I picked this because it was a free classic, and I had just dumped money on a new kindle after the first one's heroic demise

turns out, it's quite good.

basically, a Victorian suspense novel that truly had the suspense. in spite of the contrivances of the plot, it was definitely a page-turner and sometimes filled me with a sense of dread (me of all people)

a lot of the strength of the book rests on the character of Marian Halcome, a proto-feminist heroine who is well-depicted and intensely likeable

the sympathies and social sensibilities of the author were quite advanced for his time, though the book did suffer from some prejudice toward anyone who was not English

anyway a lot of the first half of the story was...a slow inexorable buildup of dread, and even though you think you can see it coming from a mile away, you really can't

very long book but didn't drag, partially also due to multiple narrators (many of whom were unreliable and quite colorful)

and a hell of a villain who is undeservedly obscure in the canon of classical villainy

it's been a long time since I read something where good was flat-out good and bad was bad :^) it was quite enjoyable however