A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant

My Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.00 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 3.74 / 5.00

Martha Russell had no delusions about her marriage, but her husband’s sudden death means that the estate will be inherited by his brother, a man renowned for his use, and misuse, of female servants. Determined to protect the estate and the people that she has grown to know, she needs to act promptly: a pregnancy would provide an alternative heir and allow her to maintain control over her future. All she needs is a suitable donor . . .

Theophilus Mirkwood has a terrible reputation as a rake and has been banished from London so that he can learn how to run his father’s estate, which just happens to adjoin that of Martha’s recently departed husband. He agrees to a fulfill the necessary role, for an appropriate fee, but soon finds that he is the one who finds it difficult not to confuse business with pleasure.  

As I have mentioned in several reviews, I am not normally a Romance reader, but my friend Jan is slowly winning me over to a few select authors. She introduced me to Mary Balogh with A Summer To Remember, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so when she said that Ms Balogh had recommended this title I was inclined to give it a go. I am really glad that I did, because it was marvelously entertaining and kept me giggling for quite some time.

I believe that the trope is one that is seen fairly regularly in the Romance genre. A proper Lady decides to take a rakish lover in order to become pregnant and save the estate from the evil heir, but despite her best efforts she falls for his rakish charms and they all live happily ever after. In essence that is precisely what happens in this title, but Ms Grant’s voice is so authentic and snarky that the journey to the happy ending is delightful enough for even a jaded non-romantic like myself.

I think this enjoyment comes in part from the very strong characterization that Ms Grant employs and her decision to take her hero and heroine in slightly unconventional directions. In many ways, they display a degree of role reversal that counteracts the stereotypes of Virgin and Rake. She also provides our heroine with some very real and understandable reasons for her illegal actions and an ability to seize the initiative and take action herself rather than wafting about with no agency of her own. Finally, she chooses to have Martha maintain her moral integrity right up to the very end of the book rather than taking the easier, and yet less logical, path that we usually see. This was a brave choice and unexpected, which made me appreciate it so much more.

Our blushing Virgin is actually a very practical person, which endeared her to me a great deal. She is not very distressed by the death of her husband, but quickly comes to realize that she alone can save the female estate workers from a very unpleasant future. This pragmatism continues into her dealings with Theo, who is quite dismissive of her at first. He expects to sweep her off her feet with his amazing love making, but she remains steadfastly uninterested and unmoved despite his best efforts. I cannot express how totally hilarious it is to follow their sexual exploits whilst listening to her running commentary of such romantic phrases as “Are you finished yet?” and “Was that it?” The poor man starts to suffer from severe performance anxiety as he becomes increasingly determined to make her enjoy the experience.

This neat switch in the emotional roles of the two protagonists was very entertaining as it slowly developed. Poor Theo becomes the needy one who wants to cuddle and discuss his daily exploits while Martha is more concerned with getting the deed over and done with. His growing disappointment with her emotional distance was entertaining and nicely done, showing that it is not necessary for men and women to allows behave as stereotypes. As a woman married to a fairly emotional man, it was nice to see a hero who was insecure enough to worry about what his woman was thinking. It was also terrific to see a couple who have more in common than just sex: Martha teaches Theo a great deal about how to manage his estate and deal with people, encouraging him to fund a school for girls and stimulate the local economy. For once, I could picture this couple living a long and productive life together.

The setting is neatly drawn and presents a slightly downbeat version of the typical Regency period piece. We are not dealing with the titled aristocracy but with their cousins the landed gentry. This means that we can truly believe that Martha is aware of more than just the names of her servants and the people of the estate. She is not a Lady with no duties other than to breed and look attractive, and so she has much more freedom to act than a woman of higher status. We see this when she begins to befriend the other local people of her rank and rallies them to her side when she needs support. However, the period details rang true and nothing stood out as jarringly anachronistic, which was a pleasant surprise.

I guess that the only warning I should make is that this title contains a lot of sex, including lots of different types and some light bondage. This might not be to some people’s taste but is an integral part of the plot in this case, so you have been warned!

  

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

My Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.40 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 4.01 / 5.00

Amelia Peabody can be summarized by a few words: sensible, self-confident and self-sufficient. A Victorian lady with the good fortune to have had a wealthy father, she is now pursuing her interest in all things ancient and Egyptian by travelling that country armed with her extensive fortune, an endless sense of determination and a stout umbrella. She was accompanied by a suitably boring companion until their stay in Rome, where the thoughtless woman developed a horrible disease and had to be sent home to England. However, she came across another, more suitable travelling companion in the form of the destitute, but beautiful, Evelyn Forbes. Miss Forbes is a fallen woman, whose Italian lover has abandoned her now that her grandfather has written her out of his will because of her scandalous behavior.

Undeterred by Evelyn’s previous poor judgment, Amelia rebuilds the poor girl’s wardrobe and self-esteem and then they depart for Egypt. There they encounter the Emerson brothers and Evelyn is smitten by the young of the pair, Walter, while Amelia detests the elder brother, Radcliffe, on sight. They also meet Evelyn’s cousin, Lucas, who brings news of their grandfather’s death and his position as the new heir. He proposes marriage so that she will be allowed to inherit after all.

During their cruise down the Nile the ladies re-encounter the brothers at their dig site and decide to stay to help Radcliffe recover from a terrible infection. However, things at the dig site are much more complicated that they would seem. A strange mummy begins to haunt the dig, terrifying the local diggers and Lucas arrives to continue his pursuit of Evelyn, much to Walter’s distress.

This series was one that I had seen mentioned in some of the reviews for Gail Carriger’s Soulless, with comments about the similarities in their settings and the heroine. While it is true that both Amelia and Alexia have similarities in their general appearance and temperament, and that both books are set within the Victorian era, I found several differences between the two. While Ms Carriger maintains a cutting and sarcastic tone, especially in the way that Alexia views the world, Ms Peters gives Amelia a much more bombastic voice, with much less wit and bite. I also found that the plotting and world building were handled very differently, with Ms Carriger’s story ripping along at a good pace, whilst Ms Peters’ struggled from far too much description and unimportant detail. The final difference that was most obvious was the way in which the two authors handled the love-hate relationship between the heroine and her leading man. In Alexia, we have a woman who is constantly aware that she is lacking a soul and, therefore, is not quite normal in her lack of emotionality. This gives her a unique perspective on her growing feelings for Maccon, which she does not understand or trust, and adds to the humor in the situation. In contrast, Amelia’s bloody-minded refusal to recognize the obvious attraction between herself and Radcliffe becomes simply irritating.

Even if we put aside the comparisons with The Parasol Protectorate, we are left with a novel that is not entirely satisfying. The plotting was dreadfully slow, with so much detail about the preparations necessary for a trip down the Nile and then about the trip itself, that I was tempted to skip over some sections. This is very, very unusual for me, and shows how difficult it was for me to stay engaged with the characters. I plodded along, convinced that there must be some significance in the description of the pyramids, the decoration for their ship, what they were wearing, what Amelia had in her first aid kit . . . but, alas, these proved to be merely set dressing that a good editor would have hacked out with numerous slashes of a red pencil. I can understand the desire to wax lyrical about a subject dear to your heart, and I would probably do the same if I ever attempted to write a novel set in Rome, either ancient or modern, but there is a point at which one must stop describing the scenery and actually get on with the action.

Unfortunately, the plot itself was rather predictable, which made the unnecessary description even more annoying. When I have read most of a book, where very little has happened, only to have the ‘big reveal’ illicit nothing more than a disappointed eye roll I am not a happy bunny. I expect some mystery in my mystery novels and a surprise at the end when the cunning plan is revealed. This book had neither and left me feeling like I had wasted my time plowing through all the pages up to that point. Perhaps if the ‘eccentric’ British characters had been more witty and amusing I would have been swept along, but they were actually pretty tame. There was also very little use of the Egyptian and Italian characters, which left the story focused on the four main characters and made it even more imperative that they be entertaining.

On the whole, this was a disappointing read for me and I am not sure that I can ascribe that entirely to the book’s publication date of 1975.

(First published at Not Your Ordinary Book Banter)

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

  

My Rating: 1.0 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.30 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 4.03 / 5.00

It is 1945 and Claire Randall has been released from her duties as an army nurse and returned to Britain. She has reunited with her husband of eight years, Frank, who has been working as an intelligence officer for the duration of the war. Having been apart for most of the last six years they have decided to take a second honeymoon in the north of Scotland. There they visit an ancient stone circle and secretly observe a druidic ritual. When Claire returns to the circle next day, she falls through one of the stones and travels back in time two hundred years.

In 1743, Claire finds herself in the middle of a skirmish between a group of English soldiers and some Highlanders. She is attacked by the English commander, who happens to be Frank’s famous ancestor, Jonathon Randall, but rescued by the Scots. She is taken to meet the leader of the Mackenzie clan and begins to find a role for herself as the clan healer. However, she also meets the young and attractive Jamie Fraser, and life becomes more complicated.

 

I was reading this book quite recently as part of a read along, but I gave up about half way through. Why?

Let us start with the research into Britain in 1945. I am British so the glaring errors in the author’s portrayal of the post-war Highlands were very annoying. I will only mention the two most glaring errors. Firstly, Claire and Frank are staying in a Bed and Breakfast with a little old lady, in a tiny village near Inverness, who has a car. At this time in the UK the only people likely to own a car would have been the local doctor, vet, lawyer and perhaps the vicar: in other words, a person of wealth. Secondly, there is the fact that Claire and her husband are both serving in the military, but by the autumn of 1945 they have both been de-mobbed: this is possible, but not likely as Victory in Japan was not declared until August 15th.

Then there are the Scottish accents. I lived in Aberdeenshire for 20 years, so I have heard a lot of Scots speaking, and Ms Gabaldon’s dialogue is very hit and miss to my ear. She does include some nice Scottish words like ‘slaters’ and ‘oxters’ (woodlice and armpits for the non-Scots-speaking), but the accent that she depicts seems to owe far more to Mr Scott from Star Trek than to real Scots speakers. Also, all the Scots have exactly the same accent, which is not at all believable knowing how they are so different from one another even now with modern communication. I cannot really comment on the accuracy on Ms Gabaldon’s other research of the Highlands during the 1740s, because it is not a period that I have studied. I hope it is better than her study of the more modern era.

However, my biggest issue with the book was Claire’s infidelity. She married Frank in 1937/8 and they had been apart for six out of the eight years because of the war. While she is still in 1945, Frank makes a comment to her about how he could forgive her for any indiscretions during their time apart. Many in the Read Along saw this as Frank hinting that he had been unfaithful to Claire, but I am not so sure about that. Later, Claire remembers that she had infatuations with other men during the war, going so far as to kiss some of them. It seems to me that Frank is very perceptive about her ability to be faithful because when Claire is rescued / captured by a group of Highlanders she is immediately drawn to Jamie. For totally contrived and unbelievable reasons she HAS to marry Jamie and it HAS to be consummated, but, although she is still planning to return to Frank, instead of bouncing on the bed and making sex noises she actually does the deed with Jamie. Repeatedly. In fact, so frequently that I was amazed that she could get back on her horse. However, she is only marginally conflicted about this and has few moments of regret and a couple of twinges of guilt.

Most of the Read Along group were more than happy for Claire to forget about Frank and team up with Jamie, but I found it very difficult to stomach. If she had grieved for Frank and decided that she was stuck in the past and then ‘moved on’ emotionally, I could have accepted her decision much more easily, but she didn’t and I couldn’t. She even makes an unwise attempt to run away from the Highlanders and return to the stone circle with the idea of going back to 1945 and Frank. The whole issue of her infidelity was glossed over so that she could enjoy her time with Jamie, which made me wonder why on Earth Ms Gabaldon decided to make her married in the first place.

A second big issue was the portrayal of the bad guys, which eventually led to me putting the book aside. I am going to gloss over the fact that they are both English, and I was not even overly offended by the fact that Captain Randall, the main baddy and Frank’s great- great- ancestor, tries to rape Claire at every opportunity. His casual attitude to rape was shared by the Highlanders and I found it totally offensive at all times, as it made it an acceptable activity for all men, who cannot control themselves, and placed the blame for being raped squarely on ‘careless’ women. No, it was the fact that his interest in rape was extended to include, shock, horror, MEN as well, that finally made me put this book to one side. Both Captain Randall and his patron, the Duke of Sandringham, are homosexuals, renowned for their pursuit of young boys and men. We are told of the Duke’s attempted rape of Jamie and that Randall offered to cancel a beating if Jamie would have sex with him.

You see, the Scots are depicted as ‘good’ rapists: they only rape women who do not have the sense to stay out of their way. But the bad guys are gay, so they will rape anything, and, they are pedophiles as well, because that is all part and parcel of being gay. What? Homosexuals are not pedophiles, nor do they necessarily go around raping other men. I know that rape is often used as a way to assert power and is often seen after military conquests, but this was not what was shown here. The Captain makes his offer to Jamie in private and the Duke is described as soft and having a high-pitched voice, attempting to grope lads at any opportunity. I know that the book was written twenty years ago, but this homophobic attitude is still offensive in the extreme.

It is not often that a book manages to offend me quite so much as this book did. Those of you who have read some of my other reviews will know that I have a real problem reading about infidelity and rape, both of which were dismissed as just part of life in this book. The issue of Claire’s adultery seemed totally unnecessary, as the main story of travelling back in time and adapting to that society could have provided more than enough interest without a previous marriage. If I was supposed to think badly of Frank, and so feel happy that Claire abandoned him at the first opportunity for Jamie, then he needed to be a really awful husband, rather than a nice and considerate man.

I know that this is a wildly popular book, but I obviously bring a very different mind set to it than a lot of the other readers. I tend to be a little wary about Romance novels, especially those that are based in historical British settings but are not written by British authors, because they usually provide such an irritatingly warped view of my home country. Coupled with an apologist attitude towards infidelity and rampant homophobia, this made Outlander a highly unpalatable cocktail to me.  

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Read Along of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: Part 3

This week we read Chapters 14 to 21. The Questions were provided by Tangled Up Blue

If you visit Into the Hall of Books, you will find the questions for next week and a list of links to this week’s answers.

1) We FINALLY get to the scene we've all been waiting for. You know what I'm talking about--yay sexytimes! What were your impressions? Was it what you were expecting? Or did you want more? 

I was slightly surprised that there was so little description for any of the encounters we have seen so far, which was almost anticlimactic. I appreciated the slow build up as it seemed very natural, but then we went very quickly from chatting to the discreet break while they did IT. I definitely expected more description of the foreplay, if not the sex itself.

I am very impressed by Jamie’s stamina and I am not certain how Claire is managing to sit on her horse, but the constant sex seems a bit odd, considering their circumstances. It made sense whilst they were still at the inn, but after a long day travelling I was surprised that she did not just tell him to take a cool dip! I was also disappointed that Jamie turned out to be an amazing lover at first attempt: it would have been much more realistic if he had been more hesitant and less skillful. It would also have allowed a little more character development if she had needed to give him more direction about to please her. I guess his previous experience might have been almost full sex, but not all women react in the same way, so I would have liked him to be humbled a little.

As a point of interest the Scots word ‘oxter’ means ‘armpit’, just in case you were wondering what exactly Jamie was rubbing all over his horses’ faces!

2) I know that some readers thus far have been bothered by the fact of Claire being married to Frank but still being involved with Jamie, despite the different time periods. Does their time as newlyweds change anyone's opinion of that? If not, now what are you thinking of the situation?  

Nope: I still think Claire is being unfaithful, and I was disappointed to read her account of ‘infatuations’ during the war. It is one thing to be attracted to someone and quite another to act upon that feeling. Knowing that she allowed her feelings to move her part way towards adultery during the war made it much easier for me to believe how easily she accepted Jamie into her bed. They could have easily faked consummation if she had resisted the idea, but she was quite willing.

If she had accepted her place in the past as a permanent then it would be easier to accept her actions, but she is still actively trying to return to Frank. This makes her adultery unacceptable in my eyes.

3) What did you think about the "waterhorse" that Claire saw? Why do you think Peter was so spooked? And what do you think this means for Claire? 

The myth of the Loch Ness Monster is very ancient, so I was not really surprised to see it mentioned, although I thought that making it a real creature went a little far. The suggestion seems to be that Claire identifies it as a plesiosaur, which has been one of the more popular ‘identifications’ offered for Nessie.

I can understand why Peter would be shocked to see this beast in the water, as it is not supposed to exist except as a story to keep children away from the dangers of the loch. He seemed to think that Claire was speaking to it or had summoned it, which seems like a totally absurd idea to me, but suggests that he mistrusts her and believes her capable of anything. This places her in a dangerous situation.

4) If you were Claire and you were knowingly in the vicinity of the stones, would you have done the same thing she did?  

Certainly, though I do not think that I would have tried to travel down the river in my skirts. It was only a matter of time before she fell in and I was surprised that she didn’t break her ankle or knock herself out and then drown.

5) What do you think about Captain Randall? How do you think the family resemblance between him and Frank affects Claire and particularly her relationship with Jamie? 

I find him somewhat two-dimensional. He is a cardboard cutout villain with no particular reason to behave as he does. I am hoping that we see a little character development for him, or some explanation for why he behaves as he does.

His great similarity to Frank is a problem for Claire as it reminds her that she is being unfaithful, which seems to make her uneasy. As it should!

Read Along of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: Part 2

This week we read Chapters 8 to 14. The Questions were provided by Stalking The Bookshelves.

If you visit Tangled Up In Blue, you will find the questions for next week and a list of links to this week’s answers.

1.  Claire has been given the task of healer at the castle. She must adapt her nursing skills for the time and learn what herbs and etc will cure each particular ailment that is presented to her. Do you have any home remedies that were passed down to you (cure for a cold, bee sting or what have you)? 

My parents were not quite hippies, but almost, so natural remedies were very popular.

For a sore throat: put a tablespoon of honey and a good shot of lemon juice into a mug, add boiling water and drink when cool enough. For adults, a shot of medicinal alcohol can be added to aid sleep! 

To remove a splinter: place a blob of honey over the point where the splinter enters the wound and cover with a waterproof dressing. This should draw the splinter out of the wound after a few hours.

To remove a tick: cover all of the tick’s body in Vaseline or any other greasy / sticky air proof substance after a few seconds it will withdraw its head and attempt to move to get air – pick up in a tissue and dispose of it.

2. What do you think would be the biggest challenge of living in the past? (Clothing, hygiene, food, etiquette or etc.)

Hygiene would be a real issue because I am a trained biologist, so I would share Claire’s despair over wound dressings and food storage. Also, I would be very unhappy using a chamber pot, especially the whole idea of storing it or carrying it about when it has been used. Then there are the parasites: fleas, lice and bed bugs would be a common problem, as would be all manner of worms and flukes because it would be so easy to ingest small particles of feces from both humans and livestock, especially in the water.

3. Do you have a favorite character, scene or quote so far? If so, share it with us.

I was very taken with Ned Gowan, he seems like a fun chap and I imagine that he could be very entertaining to chat with. I always like stories about people who have gone against convention to do precisely what they want to do. I also liked how Murtagh took on the role of wedding planner and dress designer: it was so unexpected and funny.

I particularly liked the scenes where Claire got falling down drunk after agreeing to the marriage and then suffered the consequences. This seemed like a very reasonable reaction to the situation, and the writing was really good. I guess Ms Gabaldon has suffered a few hangovers in her time because she certainly knows how to describe them very well and with a lot of detail!

4. What did you think about the addition of the blood bond in the wedding ceremony? Is this something you would do with the one you love?

I was a little surprised by the blood bond ceremony, but it fits well with the culture that we have encountered so far. Religion seems to be outweighed by practicality, as we saw with Geilie Duncan and her knowledge of a plant that could cause an early term abortion. It reminds me a little of the ability for blacksmiths to marry consenting adults: a tradition that is still going strong in Gretna Green in Scotland.

This is not something I would consider doing with my husband. I see marriage as a practical contract that allows couples to make a declaration that they plan to spend their lives together. I know this makes me sound wildly unromantic, and I do love my husband with all my heart, but we did not see our wedding ceremony as a spiritual event, just a ritual that formally acknowledged our relationship.

5. Are you reading along closely with the scheduled chapters or are you ahead or behind?

I always stay on schedule when I do a read along. I like how this slows my reading and gives me time to reflect on what I have read and what others have thought about it. It also means that I am able to remember exactly what was included in each section of reading.