Tag: 19th century

Review: The River of No Return

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River of No Return, TheBee Ridgway, The River of No Return

Nicholas Falcott, Marquess of Blackdown, is about to die on the battlefield at Salamanca. But instead of being trampled by a French cavalry horse, he suddenly disappears in a blaze of light and reappears in the 21st century. There, Nicholas finds himself under the protection of the Guild, a secret society of individuals with the ability to jump forward in time. The Guild provides Nick with a new identity, plenty of money, and enough information about the modern world for him to survive in the present. Nick believes it’s impossible to go back to his original time — until one day, out of the blue, the Guild leaders order him to do just that. They tell him about a rival group of time travelers whose attempts to change history will result in widespread disaster, unless Nick can go back to 1815 and stop them. But when he jumps back to his own time, he learns that the Guild is keeping secrets from him. He also reconnects with Julia Percy, his beautiful young neighbor who is somehow connected to this feud between time travelers.

This is a book I should have loved: it’s got Regency England, romance, intrigue, and time travel! But sadly, the novel’s underwhelming execution didn’t live up to its great premise. One of the biggest problems for me was the pacing. It took forever to set up the world and introduce Nick and Julia as characters. Once Nick jumps back to 1815 (about 1/4 of the way into the book), things pick up a little, but the pacing still drags. Nothing really important occurs until the last 50 pages or so, when the characters suddenly learn a whole lot of new information at breakneck speed. My other big problem with this novel is that NOTHING IS RESOLVED IN THE END. Nick eventually learns more about the future catastrophe that the time travelers are trying to prevent, but he doesn’t actually do anything about it. So basically, this book is one long setup for a payoff that isn’t going to happen until the sequel — and I don’t think it’s actually been published yet, so it could be a long wait! I’ll admit that I am a bit curious to know how things turn out, but it may not be worth the aggravation this book caused me.

Review: Newt’s Emerald

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Newt's EmeraldGarth Nix, Newt’s Emerald

After Lady Truthful’s magical Newington Emerald is stolen from her she devises a simple plan: go to London to recover the missing jewel. She quickly learns, however, that a woman cannot wander the city streets alone without damaging her reputation, and she disguises herself as a mustache-wearing man. During Truthful’s dangerous journey she discovers a crook, an unsuspecting ally, and an evil sorceress—but will she find the Emerald? (Summary from Amazon.com.)

A Regency romance with fantasy elements…of course I was going to like this book! 🙂 It’s actually the first thing I’ve read by Garth Nix, and I believe it’s somewhat atypical for him, but I’m still interested in reading more of his backlist now. I think my favorite thing about this book is the light, bright tone throughout. Even though the novel’s stakes are fairly high — the missing emerald is an ancient and powerful jewel capable of causing significant havoc — the plentiful humor and Regency elements make the book a very light, pleasant read. I also enjoyed Truthful’s adventures as a man, especially because they allowed her and her love interest truly to get to know each other, beyond the superficial interactions between ladies and gentlemen in Regency society. The actual romance wasn’t totally satisfying for me; it starts off with a nice slow build, but the resolution is extremely abrupt and comes very late in the book. But overall, I really enjoyed this novel, and so should any fan of the genre!

Review: Sorcerer to the Crown

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Sorcerer to the CrownZen Cho, Sorcerer to the Crown

The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, one of the most respected organizations throughout all of England, has long been tasked with maintaining magic within His Majesty’s lands. But lately, the once proper institute has fallen into disgrace, naming an altogether unsuitable gentleman—a freed slave who doesn’t even have a familiar—as their Sorcerer Royal, and allowing England’s once profuse stores of magic to slowly bleed dry. At least they haven’t stooped so low as to allow women to practice what is obviously a man’s profession…

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers and eminently proficient magician, ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up. But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large… (Summary from Amazon.com.)

This book ticks so many of my boxes — Regency England! Magic! Georgette Heyer comparisons! — that I knew it would be right up my alley. And my high expectations were completely justified: this is definitely one of my favorite books of the year! Zacharias is an immediately sympathetic character, his African descent automatically making him an outsider despite his theoretical position of authority. The other protagonist, Prunella, is equally appealing. She is headstrong and warmhearted, while Zacharias can be cold and reserved, so they make an excellent team. My gold standard for historical fantasy novels is Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, and Sorcerer to the Crown is very much in that tradition. I must say that the marketing for this book is terrible; the cover design implies a very different sort of novel, and the quote comparing it to “a cross between Georgette Heyer and Susanna Clarke” is completely inaccurate. It’s much more Heyer than Clarke, so if you’re expecting something similar to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, you’ll be disappointed. But I loved the book and am thrilled that there will be at least one sequel!

Review: A Proper Companion

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Proper Companion, ACandice Hern, A Proper Companion

Robert, Lord Bradleigh, is a rakish earl with a recently arranged betrothal to a lovely young girl he barely knows. Emily Townsend is an impoverished spinster employed as a companion to his grandmother, the formidable dowager countess. Robert agrees to help his grandmother find a husband for the beautiful Emily. But once he comes to know the charms of his grandmother’s companion, he begins to regret his hasty engagement.

This sparkling tale will take you from the Pump Room at Bath to the ballrooms of London as the unexpected and undeniable attraction between Robert and Emily blossoms into something more … something that could put one of them in danger. (Summary from Amazon.com.)

I’m going to be honest: I read this book about two months ago, and I truly don’t remember a thing about the plot. I think maybe Emily had another suitor who turned out to be evil in some way, but I’m not sure. And maybe Robert’s fiancée ended up falling in love with someone else? Like I said, the details have completely gone out of my head. So, obviously, this was not a particularly great read for me…but it wasn’t particularly awful either, or I would have remembered it! From what little I recall, the writing style was fine but not great; but after all, only a few authors can flawlessly imitate that Regency voice. I’m sure I did enjoy the book while I was reading it, because I remember looking up the sequels on Amazon (although I didn’t actually purchase them). I suppose lovers of non-bodice-ripping Regency romances would enjoy this book, but I can’t really recommend something that I can’t remember!

Review: A Curious Beginning

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Curious Beginning, ADeanna Raybourn, A Curious Beginning

London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, the orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as she is fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England now gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron with ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker—a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant, wary partners in search of the villainous truth. (Summary from Amazon.com.)

I’ve read and enjoyed the first few Lady Julia Grey books, so I was excited to learn that Raybourn has begun a new mystery series featuring intrepid lepidopterist Veronica Speedwell. Unfortunately, this book really didn’t work for me. It’s a good read in the sense that it’s well written and moves quickly, but I couldn’t get over my dislike of both Veronica and her partner/love interest, Stoker. Historical fiction can be difficult because the protagonists should be realistic for their time period but also sympathetic to modern readers. Veronica errs on the side of being far too modern for her era. She pursues a scientific career by traveling all over the world without a chaperone, and she engages in a variety of sexual affairs, apparently without any consequences to her reputation as a gentlewoman. I simply didn’t find her believable. As for Stoker, he’s a generic brooding alpha male type, and that’s basically all you need to know. It’s not a bad book, by any means, but it didn’t deliver what I look for in historical fiction.

Review: The Lure of the Moonflower

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Lure of the Moonflower, TheLauren Willig, The Lure of the Moonflower

***Warning: Possible spoilers for previous books in the series!***

This last installment of the Pink Carnation series finally tells the story of the Pink Carnation herself, Miss Jane Wooliston. It’s 1807, and Napoleon’s armies have invaded Portugal. Officially, the Portuguese royal family have departed for South America; unofficially, the mad Queen Maria is still in the country, providing a focal point for the Portuguese resistance. If the French capture Queen Maria, it will be a decisive victory for Napoleon, so Jane is determined to prevent it by finding her first. But since she is ignorant of both the Portuguese language and the country’s terrain, she’ll need the help of Jack Reid, otherwise known as the Moonflower. Jack, the black sheep of the Reid family, has spied for many nations other than his own, including France. Can Jane trust him not to betray her? And when Jack meets Jane, he’s astonished to discover that the Pink Carnation is a demure young Englishwoman. Can he trust her to maintain her composure — especially when her former lover, a French spy known as the Gardener, is also on Queen Maria’s trail?

I’ve been a fan of the Pink Carnation series ever since the first book, so of course I was eagerly anticipating the final installment. I was especially excited to see that Jane was paired with Jack Reid: they have good chemistry and a believable conflict, as they are both accomplished spies who have trouble trusting each other and showing any hint of vulnerability. Their romance is the main focus of the book, with the spy plot largely being an excuse to get them together — which is fine by me, since I just wanted to see a satisfying ending for these characters whom I’ve grown to love over the course of the series. I do have some complaints, however, mostly because of the stories left untold. For example, we get a little bit of Jane’s romance with the Gardener, but that really should have been its own book. There are also a few minor characters from the series that I wish had gotten more closure. But Willig does include an afterword where she explains her decision to end the series here and gives a little “Where are they now?” update on all her recurring characters. So overall, I think this was a worthy ending to a delightful series, and I look forward to re-reading all the books one of these days!

Review: A School for Brides

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School for Brides, APatrice Kindl, A School for Brides

The students of the Winthrop Hopkins Female Academy all know that their primary goal is not to receive a scholarly education but to learn the ladylike skills necessary to attract a husband. The problem is that the school is located in Lesser Hoo, Yorkshire, a country village with absolutely no eligible men. There are currently six girls of marriageable age at the school, and they are constantly bemoaning the dearth of potential husbands in the area. Fortunately, a chance encounter with some gentlemen who are visiting a nearby estate for hunting season provides them with all the romance and intrigue their hearts desire. Some of the girls fall in love with relative ease, while others find various obstacles in their paths. But when a valuable necklace goes missing and the school’s footman is the chief suspect, the girls and their paramours band together to clear his name and find the real culprit.

I had previously read and enjoyed Patrice Kindl’s [Keeping the Castle], which is set in the same village and features some of the minor characters in this book. So I was predisposed to enjoy this novel, and by and large I found it a pleasant read. The writing is light and brisk, very evocative of Georgette Heyer’s style (though of course not as good). I also liked the fact that the girls’ romances develop in a variety of ways. Some of them are true love stories with a happy ending, but some of them end in heartbreak, while one girl marries a kind man she doesn’t love after being betrayed by another suitor. This variety of outcomes especially makes sense in the Regency era, when marriage was basically the only choice for a gently bred young woman. The one thing I didn’t like was that, because of the sheer number of characters to follow, none of them are given much depth. I wasn’t particularly invested in any of the romances, nor did the mystery of the stolen necklace hold my interest (mostly because it was so easy to figure out). But for those who enjoy witty Regency fluff, I’d recommend this book as a fun read.

Review: The Twelfth Enchantment

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Twelfth Enchantment, TheDavid Liss, The Twelfth Enchantment

As a young woman of no fortune in 19th-century England, Lucy Derrick’s choices are extremely limited. Her parents are dead, so she is forced to live with her odious uncle and his cruel housekeeper. Her only means of escape is to accept the advances of a prosperous local mill owner, but she doesn’t love the man and has delayed making a final decision. But everything changes when Lucy encounters the dashing Lord Byron, the principal landowner in the area. Byron shows up on Lucy’s doorstep with a mysterious illness that is soon revealed to be magical in origin. To Lucy’s surprise, she is actually able to help him through exercising her own magical abilities. This chance encounter leads Lucy into a shadowy world whose existence she had never before suspected — a world of changelings and faeries and soulless beings who cannot die. Assisted by her friend Mary Crawford (of Mansfield Park fame) and by Jonas Morrison, the man who once broke her heart, Lucy must navigate a supernatural power struggle and find an ancient spell book that will vanquish her immortal enemies once and for all.

This was my first encounter with David Liss, and I think it’s probably not the right entry point into his work. My understanding of his other books is that they are serious historical fiction, with plenty of exploration of the gritty realities of life in former eras. This book contains a lot of those same concerns, with Luddites and Rosicrucians both being fairly integral to the plot. But at the same time, this novel also has a lot of Regency romance tropes, like the lovely but impoverished young woman who seeks marriage both for love and for economic stability. As a result, the book felt slightly schizophrenic to me. Personally, I was more interested in Lucy’s individual character development and her romantic relationships than in the broader power struggle, so everything about the aforementioned Luddites and Rosicrucians was a real slog for me. In other words, it’s too heavy for a light, fluffy read; but the Regency-romance elements detract from the serious historical fiction aspects of the book. Some things did work for me, particularly the central romance, but overall I think the book suffers from trying to blend two very different genres.

Review: Epitaph

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EpitaphMary Doria Russell, Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral

In the late 19th century, Tombstone, Arizona was a thriving silver-mining town in the American West, but it has become known to history only as the site of the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The story has been told many times and has become part of the mythology of the Wild West. But what was the fight really like for the men and women who lived it? What were its real causes? Who was really to blame? This novel, the follow-up to Doc, seeks to re-examine the legend and portray events as they really happened — or might have happened. The story begins more than a year before the gunfight, with local and national politics having a significant effect on daily life in Tombstone. Wyatt Earp wants to be sheriff someday, but although he is a man of integrity, he is too naive to realize that others are manipulating him. Meanwhile, the Clantons and the McLaurys are cattle thieves, pejoratively dubbed “cow boys,” who resent the intrusion of the lawmen onto their traditional way of life. These two conflicting ideologies are bound to clash, but in the fallout from the gunfight, the truth is obscured by many conflicting versions of the story, until at last it is covered by legend.

My summary of this book was a pain to write, and I definitely didn’t do it justice, but all you really need to know is that I loved this book! When I read Doc a couple years ago, I thought, “This is why I love historical fiction!” And the same is true of this follow-up novel. I love how Russell is able to take legendary historical figures and make them real, living, breathing people. I love how she pays as much attention to the women of Tombstone as to the men, from the Earp brothers’ common-law wives to the beguiling Josephine Sarah Marcus, whose love for Wyatt Earp would eventually lead to her distorting the events of the gunfight and building Wyatt into a legend. I also got a huge kick out of the fact that each chapter heading is a phrase from the Iliad, which emphasizes the epic, mythic nature of the stories surrounding the gunfight. Another fun fact is that “Epitaph” was the name of one of the local newspapers in Tombstone, so even the book’s title has many layers of meaning. My one complaint is that I would have liked a little bit more of Doc Holliday and his lover, Kate. But anyone who loved Doc should definitely read this novel too! Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction.

Review: Courtship & Curses

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Courtship and CursesMarissa Doyle, Courtship & Curses

Lady Sophie Rosier is about to make her debut during the London Season, but what should be an exciting prospect is sad and scary for her. Her beloved mother has recently passed away, and the illness that claimed her life has also left Sophie with a deformed leg and an unattractive limp. Sophie is painfully aware that the denizens of society will view her differently; she won’t even be able to dance at the Season’s balls and other entertainments. Moreover, Sophie is hiding the fact that she has magical abilities, since witchcraft is feared and frowned upon by society. But when certain members of the War Office begin falling victim to mysterious “accidents,” Sophie is able to perceive that magic is involved. With the help of her best friend Parthenope, as well as a potential suitor, Sophie must discover the culprit and save the Duke of Wellington himself.

This book contains a lot of my favorite things: the Napoleonic era, an underdog heroine, magic, and romance. As such, I found it an enjoyable read, but certain things didn’t quite gel for me. First, I’m a little bit confused about the role of magic in the novel. It seems to be a social taboo — when one character learns of Sophie’s abilities, he is absolutely repulsed by it — but the why is unclear. Plus, Sophie’s own mother taught her to cultivate her abilities, which seems like a bad idea if society shuns practitioners of magic. I also would have liked a little more tension in the romance between Sophie and her paramour. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the more lighthearted moments in the book, especially those involving the mischievous Parthenope! Overall, this was a fun read, and if a sequel appears, I’ll most likely read it as well.