“A time will come when you will find that in gaining a brief joy you have lost your peace forever.”
Rosamond has lived a dull, dreary existence being the ward of her grandfather. Her only education and taste of romance has been through books. When she’s 18 years old, a stranger visits her grandfather for several days and befriends the young woman. He then wins her hand by gambling with her grandfather and while scared at first, she agrees to go away with him on his boat if they are married. Full of life and love, Rosamond thinks the world of Philip Tempest until she thinks him capable of murdering the young boy he has in his charge. She must flee and be free from him.
I picked up A Long Fatal Love Chase at a local library book sale. As Louisa May Alcott wrote it, I thought it would be something worth reading. It has sat in my to-be-read pile for a long time and I’m trying to make my way through many of the books in that pile this year.
As Rosamond flees, now knowing the dark side of her husband and finding out their marriage was actually an act, Philip makes it his main focus to track her down. As soon as she gets settled into a new life with the help of kind acquaintances and strangers, he finds her and gives her ultimatums. She then has to find a way to flee again. She even spends time in a convent where a priest falls in love with her, yet knows he can never marry her. The chase has its dark sides and Philip eventually learns that he cannot have everything he wants.
While A Long Fatal Love Chase is geared toward a mature audience, I think high school age readers would enjoy it. It speaks to a woman standing up for her beliefs and morals and trying to live a quiet life. Yet, there are stalkers out there and the world can be scary. True love can be found, but not all stories end happily. A Long Fatal Love Chase is a very good story, but very different from Little Women.
Have you read any other Louisa May Alcott books? Share your thoughts on them in the comments below!