Estella’s Revenge
Writing a sequel or a novel with a character’s alternative perception presents challenges to the author, in that the reader needs to be at least familiar with the original work for it to make sense. There is the question of the degree to which the style and voice matches the initial book or presents a new departure. Barbara Havelocke revisits Great Expectations from the perspective of Estella, adopted daughter of the reclusive Miss Havisham, who narrates her story in the first person. Of course, Charles Dickens’ novel was not historical fiction, while this is. Estella is considered by literary critics to be one of Dickens’ most intriguing and effectively portrayed female characters. Raised by the jilted and psychotically embittered Miss Havisham to despise and to avenge herself upon the male gender, Estella’s character is warped and perverted, and the reader is shown another, firmly feminist, angle to her complicated life.
The need to keep to the overall parameters of the original book means that the focus on conventional historical fiction is occasionally disregarded, although the author admits that she has not kept slavishly to the plot and timelines of the original novel. There are some verbal anachronisms, and as the book progresses, the language seems to get more contemporary, suggesting the writer began to get a little cavalier as the narrative progresses towards the conclusion. There is a further sequel from the writer in the offing about the interesting and eventful life of Estella.
