My Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Book 3 of "The Parasol Protectorate"
If you have not read the first two books in the
series I strongly suggest that you avoid this review. My reviews for them are here and here.
Once again Alexia is the scandal of London society.
This time it is because she has left her husband and returned to the welcoming
bosom of her loving family. However, when her family become aware of her
‘condition’, they do the most loving thing that they can think of and throw her
out onto the street. Heading to the one person who will be happy to accommodate
her scandalous personage, Alexia finds that Lord Akeldama has disappeared in a
flurry of haste, although he has left her a mysterious message: “Check the
cat”! As she drives away, trying to decide what to do next, she is attacked by
a cloud of venomous, mechanical ladybugs that seem very determined to remove
her housing problem permanently.
As she is obviously in mortal danger, with no hope of
protection from Conall, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She
needs to find out how she could be in possession of the ‘infant inconvenience’
and the only people who might have an answer are the Templars in Italy. Aided
by Madame Lefoux and the ever-resourceful Floote, Alexia sneaks out of London
to find proof that her stupid husband has made a terrible mistake and should be
thoroughly ashamed of questioning her fidelity. Not that she wants him back:
she just wants to make him admit that he was wrong!
Meanwhile, Lord Macon is dealing with the situation
in the best way possible: by staying completely drunk.
As with the second book, Changeless, we see Alexia’s
world expanding. Geographically, we move through France and Italy, which allows
us to see how these two cultures have reacted differently to the total
acceptance of the supernatural races that we see in Britain. This increases the complexity
of the world quite significantly, especially once we get to Italy, which has
little resemblance to our version of the country. The Italians actively seek
out and destroy any supernaturals that they discover, using the magical
properties of pesto to protect themselves. The whole idea that pesto is a way
to make a person unpalatable to both races is simply delightful and indicative
of how Ms Carriger’s fiendish mind works.
We also see a massive expansion in Alexia herself,
and I do not mean in the size of her abdomen. As a preternatural, she had
always assumed that she was basically heartless, but here we see that she feels
emotions very deeply indeed. She is totally distraught by Conall’s rejection
and refusal to believe her. She finds this all the more frustrating because she
cannot think of a reason why she should be able to be pregnant by a man who is
basically dead. Her grief and frustration turns to anger and she holds onto
that fierceness whenever she falters. It is also very touching to see how she
develops feelings for the ‘infant inconvenience’ as time goes on and she starts
to become more comfortable with the idea of her situation. Kristen, at Fantasy Cafe, notes that some reviewers expressed dissatisfaction at the ending. I agree with her that it seemed perfectly in character to me: I think the problem may have been that Alexia is not a typical Romantic heroine and so she does not always act as we might expect.
Conall is given a rather minor role, which mostly
consists of drinking vast quantities of formaldehyde in order to stay
insensible. However, this allows the wonderful Professor Lyall to shine as he
takes control of the Pack, tries to support his Alpha and solve the mysteries
of the ladybug attacks and the disappearance of Lord Akeldama. To add to his
troubles, various powerful werewolves attempt to steal the
Alpha position whilst Conall is unavailable. Of course, Lyall rises to the
challenge wonderfully and it was nice to see him acting independently. The same
could be said of Ivy, who steps in to run Madame Lefoux's hat shop during their trip
to Europe. She is now married to Tunstell and we see her being sensible and
thinking for herself, which reminds us why Alexia chose her as a friend in the first place. Even
Major Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings manages to develop and
become less of an irritation.
We are introduced to several new characters, two of
whom are other members of the Order of the Brass Octopus that Madame Lefoux
seeks out for help. The first is her cousin, Gustave Trouve, who they meet in
Paris. He is delightful and a faithful helper, even though he was the
manufacturer of the deadly ladybugs. Later we encounter Mr Lange-Wilsdorf, a
thoroughly repellent German who refers to Alexia as the ‘Female Specimen’ all
the time, and seems to be unaware that she is a real person. He also has a
horrible little dog that creates havoc and comes to the most glorious end:
honestly, you will laugh out loud when you read it! However, I have to agree
with Shara at Calico Reaction that the stand out character in the book is
Floote. He turns out to be a seriously useful person to have around in a
battle, as he remains totally unemotional and levelheaded throughout all the disasters that befall them. He is a glorious combination of P.G.
Wodehouse’s Jeeves and James Bond: I want to see more of him in the later
books, much more.
Unfortunately, we see very little of the spectacular
Lord Akeldama. However, once he does arrive we are treated to some wonderfully
romantic and poignant moments between him and Biffy. As Sparky says at Fangs for the Fantasy, it is beautiful to see their love for one another, and I am so
pleased that such an open and honest homosexual relationship is treated with care and dignity. Lord Akeldama is a truly amazing character and to be
allowed to glimpse behind his facade was genuinely touching.
Final factoid: in the UK, there are no ladybugs
because we call them ladybirds!
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