Goodreads Reviews: Self-Raised

Self Raised by E.D.E.N. Southworth

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Upon finishing Ishmael, I was excited to read up on its sequel Self-Raised. However, I was somewhat disappointed, solely because the whole story did not focus on Ishmael, but rather the melodrama of Claudia Merlin. In the first book, Claudia Merlin is the spoiled, selfish heiress who has captured Ishmael's heart, but Claudia who is so intent on money and title could never see lowly Ishmael as her equal.

So Self-Raised, which is toted as the continuation of Ishmael Worth's journey, is actually just the soap opera of Claudia Merlin's actions. Now, the book was good, but I could hardly see it as a sequel to Ishmael Worth. While Ishmael did have his heroic moments, I didn't see any general development to his story. I was hoping for more challenging court cases, his constant fight toward injustice as well as untangling himself from the romantic web he's caught himself in. It doesn't help that Claudia is so very unlikable in the the first book, you find it hard to sympathize with her plight in the sequel.

The story itself is good, but unlike the first book it was more of a Victorian mystery novel that deals with deceitful spouses, murder plots, forbidden love, shipwrecks and the controversial issues of the slave trade in the United States. I wouldn't say the book itself is terrible, but don't go into the story expecting it to be about Ishmael Worth's life.