I found this a bit slow-paced, with little excitement on the whole, yet it was good in parts.

The title character doesn’t feature all that much. Dora is more of a central figure rather than a leading lady.

The author has some good ideas but gives too much away with unsubtle remarks of what’s to come. By hinting at what’s going to happen later on, she lessens the impact of important events, thus reducing or even eliminating the suspense.

Ms Brame’s is also too fond of adjectives. The following quote shows how her frequent use of double adjectives results in clunky sentences:

“The children looked with frank, fearless eyes into his plain, honest face.”

Despite Ms Brame’s faults, I consider her a good writer with the potential of being a better one. Her overall plot in “Dora Thorne” is not flawed. It’s a well-constructed story. As mentioned, her elements of style and the unsubtle hints of what fate awaits certain cast members are the problems.

The characters are mostly well-depicted. My favourite is the beautiful Valentine Charteris. The author painted her vividly in terms of appearance and personality. Beatrice Earle is another strong character creation.

In short, “Dora Thorne” was worth checking out, but I wouldn’t read it again. ( )

This is the worst Victorian novel I've ever read. And I've really read quite a few.

Awful, sanctimonious melodrama, unrealistic in the extreme. I don't begrudge the Victorians their pulpy dime novels, but can they please be entertaining in addition to being unbelievable and trashy? Do the women have to spend all their time being wronged, weeping, and accidentally drowning? ( )