Miss Havisham-esque

Miss Havisham-esque

See also: Miss Havishamesque

English

Adjective

Miss Havisham-esque (comparative more Miss Havisham-esque, superlative most Miss Havisham-esque)

1. Alternative form of Miss Havishamesque
   • 2002, Catherine Alliott, A Married Man, BCA, CN 108881, page 63:

     Poor Lavinia, jilted two years ago by Piers, the fiancé whose feet had frozen solid just as the invitations were going out and the presents were rolling in. She’d never quite got over it, and whilst not exactly Miss Havisham-esque in her grief, had nevertheless gone into a steep decline.

   • 2005, Tara Ariano; Adam Sternbergh, “The Suburbs”, in Hey! It’s That Guy!: The Fametracker.com Guide to Character Actors, Philadelphia, Pa.: Quirk Books, →ISBN, LCCN 2005924791, section “Celia Weston: Hey! It’s That Vintage Southern Belle/Lockjawed New England Matriarch!”, page 212:

     The last of these, [K-PAX,] in fact, is practically a parody of all blowsy Southern dames; [Celia] Weston plays a Miss Havisham–esque hospital inmate who, in her dementia, still makes up her face and puts on her costume jewelry and sets her table as if eternally expecting a gentleman caller.

   • 2006, Deanna Kizis, “Closing Costs”, in Finishing Touches, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Warner Books, →ISBN, pages 155–156:

     The surrounding homes were crazed with schizophrenic tastes and priorities. A Craftsman that bohemians had painted purple and orange hallucinated next to a Miss Havisham–esque country where shredded Fourth of July decorations were still hanging around the doorway.

   • 2009, A. J. Hartley, What Time Devours, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, chapter 64, page 264:

     He wasn’t sure what he had expected, some Miss Havisham–esque shrine of dust and cobwebs, perhaps, but this was not it.

   • 2013, Travis Elborough, “We Were Somewhere Around Barstow: Lake Havasu City, Arizona, 2011”, in London Bridge in America: The Tall Story of a Transatlantic Crossing, London: Jonathan Cape, pages 240–241:

     In the days immediately after the bridge opened in 1971, the shadowy figure of a woman in a long Victorian black dress was reputedly seen walking over the bridge. Press articles from the period wondered, though never especially seriously, if this might be the transplanted ghost of a jilted Miss Havisham-esque bride who had committed suicide, or a murdered cockney prostitute whose body was dumped in the Thames.

   • 2015, Alison May, Sweet Nothing (21st Century Bard series; book 1), Choc Lit, →ISBN, chapter nineteen, page 112:

     She’s a tall, thin woman who, whilst wearing glasses, has disappointingly opted against a half-moon style over which she could peer schoolmistress-like at overly exuberant brides. It is a mystery; why do truly miserable, unhelpful people choose to make their living in jobs that are completely reliant on their ability to be friendly and provide a service? In this case, I can only guess that some past trauma has left her with some Miss Havisham-esque compulsion towards bridalwear.