Book Review: Oh Dear, Maria! by Abigail Ted

Oh Dear, Maria! by Abigail Ted

Book title: Oh Dear, Maria! (* Amazon affiliate link)
Author: Abigail Ted
Genre: Historical fiction
Published: November 1, 2022
288 pages
My rating: 4/5

“For Maria Harrington, there was no greater satisfaction than that which could be found in her own misery. It had always been the way, and there was no explaining it, at least not by the lady herself; misery was her oldest, most-beloved friend, and she was forever in search of this companion.”

Maria Harrington is a stubborn, self-centered, and melodramatic daughter of a power-hungry merchant father and a mentally ill and absent mother. Her father forces her into a marriage with a debt-ridden Member of Parliament, Honourable Mr. Jackson—a man she used to love but now despises. At first, she is sure to make everyone know how miserable she is, and it doesn’t take long for her new husband to realize Maria is more than just a ticket to financial independence. She is also an emotional time bomb whose explosions range from comical to terrifying.

Oh Dear, Maria! is a debut novel by indie author Abigail Ted. The book is a humorous Regency pastiche, following the footsteps of classic satire such as William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. That alone made me eager to read this book, as Vanity Fair is one of my favorite classics. I must admit I was slightly disappointed, but that’s probably because I was setting my expectations too high. This book does what it promises, although it does not quite reach the level of the masters it takes inspiration from.

As Amazon categorizes this book as humorous literary fiction and literary satire, I expected this book to be more laugh-out funny, but the themes addressed in this book are heavy. The content warnings include physical and sexual assault, slavery, racism, suicide, and mental health problems. These topics are handled with the gravitas they deserve, but that makes the book’s categorization as humorous a bit of a mismatch.

The main character Maria is simultaneously likable and infuriating. As you get to know her backstory and childhood, her characterization makes more sense, but that happens quite late in the story. I would have loved to see more character development on Maria’s side, but as this is a first book in a trilogy, that hopefully happens in the later books. The other characters range from likable to despicable, but all are complex and well-rounded characters.

I found the beginning of the book difficult to get into. Not so much the writing style, although that will take a bit of getting used to if you’re not familiar with the 18th and 19th century writing conventions which this book imitates (although I’m not sure Regency era people would have said “no idea,” like one character in the book). My biggest problem in the first 10 % of the story were the constant time jumps and flashbacks, which made the timeline of events slightly confusing. Once Maria and Mr. Jackson got married, the story became more interesting and easier to follow.

This book is definitely not to everyone’s taste, but if you like 18th and 19th-century satire, I would recommend this book. Ted’s knowledge of the 18th and 19th century history and literature shines through on every page. Four stars to this solid indie debut!

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