Estella's Revenge

I sped through this over the weekend. I read Great Expectations many years ago and the character of Miss Havisham has always stuck in my head. In Estella's Revenge, she comes to life, becoming far more than the haunted woman in her wedding dress sitting over her wedding breakfast - here she becomes the instrument who molds Estella into a woman who doesn't know how to relate to others - brought up afraid to trust, she makes wrong choices and ends up married to the totally horrid Bentley Drummle. Barbara Havelocke has obviously done her research and she makes the era come alive for the reader. I loved the dual timeline which seamlessly blended Estella's past and present making it easier to understand why she does what she does. Some beautifully written characters - apart from Estella and Miss Havisham, I particularly liked Yvette and the awful Pockets.
A story with great depth touching as it does not only on the fate of women of that era but on the crushing effects of poverty. I look forward to reading more of Estella's story.

I've not read Great Expectations, but I was drawn to read this by both the book description and the cover. I am so glad I did. It is not a retelling of the book but from Estella's point of view, rather than Pips.

Told over two timelines, the storyline moves seamlessly between her younger years and her marriage.

The storyline explores the toxic relationship between the mother and daughter. Her mother was badly let down and so teaches Estella how to treat people. The background of Miss Havisham and an explanation of sort into why she's how she is. I didn't expect this.

The only non-toxic friendships she had were between her and Pip and her female companion. Pip would just accept everything she threw at him. She couldn't marry him because she knew he loved her, and eventually would hate her.

Beautifully written, I really did not want this to end.

I loved Great Expectations and I always drawn to Miss Havisham so to get read her daughter's story was so exciting!

Estella's Revenge by Barbara Havelocke was an entertaining and enjoyable historical fiction.
With a mystery that kept me turning the pages. I really enjoyed the setting and found it to be compelling.
The great storyline and character development made for a quick and fun read.

Thank You NetGalley and Canelo for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Estella’s revenge is a historical fiction set in 1835 London where arranged marriages are all the rage and all anybody cares about is propriety and status in London society.

Estella is engaged to Bentley and it is going to be the wedding of the century. Everybody is anticipating and gossiping about it.

“ ‘We will be the talk of the town. We will hold all of London in our thrall, Estella. Everyone will want to be like us. And then – then it will be the whole damned country who will be in our power. Lord, together, nothing can stop us.’”

We immediately get the impression that this isn’t your typical pairing, and it definitely isn’t a love match.

“The man I’ve chosen to wed is not a good man. He isn’t kind or charitable; if asked to give alms to the poor, he would ask what the poor have ever done for him.”

After the wedding reception we get a lot of dialogue from guests, and come to see how vapid they are. One man’s wife recently passed away and he acts nonchalant as though he doesn’t have a care in the world. People here are toxic, that much is clear.

Things spiral from there and Estella, being the strong minded woman she is, is forced to decide whether to embrace her situation or to do something about it and enact her vengeance and revenge.

This is a quirky, gothic, poetic writing style and I found it thoroughly entertaining. I enjoy the historical dialogue immersing the reader in atmospheric times of the past. If you enjoy tales about rotten men getting their comeuppance this may be the one for you.

Thank you to Canelo and NetGalley for a copy!

Having read most of Dickens' works, Estella's Lament was a dream to read. Stunning in its authenticity and a treat for those who lament the limited amount of books available from the era.

The Pickwick Papers and Great Expectations are my favourite works of Dickens and I have to say, Barbara Havelocke achieved that seemingly impossible task of remaining authentic to the original book, whilst writing in a manner accessible to a new generation of readers (I have discussed The Pickwick Papers with American friends who were put off by the language for example)

Being somewhat a purist in respect of classic literature, I felt that Barbara Havelocke's recreation is perfect in bringing Dickens into the 21st century, whilst keeping the story and prose firmly rooted in the era

The story is told from the perspective of Estella and it is atmospheric, dark, and reflects the original work beautifully. We delve deeper into the minds of our beloved characters, gleaning a greater understanding of the bitterness, the pain and resentment. The weaving of the two timelines is artful and immersive

I believe that this book will in time be shelved next to Great Expectations as an essential complimentary read and I do not make that compliment lightly. Stunning

Thank you to Netgalley, Caneo Hera and Barbara Havelocke for this outstanding Arc. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Full disclosure: I have never read “Great Expectations”, nor any other book by Charles Dickens. I know some of the stories, as most do, through movie retellings and such. I knew next to nothing about Pip and Estella.

Thus, I went into this blind. I just knew that the premise intrigued me. Well, it held up exceptionally nicely. It was fascinating to get inside Estella’s head. How could anyone not be wholly damaged by that upbringing? Yet Estella is able to overcome many, many obstacles. Her cleverness and cunning know no bounds. She is a marvel and a masterpiece. Do not make the mistake of pitying her or showing her an ounce of kindness, for she will, at the very least, skewer you with one piercing glare. If you’re unlucky, you’ll see the dancing weasel.

(Alas, poor Pip…)

You simply must read this book.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo/Hera for a complimentary eARC. All opinions are my own.

Wow! What a wonderful compliment to Great Expectations this book is.
I must admit I went into it with a touch of trepidation, as Great Expectations is my favourite Dickens work and I didn't want it sullied in any way. Well I needn't have worried. The author, new to historical fiction, is a pen name for an already hugely popular psychological thriller writer whose works I have already loved, and this new book is their equal.
Tense and twisty this is the story of Estella, the story of Great Expectations, but told from the young womans perspective and very effectively.
Unsurprisingly, having grown up as the ward of the strange and twisted Miss Havisham, Estella is a little bitter herself. What she has been told about men by her jilted and embittered adoptive Mother, is reinforced by her dealings with men and she grows more and more vengeful and vindictive throughout the book which is told in two timelines, then and now.
Splendidly complex, the author takes an already formed characters and really gets inside her psyche, creating and riveting and satisfying read.
I do hope we see more of this kind of historical novel from Barbara Havelocke, and I eagerly await her next book

Based on Dickens' Great Expectations, the author recreates Estella's story and gives us a glimpse of Miss Havisham's in this novel with a gothic atmosphere and a narrative that keeps you turning the pages until the surprising ending.
We see how Miss Havisham forges Estella's personality through her opinions and actions. Although there is no doubt of their love for each other, there is also a rebellious streak in Estella.
As an adult, Estella's decisions, biased by her upbringing and rebelliousness, lead her down a different path than expected, with unforeseen consequences.
Perfectly recreating the atmosphere of the time, the author introduces us to great characters and creates an compelling story.

I received this ARC through netgalley in return for an honest review.

What a roller coaster! I was unprepared for this to say the least. I have never read Great Expectations, but this book almost makes me want to (I just don’t love Dickens). The plot is split; we have a past Estella who her mother is honing to be a weapon of revenge against all men, and current Estella, who realizes she has to form her own life. The plot is interesting, but not overly so. More intriguing than anything, I wanted to know more about why her mother was the way she was. Definitely a character driven book, but the plot wasn’t bad.

The characters… the only truly lovable character is Pip. By the end, I liked Estrella and her mother, and maybe even Yvette, but that’s truthfully the only characters I enjoyed and connected with. This is intentional, though, as this book has LOTS of villains (even Estrella is a villain for a bit). They have dimension and are well thought out, even if some of the characters are a bit… stuck in their ways.

The writing was surprisingly easy to read. When I went into this, I did not realize it was written in formal English. That being said, it isn’t overly superfluous or difficult to read. I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly I could absorb the authors words and meanings considering most of what I read nowadays is pretty modern fiction.

All in all, I enjoyed this. There’s even a bit of LGBT+ representation, which is nice for a book set in this time period. I won’t say it’s my favorite book ever, but it has a nice redemption arc. I wonder what happens to her after the conclusion of the book, but I appreciate how the author ended it. 3.75⭐️