Ann Veronica (Penguin Classics)

By H.G. Wells

Book Overview

Twenty-one, passionate and headstrong, Ann Veronica Stanley is determined to live her own life. When her father forbids her from attending a fashionable Ball, she decides she has no choice but to leave her family home and make a fresh start in London. There, she finds a world of intellectuals, socialists, and suffragettes - a place where, as a student in Biology at Imperial College, she can be truly free. But when she meets the brilliant Capes, a married academic, and quickly falls in love, she soon finds that freedom comes at a price.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141441097
• ISBN13: 9780141441092
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Length: 313 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.6" x 0.8" x 5.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

"Why can't they be like we were perfect in every way?"

"What's the matter with kids today?" Lyrics from "Bye Bye Birdie" Ann Veronica "Vee," asks the question "why can't a woman be like a man" and sets out to find out why. She discovers all sorts of men, some stuffy and some devious. She may one day stumble over the perfect man; she will never find me. She tries to be independent and is thwarted at every turn; that is until she realizes there are better things to do than just compete. We get to grow with Vee and go through several long dissertations, Ayn Rand style, over political freedom, love, equality, and whatnot. All the talk loses its way and with dumb luck returns to the story. We are treated to a travelogue and scratch ourselves with a long talk about the prison dingies. Just as it starts to get interested the story stops dead in the middle of a thought. The story is ok, and some of the subjects brought up are still relevant today. However, if you look a little closer at the story, as with much fiction is just a venue to express H. G.’s concept of free love. The illustrated versions do not illustrate anything interesting.

A great novel

I'm not much of a novel reader, especially of realistic fiction. But I wanted to read this one, just to see how HG Wells handled such a novel. I was also intrigued with the themes I'd read were involved. I immediately felt at home in the milieu of the novel. And though male myself, I completely identified with the young female protagonist, a college student in biology who leaves home to strike out on her own. In the process, she finds out about the ups and downs of "real life". The story is told almost exclusively from her point of view. Of course, the setting is now 100 years ago, but there was almost nothing in the novel that truly dated it. All the characters had motivations and acted in ways that seem completely contemporary today. I became completely enthralled with Ann Veronica's life and adventures, even staying up late to finish the book. She became a real person to me. In terms of this edition of the book, not only are there end notes explaining allusions and other points, but also there is a very useful glossary included which defines unusual words. Of course, there is also a helpful introduction by a contemporaty critic, as well as a preface Wells wrote to an edition of the book published in the 1920s. I can easily see this novel being adapted for Masterpiece Theatre. With enough publicity, I think it could become a top seller again today. It is definitely a story for the ages.

The journey of a woman and a society into modernity

Firstly, even though the author is H.G. Wells you should not harbor any notion that this is a work of science fiction.It is however a rather interesting story of the dual coming of age of a woman and a society in a time of dramatic social change. This book provides the missing link between Jane Austen's era where the notion of an independent woman encompassed little more than a woman who did not automatically marry the first man of means who proposed to her and our modern era where we fully accept the notion of a "man-equal" female character like Heinlein's Friday. And the transformation is a most interesting, exciting, and at times enlightening one. As Ann Veronica wanders through the political and social landscape of Victorian England we are exposed to the rather startling sentiments of the time and the rather harrowing and bold adventures she undertakes in her journey to freedom, as well as to a panoply of interesting characters (like the man hating Mrs. Miniver and the absolute cad Mr. Ramage).This book is not for everyone, but it is a very worthwhile and entertaining read if you can get into it.

My daughter's name is Veronica Anne...

My daughter's name is Veronica Anne, and I ran into the Project Gutenberg edition of this text on a routine websearch. I'm halfway through the book, and loving it! I hope my Veronica grows up to be as independent and spirited as Ann Veronica. :)

Best Book I Ever Read

This is the best book I ever read. I own 2 copies of it, one so I always have it in the house if I want to reread it (which I have many times) and another so I can let friends borrow it! "Ann Veronica" is a woman after my own heart, she lives life in her own way and doesn't listen to what anyone else wants her to do. She follows her dreams and her ambitions and lives a wonderful life. Every woman should read this book!

Wonderful, early feminist love story

"Ann Veronica" is one of the best coming-of-age stories I've ever read. It's a compassionate, funny, and knowing tale of a girl discovering her feminist freedom and her heart's desire. Though it was written in 1906, it still resonates with what young women -like me- go through today. Read it!