A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott


A Long Fatal Love Chase
Title : A Long Fatal Love Chase
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0440223016
ISBN-10 : 9780440223016
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 356
Publication : First published January 1, 1995

"I'd gladly sell my soul to Satan for a year of freedom," cries Rosamond Vivian to her callous grandfather. A brooding stranger seduces her from the remote island onto his yacht. Trapped in a web of intrigue, cruelty, and deceit, she flees to Italy, France, Germany, from Paris garret to mental asylum, from convent to chateau - stalked by obsessed Phillip Tempest.

Two years before Little Women, serialized in a magazine under the alias A.M. Barnard in 1866, this was buried among the author's papers over a century.


A Long Fatal Love Chase Reviews


  • Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell

    So you probably didn't know this, but Louisa May Alcott of Little Women fame also wrote a sensual villain romantic horror story of a woman fleeing from her obsessive and psychotic stalker.

    So obviously you know I'm going to read it. 😈

  • boogenhagen

    A Long Fatal Love Chase -- this is a true gothic story and while I respect various opinions that it is a stalker book, a statement for feminism and a tale of escape from abuse, to me this book is a dark romance. Tempest could be an early prototype for Anne Stuart's H's and I have wanted to ask her if she ever read this book.

    The story is an interesting juxtaposition between innocence and carnality and has a lot of duality. The very name Rosamond has dual meanings -- it can mean either "pure rose" intimating innocence and chastity or it can mean "rose of the world" meaning knowledge and carnality. That double meaning pretty much describes the h of the book.

    Rose is drawn to the forbidden and Phillip Tempest is the greatest attraction she ever meets. Tempest is compared to Mephistopheles, and like Meph of old, Tempest is both seducer and guide but it is Rose's will that makes it so. She is a woman who likes dark passions and she is determined to experience them. Rose has a yen for bad boys and Tempest really fits the bill. Tempest is a liar, murderer and thief, but he is also passionate and romantic.

    Rose and Tempest start an affair and then Rose finds out that Tempest is already married, she is torn between the real world conventions that she is a scarlet woman living in sin and the deep yearning that overwhelms her whenever Tempest is near.

    When Rose leaves Tempest, it isn't out of fear, it is a combination of shame and furious anger, plus Rose's determination that Tempest is going to suffer. She may love him more than life, but she is going to win this contest of wills and he will come begging.

    She tries to justify herself by saying the love of a good woman can save Tempest, but in actuality she is in thrall to his sexuality and he is going to have to work hard for his love slave, and in that light, the whole running off and him chasing her scenario's become a kind of extended foreplay.

    Curiously, Tempest never himself physically abuses Rose or even speaks harshly to her. I believe Tempest truly loves her and IMO Rose takes off on this long, varied journey more to keep him interested in her charms and focused on his predatory instincts.

    Tempest is the cat and she is the mouse who really wants him to pounce and play. Rose is very aware that Tempest has more sophisticated tastes and her inexperience is not a bonus. She has enough perception to realize that Tempest wants a challenge and she feels she is up to the task.

    In the eyes of the world, her relationship with Tempest is disgraceful at the very least and thus her internal conflict between wanting to be acceptable in the world and her craving for the passion Tempest brings her. Taken together her anger at his deception, her lust for him and also her ladylike morality all blend together to create a passion that is both wonderful and hateful to her.

    Rose was raised to be good, her head tells her she needs respectability and social status, her heart just wants to be passionate with Tempest and there is no real way to reconcile the two. Rose also thinks she wants to be free but she has the need to submit/depend to a more dominant power and this conflict plays out in her vacillation between Tempest and Ingatius, the Pure Hero Priest and the power struggle between the two.

    Her love for Ignatius has a dual role as well. He becomes her conscious and he becomes her forbidden lure. Again Alcott chooses to emphasize the duality that this story has so much of. Iggy wants Rose like no other woman ever but he is a priest and it is his purview to emphasize the virtues of the time.

    Pure love with no physicality except in the bonds of marriage, obeyance to duty and respectability - these are Iggy's precepts and it is more his will that Rose is expressing when she says she hates Tempest. It is Iggy's determination that keeps her running even when she doesn't have to anymore and it is his words of forbidden love that keep Rose on the straight path until the end.

    I suspect that had Iggy been the one to die, Rose and Tempest would have again run off together and that just wasn't socially acceptable at the time. Alcott uses heavy foreshadowing throughout the story and so when Rose tells Tempest " You will never have me again this side of death." It is a good bet that the ending will not be a traditional HEA.

    Alcott was reputed to be greatly enamored of the works of Charlotte Bronte, especially Jane Eyre. Many of the elements in the beginning of this story are a sort of homage to JE. The age difference between Rose and Tempest, the emphasis on the goodness/innocence of Rose. The "mad wife" allusion and the bigamy.

    I suspect she also had a fondness for Emily Bronte if the ending of the book is anything to go by, she certainly seemed to like Heathcliff given Tempest's resemblance in many aspects. The ending of this book strongly resembles Heathcliff's death and supposed reunion with Cathy in the hereafter.

    Tempest, once again becoming the dominating force in Rose's life and ousting his rival permanently, finally succeeds in getting Rose in his full possession once again. Granted he kills her and then himself, but I have a feeling that LA secretly thinks they are together in eternity but overtly gives the impression of tragic justice done.

    Tempest's final words of "mine in the grave" further convince me that the deaths at the end are really meant to be an HEA but the only acceptable way LA could get the couple together was to kill them and hope for a better afterlife.

    Ultimately, A Long Fatal Love Chase can be interpreted in a lot of ways, but for me it was a really good love story and an intriguing lesson at what lies under the surface of a lady who I had always thought of as an entertaining, beloved but kinda moralistic author.

  • Aditi

    “Wild roses are fairest, and nature a better gardener than art.”

    ----Louisa May Alcott


    First let's just wish this talented and brilliant author, Louisa May Alcott, a very, very Happy 184th Birthday and we will only hope that her stories be loved, read and adored by all ages of readers from around the world. And on this special occasion, I'd like to pen a review piece about one of her not so popular book, A Long Fatal Love Chase which is targeted for mature audience and was written before her literary success for the books like Little Women, Little Men, Eight Cousins etc.. Although this particular book has not been widely read or loved by the readers, but I would like to notify such readers to not to judge the book harshly as this when she wrote this book, this young writer was on the road to financially support her family and did not even begin her writing career professionally at that time.


    Synopsis:

    Rosamond Vivian, brought up on a remote island by an indifferent grandfather, swears she'd sell her soul to Satan for a year of freedom. When Philip Tempest enters her life, she is ripe for the plucking, but is soon caught up in a web of intrigue, cruelty and deceit stretching back far into the past. Remarkable for its portrayal of a sensual, spirited Victorian heroine, Louisa May Alcott's work, too shocking to be published during her lifetime, tells a compulsive tale of love, desire and deceit. Its publication more than a century after being written marks a new page in literary history.


    Rosamond Vivian is a charming, innocent and love-sick eighteen year old teenage orphan living with her cynical and mediocre grandfather in a small and remote island off the coast of England. Soon a handsome stranger sweeps her away with his promise of love and marital vows. Enter, Phillip Tempest, an old, mature and impossibly good-looking stranger with a yacht has arrived on the very same island where Rosamond lives with her grandfather. Within an instant, young Rosamond falls for the old, delectable man who speaks of a glittering future with hope, love and extravagance. Within a few days, Philip and Rosamond gets married and sets sail across the ocean. And after their journey, they settle up in a countryside town in Nice, along with a man-servant named, Baptiste and a child servant, Ippolito. Little did beautiful, naive and newly married Rosamond that her marital life is set up on lies and deceit that finally forces the young woman to escape the wretched life and that is when the great chase begins across the whole Europe from Italy to France to Germany, until death soars up across the feet of Rosamond.

    This great book is perfect for those readers who love to read about Gothic love stories as well as highly thrilling romantic tales and that too with a touch of violence, darkness and fear. The author here explores the darkness of a human nature as well as relationships that are tied with marital vows. The book is interesting enough as each chapter ends with a cliffhanger that begs its readers to keep turning the pages of this book till the very end. The story is both beautiful and dark at the same time and only an author like Alcott could possibly achieve that with equal intensity. Hence the more the book allures, the more it will terrify.

    The writing of this amazing author is so brilliant and striking that the readers are bound to feel the underlying mood of the story line. The narrative is equally engaging although it rarely falters from its own flow and misdirects towards boredom. The readers, no matter what, will be able to find the dialogues comprehensible enough to make them feel for the characters' ongoing plight. The pacing is really swift as there are chase scenes penned with extreme thrill and suspense that will soar the temperature of the readers while reading about the young woman's journey from one country to another.

    The mystery concocted by the author is tightly wrapped under layers of twists that will only increase tension and anticipation of the readers. Reading this story will make the readers feel like riding high on a roller coaster ride that is filled with adrenaline rushing scenes, exciting and equally terrifying moments and lots of baffling challenges. The story will grip the readers right from the very beginning with its intensity of sweetness but then scares the hell out of the readers' mind when the chase begins.

    The characters are very poorly crafted hence the readers will struggle to see beyond the characters and into their deepest core and that's the only disappointment I've while reading this book. In a nutshell, this is a riveting love story that is horrifying and equally compassionate enough to make the readers feel the bridge between the two.

    Verdict: A classic read that will never lose its charm, no matter how many times a reader reads it!

  • Adrianna

    Review Dedication: Many thanks to
    Cafe Libri Yahoo Group member and now
    Cafe Libri Lunch Community member Cari for her help with the research for the review.

    This was one of the best emotional roller coaster rides a book has taken me on in a long time. I have never been a fan of Louisa May Alcott's books because they always felt a little too wholesome.
    A Long Fatal Love Chase, however, shows that Alcott was able to write about the darker sides of human nature, especially as it concerned obsession.

    The book not only explores the obsessive dark nature of humanity, but it takes the reader all around the nineteenth century European continent. It begins and ends, though, in a very fitting setting: a remote island off the coast of England. On this island lives a young and naive eighteen year old girl, Rosamond Vivian and her heartlessly indifferent grandfather. After just a few pages into the book, Phillip Tempest, a devastatingly charming and handsome man who is twice Rose's age, sweeps the young heroine off her feet as they travel the world in his yacht the Circe. The setting changes both because of their travels after being married and because of the infamous chase. The reader is taken across Italy, France, and Germany to a variety of locations such as a convent, chateau, and even a mental institute. The settings are brought to life with dark and vivid details. There are also many land marks that alert the reader where the chase has taken the characters next.

    It's important that the setting takes the reader around the world because otherwise we wouldn't understand the fervor of the chase. Everything begins like a typical love story, but even then there are a lot of foreshadowing hints of darker days to come. Rosamond, in her naiveté, does not understand who Tempest really is before it's too late. About six chapters into the book, the dichotomous natures of the characters really becomes apparent--the innocent versus the experienced. The good and wholesome girl versus the power hungry evil man. It is at that moment when Alcott takes the reader on the most dangerous chase where freedom, and even life and death, are at stake.

    Because the book was written in chapter installments for a newspaper, each section ends with a mystery that pulls the reader deeper into the story. This is the perfect tactic to keep the reader on edge as if she or he were being chased in real life. This writing style brings the story and plot to life. Unfortunately, the character development suffers. Rosamond is the only one who ever adapts and changes during the chase. She begins the book at eighteen years old, a sheltered and lonely girl, and ends the book around twenty-two or twenty-three years old, jaded and suspicious of those around her because of the Tempest's harsh treatment and unfailing pursuit. The rest of the characters feel a little flat because they are created to represent extremes about human nature. There are numerous points where the reader feels as if Tempest is changing and growing, but he always reverts back to old and comfortable habits. Ignatius, Rose's monk and confidant, is the polar opposite of Tempest. He represents all that is good and healthy about love and sacrifice while Tempest represents the overindulgence and control that men from history often felt about life, especially during the Victorian era. Rose's grandfather seems different by the end of the book, but the reader never sees how or why he changes because we are too busy with the chase. Other supporting characters, such as Baptiste, Tempest's faithful servant, and Lito, Tempest's little Greek servant, offer interesting surprise developments during the progression of the story. Regardless of whether the characters seemed "realistic" in their presentation, every single person the reader meets adds to the mystery and suspense. There were many surprises as it's discovered that appearances can be deceiving, even with minor supporting characters.

    The themes and motifs of
    A Long Fatal Love Chase are tied to the characters with the most obvious theme being that appearances can deceive. There are lots of allusions made to the devil and Mephistopheles, a demon who worked for the devil. Other themes included women's freedom from an oppressive and patriarchal society, reflected in the role of a husband, women's yearning for monetary freedom to travel the world, whether or not monks and priests should have the religious freedom to marry, and the most important motif--love. Love is explored in all its heavenly glory and darker depths. The reader is drawn into questions about whether love is fleeting, if it change over time, and who can truly claim that he or she loves someone based on their actions. Love takes on its own life as it becomes a character in the book. Love is obsession. Love is not letting go of someone, or even the idea of someone. Love is powerful and destructive. Love changes. It's the most interesting exploration of love since William Shakespeare's tragic play
    Romeo and Juliet.
    A Long Fatal Love Chase was easier to indulge one's imagination into because the language was not as convoluted or archaic as Shakespeare's. This attribute is because
    A Long Fatal Love Chase was written in the Victoria era.

    Because the book was written in the Victorian era, it relied on traditional Gothic elements to hold the reader's interest throughout the mystery and suspense of the story. There were dark storms, eerie descriptions of people and buildings, and little mysteries that weren't solved until many chapters later in the book. The cliff hanging chapter endings also contributed to the Gothic and "sensational" feel of the book.

    Along with the Gothic literary devices, there were many similes and metaphors used throughout the book, like comparing Tempest to Mephistopheles. These literary and mythological references were difficult to note or understand without some education of the history of literature. There have been many critics who speculated that
    Louisa May Alcott included these cultural references as a shortcut in creating her characters, tones and moods; after all, she wrote the book in just two months! Some references in
    A Long Fatal Love Chase include "Mariana in the Moated Grange," a poem by
    Alfred Lord Tennyson about a young woman who is abandoned by her lover when she loses her dowry. Ganymede is referenced to describe the Greek boy Lito (Ganymede was an attractive Greek boy who became Zeus' lover). Even the character of the monk Ignatius can be compared to the Catholic Saint Ignatius because of their demeanor, attitudes, and histories. For those who are reading
    A Long Fatal Love Chase and want more information on these literary references, check out
    the text file located in the Yahoo Cafe Libri Reading Group.

    Some members in the
    Yahoo Cafe Libri Reading Group likened the story to something that Jo from
    Little Women would have written even going so far as to provide quotes from that book. Jo did in fact write sensational novels but unlike
    Louisa May Alcott, whose story was published posthumously in 1995, experienced success with her writing. Alcott's original reason for writing the story was similar to Jo's--they both needed to make money to provide for their families. Although brilliant as a transcendentalist, Alcott's father struggled to support his wife and children.

    Though
    Louisa May Alcott never published
    A Long Fatal Love Chase in the reading magazine as originally planned (it was most likely dropped because of the scandalous content), it represented many of her sentiments in regards to women's rights. Alcott wrote about ideas that were unpopular in her lifetime through the guise of this "sensational novel." During a time period when it would have been unpopular to say that women deserved to have freedom from their husbands, had a right to divorce, and should be allowed to keep their children even after said divorce, Alcott spoke out in a loud clear voice. She firmly believed that women should not be treated like objects to be owned and conquered as she expressed in
    A Long Fatal Love Chase. Because of the unpopularity of these ideas, her manuscript was overlooked. Alcott has no answers to many of the questions she raised in
    A Long Fatal Love Chase, like why Tempest was so obsessed with Rose, but she does show how a bright young flower can wither and fade from being held too tightly. A woman needs space to breathe, and this book hearkens to many sentiments that would be later expressed by Virginia Woolf's essay
    A Room of One's Own.


    A Long Fatal Love Chase is highly recommended to any reader, no matter your age, gender, or ethnicity. It is a compelling read because of its fantastic story that gets you thinking about major life issues. I fervently hope that this book is adapted into a film because it would be amazing to see this story brought to life through a visual interpretation. Though many parts are predictable to a close reader because of the overuse of foreshadowing, the ending still leaves a chilling feeling in the pit of a reader's stomach. It's a story that I will remember forever and would gladly read again just to live through the chase, both the romantic and frightening aspects of it, one more time.

  • Rachel

    If you've ever wondered what Jane Eyre would be like if it was written by the author of 50 Shades of Grey while high on bath salts, well, LOOK NO FURTHER.

    The book jacket of my version of this travesty of plot and character development is splashed with "a newly discovered, previously lost novel from the author of Little Women!"

    Well, let me stop you right now, because this book has about as much in common with Little Women as it does with a kumquat. Also, maybe it was "a lost novel" for a reason. And maybe we'd all be a lot happier if it had stayed lost.

    The basic plot is that a "fresh and innocent girl" (gag) meets a handsome and mysterious stranger (of course).

    LittleWomen

    He marries her, whisks her away for a year to the South of France, and then she discovers his TERRIBLE SECRET and runs away and he runs after her. (Sound sort of familiar?)

    Laurie

    Of course, along the way, we meet all sorts of original characters like evil priests, evil nuns, evil manservants, angelically beautiful pageboys, and well-endowed actresses.

    What really makes the book special, and also the reason I almost stopped in the first chapter, is the INSANE LANGUAGE.

    He had drawn her out of the moonlight into the little room and still holding the hands that unconsciously clung to him he said, imploringly, “My child, never go back to this man. I know him and if I dared sully your innocence with such knowledge I would tell you the history of his life. You love him still and struggle against your love, feeling that it will undo you. He knows this and he will tempt you by every lure he can devise, every deceit he can employ. Sorrow and sin will surely follow if you yield; happiness never can be yours with him; doubt, remorse and self-reproach will kill love, and a time will come when you will find that in gaining a brief joy you have lost your peace forever.


    Jesse

    kurt

    doctor

    Also, the main male protagonist? His name is TEMPEST.

    Frog

    I'm not even done with the book yet--I still have about 1/3 to go, but I figured my opinion is not going to change. I AM going to finish it, if only to find out what kind of batshit crazy ending is pulled out at last. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because it's gotten so insane that I'm kind of enjoying the mayhem.

    Fingers crossed for an amnesia plot twist!

  • Mariel

    I was reading Little Women in the school library one ever so wintery day and it was ever so fun to pretend I was just making fun of it. The movies are so stupid. It seems like someone is running out with some big news every other minute. (This is spoilerish, if you're Joey on Friends.) "Oh my god! Beth just died!" Then someone else runs in. "We're having twins!" And then "Daddy died in the war!" And then "I'm getting married!" "My novel was published!" "The nazis are coming!" On and on with the news. Maybe it isn't as wholesome as I'm remembering. The headlines are The Commish instead of The Shield (I've never actually seen The Shield). I do know that Alcott had a sick teen girl side that would've written trashy fanfic about her favorite characters from Twilight. Was it a bad thing that it remained unpublished until the slutty 1970s? They loved smut in the '70s. Bodice rippers and Luke and Laura. Maybe it is better to concentrate on story rather than what you think the public does or doesn't want. The news is delivered much the same way, only more tabloid sensation than the boys in Newsies.
    This is just a reenactment using actors of me in the library feeling stifled by wholesomeness just like Ms. Alcott. I didn't take photos at the time.

    "I wanna read sexier stuff! I was alive for nearly three months of the '70s! How many of these *beep* books are there gonna be?"
    Rosamund lives on a crappy island with her crappier grandfather (or was he her uncle?). She has no friends, never gets to do anything. She's pretty desperate. Straight out of any trashy gothic horror story, a mysterious rogue appears just as she's wishing to be taken away.
    Grandpa barters her away to the man in a card game. Rosamund is delighted by the man because any company seems like good company after what she's had.

    Any guy seemed cool after the guys I knew. Any steamy book seemed good. Maybe it was fun to write this stuff. Alcott probably shared filthy letters with L.M. Montgomery.
    Oops, forgot to mention that his name is Philip Tempest. He has a creepy little slave boy that he "saved" who lives with him on the yacht he takes Rosamund away on. Rosamund falls for the boy, and the sexing. It's only when she discovers that their marriage is false (Philip is already married! Gasp!) that she starts to think that maybe all of that sex isn't changing his soul and he just might be a creep who has slave boys on his ship, among other things like bullying women.

    Rosamund runs away and he always finds her. Eventually, she stays in a convent to fall in love with a priest.
    Tempest isn't giving up his ass until he's done with her. True love will not prevail. That's The Thornbirds.
    Alcott didn't try to pretend Tempest was an okay man. He gets away with it because he's a psycho killer like in a Rutger Hauer movie. Or the Energizer bunny. Unfortunately, it still reads like a silly gothic novel despite that. I didn't like that whole had to be married thing over being a total creep thing.
    Bonus points for the nuns!
    It'd probably make a better (as in bad tv) movie starring some fun actors.

  • Tara

    I had a really hard time with this book because the antagonist in the story is just horribly manipulative, controlling, and scary. For the first almost 3/4 of the book, I felt like I just had to endure Tempest's evil nature. Having said that, it did keep me reading in hopes to find some resolution and peace for Rosamond in the end. Well, peace of some degree came for a time in the form of a dear, attentive, true friend, Ignatius the priest. I loved watching this relationship form with he and Rosamond, a stark contrast to Rosamond and Tempest's relationship. It was just full of goodness. It is when this dear priest appeared more frequently in the book that I most enjoyed reading it.

    There was one point in the book when I felt compassion for Tempest as he appeared to have a conscience and some hope of goodness (only appeared, nothing really existed). It was when he returned to his ex-wife's place, discovered his son was alive, and gave Rosamond the information from her grandfather. My compassion didn't last beyond that moment, and Tempest proved he had no goodness as he killed Rosamond in attempting to destroy Ignatius, as he plunged a dagger into his own chest, and as he attempted to take and have Rosamond, even in the grave. His dying words were, "Mine first-mine last-mine even in the grave!" What a horrible man!

    I loved Ignatius's peace and confidence in the end, after losing his true love. When Tempest is trying to take Rosamond's body and is saying she is his, Ignatius says, "She is mine and you can never take her from me, for in time I shall rejoin her in a blessed world where such as you cannot enter. Nothing can part us long; our love was true and pure, and though forbidden here it will unite us forever in the beautiful hereafter." I loved that, in a way and eventually, Rosamond will get her happily ever after. I loved, too, that the idea of eternity, heaven, and continued relationships is brought forth. I thought this ending resulting in Rosamond's death was really perfect for the story. She would have never been free from Tempest had one of them not died. The love between her and the priest could have never resulted in union. So, while I hated to see Rosamond die after suffering so much and having such little happiness, I think that her happiness will yet be great.

    In conclusion, it really didn't like the story for the most part, but the conclusion intrigued me and the characters caught my attention in the end.

  • Katie(babs)

    A Long Fatal Love Chase has a true obsessed villian, a heroine on the run from him and a man she loves but can never have. For fans of Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, this book should be read and kept on your keeper shelf.

    Rosamond our heroine wants adventure and to live life. She is bored nd borderlined depressed. She thinks her savior comes to her as an old friend of her grandfather's. Philip marries Rose and whisks her away. Things seem to be perfect in their marriage. Philip and Rose have an incredible love and life. Simply everything Rose ever wanted.

    But then Philip's secrets come out. Rose runs away and hence the name of the book comes into play.

    Where as Philip started out as the too good to be true hero of this piece, he turns into an obsessed madman. He needs Rose back to complete his life no matter the cost to her or those she encounters.

    Philip is so oily and sneaky that even though he does harm the heroine, he can't see the right or wrong in the situation. He has no morals and wants to win. Rose comes across as the stereotypical nieve heroine (Hey, she did love the man afterall) but she learns fast and tries to outwit Philip anyway she can, but the results don't end the way we the readers think it will.

    For suspense, drama and an adventure of wits between two passionate people, this book has everything.

    This is defintely not Alcott's "Little Women". A very dark and brooding story.

  • Tarissa

    Here is a tale of love and love lost. Of good verses evil. Of an angel and a devil.

    Be forewarned, this is quite a departure for our beloved Louisa May Alcott, if you're wanting another great American novel such as Little Women – with it's quaintness, happiness, and steadfastness in family and sisterly love. 'Love Chase' is much darker and more dramatic. In fact, it was so sensational that even though Louisa's publisher asked her for a novel with “absorbingly interesting” cliffhangers, he couldn't accept this product of her imagination and print such a scandalous story... In fact, it remained unpublished for more than a hundred years after her death, until chance landed it into the hands of just the right editor who would dust the cobwebs off the story and bring it forth to the public in 1995.

    Rosamond Vivian, a sheltered 18-year-old who lives with her uncaring grandfather in East England, has finally found a bit of adventure... in the shape of a visitor to their little island, a visitor named Mr. Tempest. Away naive Rosamond is swept, in a flurry of frivolous fun and deceit.

    “He was simply a man without a conscience. Do you know, Rose, I sometimes think I have none.”

    Rosamond takes it upon herself to turn her lover upon the right path in life. Tempest freely warns her in the first days of their companionship that he is not a good man; he certainly couldn't be confused with a saint. I did love her response, “No, everything is possible with God. I do not give you up. I pity you, and love can work miracles, so I shall still hope and work.” Girl, you get an A for effort, because that's a tall order.

    “Rose, remember one thing. I am master here, my will is law, and disobedience I punish without mercy.”

    This life of adventure with an all-too-charming man begins to take its toll on Rosamond. She is unable to bear the days half so cheerily as he strives to defeat her in emotional games. He toys with her mind, and with her very being, her soul... the chase is on. It's a chase that was destined from its misguided start to end in tragedy of some kind.

    “You love him still, and struggle against your love, feeling that it will undo you. He knows this and he will tempt you by every lure he can devise, every deceit he can employ.”

    Note to the discerning reader: There's so many topics covered in this book, such as suicide, murder, divorce, bigamy, deep obsession, and one too many other dark secrets. To be honest though, I didn't feel that any of this was too “sensational”, especially for modern readers.

    To me, this novel certainly feel like an epic piece of refined literature such as 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (without Hugo's additional inner essays, thank goodness), combined with the intensity and intrigue of a Gothic classic such as 'Rebecca', and a unique cast of characters such as would be found in any Dickens novel. Don't overlook 'Love Chase' simply because it is one of Alcott's lesser known publications, as it ranks well with these other classics in terms of pathos, and a unique perspective on human nature.

    This is a story where our American authoress takes on the task of painting a colorful European landscape, creating a heroine who lives in England, not the States. In fact, Louisa, I'm sure, used much inspiration from her own European trips to vividly tell us all about some of the other countries whose shores are touched in this roller-coaster tale, as the love chase bounds from location to location.

    Overall? Certainly it felt thrilling and suspenseful while each chapter passed. What fun it truly was to discover a different facet of Louisa's writing skill.

    Reading age level: This is considered to be one of the few “adult” novels that Alcott wrote.

    My favorite quote – just a random snippet that I love, when singled out from the book...

    “What now, my little bookworm?” he asked, as he threw himself down on the couch near the table where she sat reading and lit his cigar always laid ready for him.

    My 2nd book is complete for the Louisa May Alcott reading challenge on
    www.inthebookcase.blogspot.com
    .

  • Amy

    This book is very much like what Little Women's Jo (the character most like Alcott herself) would have written. Her phrasing at times is overly dramatized, much as her original "sensationalized" stories may have been. The style is similar to her other book The Inheritance. What I really loved about this book was the timeless theme of obsessive love which isn't really love at all, but a distorted sense of posession/ownership of another human being. Tempest's relentless pursuit of Rosamond is classic in the current themes of stalkers and abusive husbands of today. ****SPOILER ALERT**** Interestingly, she did not have a happy end to her story as many of these situations don't. However, it did somewhat take me by surprise but was perfectly fitting for the tone of this story. Although the language/style is dated and much exaggerated at times, I really enjoyed it and would love to see a film version.

  • Laura

    This was quite ridiculous. But, at the same time, on a more serious note, it also hit a contemporary chord when you look at Phillip Tempest's behaviour and his obsession with Rosamond. It was almost stereotypical stalker behaviour. Doing everything he could to catch her and not leave her alone, not accepting that the relationship was over, not respecting Rosamond's decision and desire to live her life the way she wanted and also thinking that his love and obsession were utterly benevolent in nature.

  • Quo

    In attempting to review a book one did not choose but which was chosen by a book discussion group, there would seem to be different variables at play. Not having read Louisa May Alcott's novel, Little Women, I was initially somewhat taken aback by the endpaper notes detailing the author's rediscovered book, A Long Fatal Love Chase, words about "a passionate cry from a beautiful, impetuous young woman marked by obsessional love to a man named Philip Tempest", prose that caused the novel to seem at the outset like a Harlequin Romance. Oh well, why not spend a few of my post-retirement hours drifting along through the latter part of the 19th century with Rosamond Vivian, after Mr. Tempest has "stolen her away like a pirate" from the safe but boring life Rosamond has known caring for her grandfather on a small island somewhere on the east coast of America following the death of her mother.



    There is some resemblance to Marguerite's situation in Faust as Rosamond, a part-time seamstress. declares, "I often feel as if I'd gladly sell my soul to Satan for a year of freedom", something the dashing, wealthy, man-of-the-world Philip Tempest offers her in abundance, sailing off with the virginal Rosamond on his plush yacht, Circe, to his villa, garlanded with countless rose bushes & called Valrosa, an estate in Southern France, after 1st concocting a mock wedding in order to satisfy the grandfather's need for propriety. Alas, the quest for freedom is short-lived as Mr. Tempest becomes increasingly possessive & domineering.

    Apparently, Alcott wrote not just books that seemed to empower women but others that portrayed damsels in distress, oddly enough the former at the insistence of her publisher & the latter to earn money to pay for the upkeep of her family, especially her idealistic but financially impoverished father, Bronson, friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau & other "Boston Brahmans" of the day. Curiously absent is any mention of sexuality or even anything approaching overt sensuality in the novel, but perhaps this is not extraordinary given the timeframe & the publishing limitations in place when A Long Fatal Love Chase was written.

    What could possibly lift such a plot beyond the domain of a shadowy romance novel this reader began to wonder? Actually, it was the quality of the prose, a feature of A Long Fatal Love Chase that propelled the reader onward, chapter after chapter, rather like being drawn into another time & place, with details of life there that seemed quite compelling, particularly the scenes in France & elsewhere in Europe as Rosamond as victim flees from place to place, occasionally in disguise. There is a wealthy older man, Comte' de Luneville, who wants to marry Rosamond after she vanishes from Tempest's French villa, a Jesuit priest named Fr. Ignatius who offers assistance & possibly intimacy as well, as she escapes the clutches of her presumed-husband, after being captured & then bolting yet again + many other colorful characters. In time, Tempest engages Fr. Ignatius in a hand to hand scuffle, unwilling to relinquish Rosemond.



    At some point, Philip Tempest, whose initial interest in Rosemond was one of "indolent amusement" seems himself enslaved or at least mesmerized by what I took to be a genuine love & most certainly a clutching dependence on Rosamond, "for he did give himself over completely to the task of charming this woman." Philip declares that he has never served a woman as he has Rosamond and if he stays with her much longer, he "shall be completely subjugated, ruled with a rod of iron". A sample of the prose that conveys the spirit of this transformation:

    Well as she thought she knew him she was surprised at the discovery of unsuspected resources, accomplishments & traits of character. Before he had not been obliged to exert himself to win her young heart & even when fondest had also been imperious. Now the task was harder, for her heart was shut against him; time had only made it more precious in his eyes and both love & pride united to recover the lost treasure. All that day he was devoted to her, a slave now, not a master. Gentle, yet gay, lover-like yet not presuming, he read, talked & entertained her with untiring pleasure. Wrapped her up & drove her along the mountain roads, beguiling the way with legends of ruin & river, or leaving her to enjoy in silence the loneliness which no words could describe. In the evening he established her on a nest of pillows & whiled away the twilight hours with music, singing song after song with a power & passion which would have melted the heart of any woman. Vainly did Rosamond endeavor to resist the spell but it was too new, too sweet & subtle to withstand, for never had he sung to her before.
    I hesitate to give an indication of the eventual outcome of the story to any potential reader but found the conclusion abrupt & less satisfying than I'd wished for. Okay, I do realize that I am at risk in admiring this novel but so be it. Louisa May Alcott never married or had a serious romantic relationship with a man, or so it would seem. Nevertheless, I considered A Long Fatal Love Chase a well-conceived story with many subtexts, including references to Shakespeare's The Tempest, operas in vogue during the period of the story + details of travel about Europe and to London that I found sufficiently interesting to award the novel 4 stars.

    To be sure, one has to suspend disbelief to a certain degree to be open to this sort of novel, which I regard as a fairly gentle form of time-travel. Above all, I admired the seeming complexity with which Alcott cast the curious but disabling relationship between Rosamond & Philip Tempest. Based on my reading of this Alcott novel, I am certainly encouraged to read the author's best known novel, Little Women, an American literary classic.



    Concurrently, I read a biography of the author, Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography by Susan Cheever that I found of interest but rather too much about Ms. Cheever rather than Ms. Alcott for my comfort. What was of interest was the mention that Louisa May Alcott served as an influence for Henry James. At one point Nathaniel Hawthorne lived next door to the Alcotts and Herman Melville as well as Henry James & Henry David Thoreau were visitors.

    The spirit of the Transcendentalists (as they were called) influenced Ms. Alcott and Thoreau and Emerson served as her mentors. Alcott also befriended Margaret Fuller, fellow Transcendentalist & early women's tights advocate. The author, often a slave to her need to raise money to keep her family afloat, aptly used her contacts with distinguished men & women + her own love of books to translate life into literature of her own making. *8 pages of B&W photos accompany Susan Cheeever's biography. **The 1st image within my review=Louisa May Alcott at a young age & the 2nd is of the Alcott home.

  • Veronica

    Most know Louisa May Alcott as the author of Little Women, but as this is my first book of hers, I’ll know her as the woman who wrote a gothic romantic thriller deemed “too sensational” at the time she wrote it in 1866. More than a century later, it was published; I am thankful it fell into the hands of Kent Bicknell who made it possible for me to read it today.

    Who wouldn’t love a tale of

  • Corinne

    This is quite possibly one of the COOLEST finds I have found in a bookstore (shout out to Pioneer Book, you guys rock). Seriously, it's called "A Long Fatal Love Chase" and just look at that cover. And it's written by our very own Louisa May Alcott. I could not wait to read this book, and man what a ride.

    Ok first the back story is important here. So Louisa wrote this book right after she'd had a crazy year abroad in Europe and she needed money for her fam bam. The publisher told her to write something that people couldn't put down, and this is what she wrote. Honestly, I think she did a pretty good job with her assignment. But the publisher guy found it "too long and too sensational." I mean??? Seems like a him problem and not a her problem because HELLO she completed the assignment! Men. *sighs with exasperation*

    Anyway... so someone found the manuscript and published it in 1995. And now we have it! Yay! This book is so super cool because it shows a side of Lousia that we don't fully see in her other books. I mean, Little Women is objectively the better of the two books, but this book is a little more untamed and a little more explicit in its feminism. It for sure has some flaws, but it was so interesting to read. However, I will say that they maybe hyped it up a little too much when they published it. And like obviously I do not blame them for that. But sometimes it's a bit problematic. Like multiple reviewers called it "erotic." Nope definitely not erotic. I don't even remember a single kiss in this novel. And it's a little disturbing that "erotic" is a word someone would use to describe this book because it makes me feel like they're romanticizing abusive behavior, which is definitely not ok.

    Because honestly that's what this book is about. It's about how Louisa lived in a society in which men held the power, and that kind of society kills women, even women who are pure and good and everything that society tells them to be. She exemplifies this through the abusive relationship between the main character, Rosamond, and a man named Philip Tempest (I know some people think his name is ridiculous, and I get it, but I actually thought it was cool haha).

    Back on track. Rosamond expressed this main idea really well in the book when she says, "I am solitary, poor and a woman; he powerful, rich and a man whom all fear. The world which rejects me though I am innocent will welcome him, the guilty, and uphold him." (Pg 153) WOW. What a line, am I right?

    I would say the best part of this book is the beginning-middle (Pg 70-170). This is where the pace of the novel really picks up and you don't want to put it down. It's also where you really see Rosamond's determination and strength. She refuses to submit to the abuse, and you as the reader root for her. In this section I also LOVED the female relationships. There was so much of women supporting women and it honestly made me tear up. So beautiful. Chef's kiss. I would give this section 5 stars honestly.

    After that it gets a little repetitive, and you start to see the plot twists coming. Also this Ignatius character comes into the story. And I have nothing against him, but I honestly think he was completely unnecessary and the book would have been better without him BECAUSE Rosamond starts to stand up for herself less and relies on this dude to stand up for her, which just isn't as cool to read about. And he had too much of a Savior complex and the way he kept calling her "my child" was super weird, I don't care that he was a priest. It was weird.

    The ending was written well, and although Louisa hints at it a lot so you know it's coming, it still surprised me a little that she actually went through with it. And I think it really drives in the points she is trying to make with this novel.

    So. In conclusion this book is cool because you get to see a *little* bit of a wilder side to Louisa. If that interests you, GO FOR IT. It's a fun read.

  • Abigail Westbrook

    I had heard of the humorous over-sensationalism of this book for years, and it did not disappoint. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, and even the ending was a bit of a surprise. An amusing read if you’re in the mood for a fluffy should-be classic.

  • Janell

    This book was fascinating although I have to admit that part of the fascination was reading an Alcott novel that was such a polar opposite from those I'm familiar with. This story has only recently been published. Originally considered too sensational, Alcott's manuscript was basically undiscovered until recently. According to the editor, she had published other thrillers but didn't become that well known as an author until the publishing of Little Women.

    The plot deals with several heavy issues for its day: murder, suicide, obsession and infidelity, to name just a few. Definitely not the usual subjects of Alcott's more famous books! Despite these differences, I recognized her style of writing as well as some of the moral issues presented. As a big fan, it was certainly great fun to see this other side to her work.

    The story itself was also enjoyable with a fairly shocking conclusion. However, the final closing lines were a little eye-rolling and definitely fell a little flat for me. Since most authors make changes before publishing, I'd like to think these final lines would have been changed if Alcott had gone through the editing process with a publisher. Regardless, this is a must read if you are an Alcott fan!

  • Ava Catherine

    Louisa May Alcott has always been one of my favorite authors, but in
    A Long Fatal Love Chase we are introduced to a completely new Alcott writing style. She did not publish this book, which was written for magazine serialization, probably because it was considered too scandalous during her lifetime. This book is a romantic thriller that addresses women's issues important to Alcott.
    I found myself wondering if this was the kind of book Jo March might have written since it has all the elements of her time period and is definitely written by a strong woman.
    I love this book on many levels. It is a wonderful book about women's rights, and it is a treasure that was unearthed after many years among Alcott's papers, which she did not think would ever be published. It is a great romantic adventure.

  • Dana Loo

    Un po' spiazzante questo romanzo della Alcott. Inedito fino a pochi anni fa è un misto fra un gotico e una sensation novel, con un plot ricco di personaggi, di colpi di scena, rapimenti, inseguimenti (un po' troppi) fanciulle indifese, carnefici, salvatori. Una storia d'amore tra passione e crudeltà con un protagonista senza scrupoli ossessionato dalla bellezza di una ragazza giovane ed innocente che, sulle prime, resta abbagliata dal fascino di quest'uomo ma, soprattutto dalla libertà che le permetterebbe di vivere una vita finalmente ricca ed eccitante. Poi però, scoperta la sua vera natura, fugge disgustata e iniziano così tutta una serie di inseguimenti e situazioni un po' paradossali che si concluderanno nel più tragico dei modi. A tratti avvincente, a tratti un po' meno, ti costringe però ad andare fino in fondo per scoprire il destino dei protagonisti in un finale un po' ingarbugliato che lascia un po' l'amaro in bocca...

  • Megan

    It's fun to read the kind of thing Jo wrote during her "wicked" days--and find that she wasn't very wicked at all. Rosamond is as innocent a heroine as ever wielded a needle, which is a relief. (But the romance between her and the priest was weird, to say the least. I wouldn't describe Alcott as anti-Catholic, but she CLEARLY didn't get the beauty of priestly celibacy.)

    I'm rather miffed at all the online articles I've ever read that paint Louisa May Alcott as a frustrated sensationalist, who wrote little girls' stories because they sold, but to her grave desired nothing more than drama and passion flowing from her pen. If you ask me, the Sweet Louisa May feels much more real (and much less naive) than the Lurid Louisa May.

  • Grace, Queen of Crows and Tomes

    I loved reading this book! Louisa May Alcott was ahead of her time writing this novel, it's a shame that it wasn't published during her lifetime. This book tells the story of Rosamond Vivian and her unfortunate time being stalked by her former lover, Philip Tempest. Rosamond constantly tries to evade Philip and his servants and hopes to one day be able to regain her freedom. It was very gripping and I just had to know how it ended (and most of the chapters ended on a cliffhanger)! Check this book out if you haven't yet!!

  • mimi (taylor’s version)

    3 stars

  • Angela Gulbranson

    Delightfully, hilariously sensational. :) Recommend for those in the mood for an old fashioned Gothic read.

  • CindySR

    This would make an amazing graphic novel!

    Naive, lonely young woman longing for excitement goes to live with an older man who turns out to be a sociopath. After she learns a few unsavory things about him, runs for her life. The title is a spoiler so no surprises, except for Super Priest. Pretty interesting to read this, something LMA wrote before Little Women.

  • Jane

    “I tell you I cannot bear it. I shall do something desperate if this life is not changed soon. It gets worse and worse and I often feel as if I’d gladly sell my soul to Satan for a year of freedom.”

    A dramatic opening certainly, but those are the sort of words that I’d never expect to hear from the mouth of a Louisa May Alcott heroine.

    As the pages turned though I realised that the speaker, Rosamond Vivian was a young woman driven to extremes by her situation. An orphan, she lives alone with her grandfather in an island mansion, and, however much she tries, she cannot touch her grandfather’s heart.

    “I’ll go as soon as I can find a refuge and never be a burden to you any more. But when I’m gone, remember I wanted to be a child to you and you set your heart against me. Some day you’ll feel the need of love and regret that you threw mine away; then send for me grandfather, and I’ll come back and prove that I can forgive.”

    An enthralling conversation, but it is interrupted by the arrival of a stranger. A dark, mysterious, and charming stranger.

    Phillip Tempest sweeps Rosamond off her feet and takes her away as his bride.


    Yes, this is a melodrama, and a very entertaining one. The feeling never quite left me that I was watching characters acting, maybe overacting a little, on a stage rather than reading a book.

    Rosamond and Phillip live together, blissfully happy for some time. But then, a very different mysterious stranger arrives and Rosamond discovers that she has been cruelly deceived. She decides that she must flee.

    Rosamond never stops loving Phillip but she will not live with him.

    Phillip never stops loving Rosamond and will not live without her. Whatever the cost.

    And the drama darkens, and the chase begins.

    Rosamond soon showed herself to be a resourceful woman, with spirit, compassion and a strong moral core.

    Her story may be contrived and a little overloaded with symbolism, but it is never less than entertaining and it makes its points about the position of women in Victorian society well.

    The chase maybe runs on a little too long, but its ending is sudden, dramatic, and right.

    The curtain falls.

    A Long and Fatal Love Chase is an early and immature work, but it is very readable and it is easy to pick up elements of the style, themes and concerns that would appear in Louisa May Alcott’s later works.

    It even made me think a little of Northanger Abbey. Of Catherine and Isabella and their “horrid books.” Oh how they would have loved this one!

  • Becky

    My reaction to the first few pages of this book did not change as I continued through the story. From beginning to end, I continuously thought, "wtf??"

    You can read the synopsis yourself if you want to know the rest, but just know this: This is a tale of domestic violence, emotional abuse, stalking, murder, bribery, manipulation, corruption, entrapment, and pretty much any other sociopathic behavior you can imagine between people.

    The worst part is that he doesn't even get what's coming in the end. He kills her, thinking he's murdering someone else, then feels remorse only because he never won her back to prove he is undefeated, and kills himself, then dies holding her dead body and claiming she will be his in the end, like she was in the beginning.

    Like I said: Wtf?

    I will admit it's been a while since I read Alcott's more well-known works but what I do recall is that none of the characters in those books are psychotic obsessive killers. This book is an oddity.

    That said, I will acknowledge here that society was very different when Alcott wrote this story; women had even fewer rights and power than they do today, and men pretty much owned them as soon as they were married (and they had almost no hope of thriving as a single woman, either). Alcott's perspective is skewed by the world in which she lived (as is everyone's), and her story reflects the absolute worst in society, past or present. The difference is that in Alcott's world, it was easier to get away with these things, because women were of so little value that any argument was settled by the man's account, rather than the woman's, so it's actually believable that something like this could legitimately have occurred in Alcott's world.

    Still, I regret that Alcott didn't step up to the plate and deliver a satisfactory ending, or even much to appreciate in the pages leading to the end. The repetitive nature of the plot is tiresome, the main characters difficult to read and understand (even by the end), and nothing relieves the stress, frustration, and anger of page after page of terrorizing behavior.

    I would not recommend this book, nor would I ever read it again. It had potential to be a fantastical thriller with a heroic, fairy tale ending, but it falls well short of the mark and leads only to disappointment.

  • Kristi

    I really enjoyed a Long Fatal Love Chase. You can tell it is the same author of Little Women. At the beginning on one chapter, the description of the carriage going down the street at Nice is exactly idential of the description of when Laurie first appears at Nice spotting Amy in her carriage in Little Women. The main character Rose, has the description of Amy but the free will and determination of Joe.
    It also somewhat reminds me of Jane Eyre with the determined, mysterious, powerful, older gentleman that makes it his priority to succeed young free willed women into loving him when in all actuality he is hiding a secret. (In both cases, the secret is a previous still intact marriage to other woman which they no longer love). Both stories the man breaks the young womans heart, both women flee to other men and harder lives (even has religious references the same), but the difference holds in the ending of the two stories.

  • Teri

    [Did I loan this book to someone? I'm so bummed, I hate losing books and I can't find it!:]







    I had so much fun reading this book. It was considered too "sensational" to be published during Alcott's lifetime so of course it's pretty tame over 100 years later. A woman discovers that her husband isn't what she thought him to be and tries to leave him which makes him want her all the more. Hence the "chase". It's definitely not (note the underline, Michael) Little Women!

  • April

    It is no surprise to me that Alcott's publisher rejected A Long Fatal Love Chase. It is like a cheap harlequin romance in which the one dimensional characters play out ridiculous scenes. There are so many problems with the plot and story line, there really is no redeeming value to any of it. Read the title, and you've read the book.

  • Molly

    This book is so weird. The ‘chase’ that happens isn’t a love chase. Its an abusive man chasing a woman who he ‘married’ when he was lawfully married to someone else. He is literally a metaphor for the devil. He is disgusting. He kills several people and ruins 2 women’s lives. And in the end of the book, Alcott calls his feelings love. The hell?!??

    Anyways, it’s problematic.