Author: George Sand
Publisher: Oxford World Classics
Publication Date: 2008 (1832)
Pages: 278
Format: Paperback
Genre: Classics
Source: Gift
The first novel that George Sand wrote without a collaborator, this is not only a vivid romance, but also an impassioned plea for change in the inequitable French marriage laws of the time, and for a new view of women. It tells the story of a beautiful and innocent young woman, married at sixteen to a much older man. She falls in love with her handsome, frivolous neighbor, but discovers too late that his love is quite different from her own. This new translation, the first since 1900, does full justice to the passion and conviction of Sand's writing, and the introduction fully explores the response to Sand in her own time as well as contemporary feminist treatments.
As shameful as it is to admit, Indiana is actually the first book I have read by George Sand despite having been familiar with her name for at least twenty years. Overall, I really enjoyed it; it was a quick and entertaining read. The prose was descriptive and passionate and I found the plot engaging. Yes, at times I did want to slap some sense into the title character; however, I am viewing her actions from a modern perspective and it is understandable that, in that time, she would have been sheltered and naive enough to fall for an obvious rake. The book certainly held my interest throughout, and on the strength of this piece, I would like to read more of George Sand's works in the future. Indiana gets 4.5 stars from me, which I will round up to a five.
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