Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

I read this book for the following category in my 2016 Back to the Classics Reading Challenge:

 A 19th Century Classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899.

I had wanted to read this book for a long time, ever since seeing the movie version several years ago. It was a good story, but much too long. And don't get me wrong, I actually like long novels. But this one just made me feel that the author was being paid by the word. There were many MANY asides, or editorial comments, that seemed to go on and on. I kind of liked some of them at first, but after reading 680 pages, I just wanted to read about the characters.

The book is a portrayal of life and manners in London in the early 19th century. The story is about Becky Sharp, a woman of no money or breeding, who tries to escape her place in life as governess to Sir Pitt Crawley's two young daughters. It follows her and several other characters over the course of about fifteen years. I rate it 3 out of 5.