The Bride of Lammermoor

Natalie Dessay in The Met's Lucia di Lammermoor

By Walter Scott, s.l., s.n., no date

Lucia di Lammermoor is my favorite opera, and I couldn't wait to read the novel behind the performances that I've loved so well.  What's better than Lucia's Mad Scene?  Big mistake.  I bought a horrible edition from Amazon without an introduction, textual notes, or anything to aid the reader.  The narrative is in standard English, but I don't read Scots!  I could get the gist of what occurs in any given scene without being able to decipher the individual words, but geez.  The narrative gallops along, and I tried to immerse myself in the Romeo and Juliet story of Lucia and Lord Ravenswood.  I did a little online research to better understand the political dynamics of 17th century Scotland, the setting of the story, but without the necessary context, this novel was a slog.