After completion of undergraduate studies, I traveled for three months to Europe. It was the autumn of 1979 and this was something of a last fling before I embarked upon the ‘rest of my life.’ During my time in England, I traveled to Lyme Regis, the setting for this novel, spent a largely rain-swept week with my journal and camera. I walked along the Cobb and in Ware Commons. The time alone was peaceful and contemplative. And yet, in keeping with the more muted tones of the novel, the visit was colored by a saddened almost inexplicable sense of loss. I drew down into myself, my journal, conscious and self-conscious, Adam thrust out of the Garden.Of course, through the passage of time (and with the disappearance of untold leisure hours), that sense of 'separation' has stilled to a soft echo. Now, nearing thirty years later, there are all the commitments of work and family, the pursuits, distractions and fulfillments of life. But there remains the ‘memory’ and in the memory the shrine we erect to preserve it. ( )

Not as impressive as it is popular; another psychological game... and some mysteries to solve. Not such a deep analysis of the human nature though. A story to be discussed in school. ( )

Clever book that gives more than one possible future and also steps back to look at the way a story and its characters take on a will of their own. Also lots of information about Victorian life. Worth rereading. ( )

One of Fowles' two best, along with Daniel Martin, although I have a soft spot for A Maggot as Well. You'll enjoy the latter if you like Iain Pears An Instance of the Fingerpost. ( )