'not only reflected ..., but also the fact that ...'

Question

I found this sentence:

Margaret Thatcher’s legendary nickname Laura Norder not only reflected her political preferences, but also the fact that, like most of her compatriots, she pronounces law and order with an intrusive /r/ between law and and.

^{(From: Perception of intrusive /r/ in English by native, cross-language and cross-dialect listeners. Annelie Tuinman, Holger Mitterer, Anne Cutler.)}

Almost instantly, the use of not only and but also of the sentence jumped out right at me. My first instinct was like: this is incorrect, it should be "reflected not only ..., but also the fact that, ...". (Another possibility I think possible is: "Not only did Margaret Thatcher's legendary nickname ..., but also the fact that, ...".)

Then again, maybe I think too much, and it's not really incorrect, just a matter of style.

What is the right way to think of the sentence?

Answer 1

When written as per your example (with extraneous verbiage stripped):

[It] not only reflected her political preferences, but also the fact that [...] she pronounces law and order [that way].

The parallel construction isn't between "not only" and "but also", but between not only reflected and but also [reflected].

It is as if there's a second implicit copy of the verb there, not unlike how in English we can say:

She gave him the book, her the scroll, and the rest of them photocopies.

So:

[It] not only reflected her political preferences, but also [reflected] the fact that [...] she pronounces law and order [that way].

Answer 2

It's a bit confusingly structured, but the basic structure is

A not only reflected B, but also C

Where A is

Margaret Thatcher’s legendary nickname Laura Norder

B is

her political preferences

and C is

the fact that, like most of her compatriots, she pronounces law and order with an intrusive /r/ between law and and.

Me, I'd write it differently, but I'm not a Writer-with-a-capital-W.