Book Review - Lauren Willig's The Betrayal of the Blood Lily
The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: January 12, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 401 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
Lady Frederick Staines. Penelope will probably never get used to the name or the fact that her identity has been subsumed into that of her husband. What a joke, Freddy, her husband. She's nothing more to him than a bed warmer while her dowery has been his ante into innumerable card games. To make matters worse they have been exiled to India to take the taint off their rather precipitous union. They are five months journey away from the world they knew. What is Penelope going to do in India while Freddy is off playing at politics? What is to become of this person she has become? Who is going to shake their head at her worryingly and sigh "Oh Pen?" That's where Captain Alex Reid enters in. He is the couple's escort to Hyderabad. He is to get Lady Frederick Staines and spouse safely to the residency. A grueling journey by land and sea. Of course it would be easier if Penelope would just behave as a British woman recently arrived in India would. If she'd not show off her fine seat on a horse or her ability to jump into a river to save a drowning man. If she'd just sit in the palanquin and sleep through the heat of the day that would be great. But freed of the strictures of the ton, well, Penelope has to have an outlet for her sheer frustration of the situation she landed herself in. Because it was no one's fault but her own. She was the one who told Freddy to come hither. She got herself sent off to the subcontinent. But if there's one slight silver lining, it's Alex. While he worries about Penelope, he's never pitied her. He's amazed by this proud woman he's met. A woman that is giving him feelings that he shouldn't be having about someone who is married, even if it's clear it's not a happy union. But their personal struggles coming to grips with their romantic feelings will have to take a back seat when some spies with flowery sobriquets appear on the scene. If only Pen had listened to Henrietta and Charlotte rambling on about spies instead of luring Freddy into every available alcove maybe she'd have some idea as to what she is up against. Instead she's just trying to piece it all together on the fly with what she half remembers and what she and Alex are able to figure out. A cobra in her bedchamber isn't just a warning, it's a sign they are on the right track. But will they all make it out of India alive?
The Betrayal of the Blood Lily is a turning point in the Pink Carnation series. Before it was rather more contained, more of the drawing room spies and keeping up with the ton. Now we see the full scope of the ambitions of the French and the world stage it happened on and our flowery spies are right there on the subcontinent. This is Pink Carnation grownup, and we get a far more grownup heroine. I really enjoy Penelope as a heroine, she's a hot mess and doesn't have anything figured out, let alone the path she has flung herself onto. With her starting out the book already married to a man she doesn't love we are in a far different position than Lauren's previous novels. Instead of an innocent happy virginal character, we have someone a little flirty, a little more worldly, a little bitter, and very much taken. And I am here for that! As for her romantic partner, Alex, oh, do I love them together. Alex is a good upstanding man with many a family woe, but with morals and a fierce loyalty to India and eventually to Penelope. Their dialogue crackles and sparkles and just keeps the pages turning late into the night. But what I found interesting while discussing this book during Lauren's Pink Carnation Read Along is that many people took issue with the adultery angle of this book. Firstly, it's just a book, secondly, Freddy is scum in a pretty package, and thirdly, Alex and Pen are endgame! To whomever commented that in a few years Penelope's eye would wander again and leave Alex, NO! That's not how these books work, this is literally the only time adultery is acceptable; when it's fictional and you're cheating on a lout who cheated first. Many, many, MANY times. Also, let's not forget he was involved in raping a fourteen year old girl! I really was shocked that so many people took Pen's adultery to heart. Plus, it's not like Alex and Penelope go into their affair with their eyes closed. Their eyes are fully open. And again, this is FICTIONAL! But I get it, Lauren is so good at writing that you truly forget these characters are fictional. Her characters are fully rounded people, not just "spunky" heroines because that's in vogue, but because of everything that has happened to them, everything that has led to this moment. Nothing happens without a purpose. Even the villain is fully rounded! And if anyone is blind to consequences... well, look to the Marigold!
Post a Comment