Not Wisely, But Too Well

"The most thoroughly sensual tale I have read in English for a long time," complained Geraldine Jewsbury in her reader's report on Rhoda Broughton's Not Wisely, but Too Well (1867). Initially serialised in The Dublin University Magazine, the novel had been brought to the attention of the publisher Bentley and Son by its editor, J S Le Fanu, who also happened to be Broughton's uncle. Although Jewsbury convinced Bentley that this novel was unsuitable for "decent people", she succeeded only in delaying its publication, as Broughton instead struck a deal with their rival, Tinsley Brothers. While Broughton ultimately triumphed, she was obliged to make extensive revisions, promising to "expunge it of coarseness and slanginess,