Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
In this sequel to his popular works Is Heathcliff a Murderer? and Can Jane Eyre Be Happy?, John Sutherland unravels thirty-four new literary puzzles, once again combining erudition with bold investigative speculation. In addition to these new conundrums, Professor Sutherland revisits some previous puzzles with the help of readers who offer their own ingenious solutions and who set fresh puzzles for exploration. Victorian drug habits, railway systems, sanitation and dentistry are only a few of the details that shed light on the motives and circumstances of some of literature's most famous characters. Elizabeth Bennet, Betsey Trotwood, Count Dracula, Anna Karenina, Alice and many more come under the spotlight in John Sutherland's highly entertaining collection. Bringing good humor and good sense back to literary criticism, Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet? offers scintillating forensic exercises that are as compelling as the plots they dissect.
Editorials
Daniel Zalewski
Such blemishes are often quietly covered up in modern scholarly editions. But John Sutherland shines a bright spotlight on authorial blunders in ''Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet?,'' the third volume in his series ''Puzzles in Classic Fiction.'' (The first two books, published in 1996 and 1997, are ''Is Heathcliff a Murderer?'' and ''Can Jane Eyre Be Happy?'') Conceived as cheeky companions to Oxford University Press's World's Classics series, the books form a hilarious anthology of the English novel's most pretzeled plots, glaring anachronisms and chronological contortions. These paperbacks, each containing around 30 tart essays, have been hits in Britain. Readers here should equally relish the way Sutherland stitches together the dangling threads of English literature...Apart from their considerable insight, these essays are delightful to read.—The New York Times Book Review