Physical description

Hard cover book. Syrlin
Author: Ouida/Marie Louise de la Ramée
Publisher: Chatto & Windus
Date: 1890
Further Information: Brown Cloth hardcover with lettering and patterning to spine in black. The spine has a Library label with an inscription.

Publication type

fiction

Inscriptions & markings

The label on the spine with typed text PAT 823 OUI
The Flyleaf has the name "Louise Ranie" written in blue ink.
Paste down front end paper has a sticker from Warrnambool Public Library covered by a sticker from Corangamite Regional Library Service
Front loose end paper has a stamp from Corangamite Regional Library Service

Summary

Syrlin was first published in 1890 as a three-volume novel by Chatto & Windus. It is also catalogued as Syrlin, or Position. The story follows Freda, Lady Avillion, who is married to a man who has never loved her and routinely cheats on her. She is perfectly pure and utterly cold, then a famous artist, Syrlin, falls in love with her and changes her life forever. One reader describes the novel as bleak, with no happy ending. It is one of the few Ouida novels that discusses English politics at length, and it is very much about social class and the role of the artist in society. Another reviewer says the hero's passion is given an unworthy object, so his suicide fails to move the reader.