genuinely a lot i found really interesting here. i felt for pamela. it’s inherently a fascinating situation to read about today: recognisable yet ultimately alien. i liked how writing was portrayed within the text, as such a source of power  to keep, and such an act of love to give. i thought the stakes were compelling. i found the romance interesting, certainly, and thought you could really see the roots of more modern ambiguous romances in it, which use their problematic elements as a source of titillation or empowerment (i am thinking about the film secretary specifically, although i don’t think liking that means liking this), which is a lens which makes what pamela a little less grim. i genuinely found this notable and provoking.

unfortunately it also took me forever to read and was often a real drag and could have easily been a hundred pages shorter, with all its minutiae and repetition.