The Ordeal of Richard Feverel: A History of a Father and Son
George Meredith, Clean Bright Classics
Paperback
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, July 21, 2017)
The Ordeal of Richard Feverel: A History of a Father and Son by George Meredith, 1859. Sir Austin Feverel's wife deserts him to run away with a poet, leaving her husband to bring up their boy Richard. Believing schools to be corrupt, Sir Austin, a scientific humanist, educates the boy at home. This involves strict authoritarian supervision of every aspect of the boy's life, and in particular the prevention of any meeting between Richard and girls of his own age. Richard nevertheless meets and falls in love with Lucy Desborough, the niece of a neighboring farmer. Sir Austin finds out and, disapproving of her humble birth, forbids them to meet again, but they secretly marry. Sir Austin now tries to retrieve the situation by sending Richard to London. Here, however, Sir Austin's friend Lord Mountfalcon successfully sets a courtesan to seduce Richard, hoping that this will leave Lucy open to seduction by himself. George Meredith (1828 - 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. He had a keen understanding of comedy and his Essay on Comedy (1877) remains a reference work in the history of comic theory. Though he had difficulty achieving popular success, he was well regarded by other writers. His contemporary Sir Arthur Conan Doyle paid him when Sherlock Holmes says to Dr. Watson "And now let us talk about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all minor matters until to-morrow." Oscar Wilde said of him, "Ah, Meredith! Who can define him? His style is chaos illumined by flashes of lightning".