strange and random happenstance

A Terrible Beauty by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 11th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

First there was the letter addressed to The Viscountess Ashton. Then there was someone calling Philip's name at the zoo. Then there was Philip's journal placed on her desk. A man on the boat to Greece looked just like Philip. At the Acropolis someone in the dark called out té kallisté, something only Philip would do. By the time she arrived at the villa in Santorini Emily was well prepared for the impossible, the return of her first husband Philip, the Viscount Ashton. Never mind that he died over a decade ago, she would recognize those piercing blue eyes anywhere, though his nose does look a little different. Emily had concocted this trip to Greece as a way to distract her dearest friend Jeremy from the heartbreak and attempted murder at the hands of his fiance, Amity Wells. Little did she know it would prove such a distraction with her first husband back from the dead! Jeremy takes it in stride, it's just another blow to him ever winning Emily, before he had just the one husband to contend with, now there are two! As for Emily's second husband Colin, he is almost more shell-shocked than she. Here is his dearest friend in all the world returned to him and he has betrayed him by marrying Emily, the love of both of their lives. There are so many ramifications. Is Colin and Emily's marriage valid? What about the legitimacy of their two children? Is the villa even Emily's? And the guilt! But none of that matters because Philip has arrived with a shadow looming over him.

Philip insists that after learning of Emily and Colin being happily married that he vowed he would never intrude on their new life together. He has in fact built a new life for himself. Without the largess that came with his title he has had to earn a living and has become a rather decent archeologist. A job he has come to love. In fact he's been working on a site on Santorini for the past few years. He says that his not coming to Emily sooner, despite their proximity, proves his honorable intentions. The only reason he has appeared now is that his fellow archeologist was injured during a storm the night before Emily's arrival and the only place he could think to take him to get medical attention was the villa. Sadly his friend died and Philip's secret has been revealed. Though the inhabitants of the villa soon learn that it is not the only secret Philip has. There are some shady men following Philip and soon he reveals a story that is almost more incredible then his survival in Africa after everyone presumed him dead. Years earlier at a dig near the remains of Troy he found what he believes to be part of Achilles's helmet. The local working with Philip stole it and turned up dead the next day. Ever since then a crooked dealer in antiquities, Demir, has been following and harassing Philip. Demir and his Turkish henchmen have arrived on the island and Philip's life is in danger. Only Emily isn't sure she buys the story. If this is Philip he would never have let anything connected to Achilles out of his sight... Is it possible to put her guilt aside and find out the truth?

A Terrible Beauty is almost like a reset on the Lady Emily series. We're going back to the beginning, back to And Only to Deceive and seeing everything from a different angle. This isn't just "Philip's" story and his perspective on events but also another side to the world of antiquities. Emily reading Philip's journals after his death led to her becoming not just a Greek scholar but a lover of the antiquities that her late husband collected. This is the cornerstone to Emily's journey of discovering and the life and collection she builds over the years. Yet for all her love of antiquities we the readers have only seen certain aspects of this one word that encompasses so much. Antiquities covers the history, the excavation, the cataloging, the restoring, the purchasing, the forging, the collecting, the exhibiting, so many things under one banner. For all her talk of ruins and walking the remains of Troy this is the first book in which Emily's story takes us truly beyond the confines of the museum and the country houses and we get to see an excavation. Oh, and the archaeological sites we see through "Philip's" journey, I felt that at times I was reading an Elizabeth Peters novel about the exploits of Amelia Peabody. But what I found fascinating is that the archaeological work makes sense in regards to Philip's personality. He always relished the hunt, be it on safari or dealing with antiquities brokers, and here he is digging through the very earth in search of buried treasure.

This is why I wanted to be an archeologist for about a hot minute, the buried treasure. But my true love was in making art and no matter how many art history or anthropology courses I took this would never change. Though to truly understand art you need to understand it's history, which is why I took so many art history courses. A Terrible Beauty, besides throwing us back to the beginning of Emily's story took me on a bit of a time warp as well. I was having all these feelings about my first semester in college. SO many things combined to make me oddly nostalgic. One of my friends decided to go back to school and hearing her talk about midterms and finals is giving me all the feels. And with Thanksgiving I was dwelling on how I used that small respite from going to class to catch up on school work, even going so far as to be the odd one out at family gatherings sitting in a corner with flashcards drilling dates for the upcoming finals. Also this fall has been exceedingly cold and one thing that stuck with me from undergrad is that I was always constantly cold. No matter how many layers I put on the Wisconsin weather would defy it. It was twenty-one years ago that I took my first art history course that covered the ancient to medieval world, therefore covering both Greece and Rome. So when Emily was at the Acropolis I was giddy because I knew this! I somehow STILL knew this! It was locked away in the fog of time and cold and flashcards and yet it came back in an instant.

So A Terrible Beauty ended up not being just about Emily dealing with all these emotions and her past but in me going through the same experience on an entirely different level. This book became very personal to me and had me thinking about days gone by. In thinking about your own past, if you're one to overthink things, you start to think about the greater world, and as we're dealing with Emily, the history of ancient civilizations. What I'm getting at is specifically about the art we have left over from these civilizations. The gorgeous white marble statues and ruins that still thankfully stand. Yet in a bizarre coincidence The New Yorker just published an article on the fact that the art we look at and admire is nothing like what those in ancient Greece or Rome admired. Because all statuary, buildings, what-have-you, they were fully painted. Emily actually makes a reference to this when talking to Jeremy at the Acropolis and I was all, I JUST READ AN ARTICLE ON THAT! Yes, I know Emily and Jeremy couldn't hear me, but I just found it such a random coincidence that I couldn't not comment to fictional characters in a book who can't hear me. If you click on the link to the article you'll see what some of the most famous sculptures might have looked like and it's jarring. We are so used to "The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture" that to see marble covered in kind of cartoony paint makes you realize that sometimes an unfinished look has much more elegance. And now I'm thinking about naked cakes. Thanks Great British Bake Off.

With all this dwelling on the past I find it interesting that all those years ago and even just this past spring when I re-read And Only to Deceive I was 100% firmly in the camp of wanting Philip to somehow be alive. Yes, there would be problems to solve, so many problems, and perhaps Emily would no longer be the wife he had married, but I was sure they would work it out if only he wasn't dead. And here he is! Not dead! And while I would have given anything for Philip to return ten books ago now I was all go away foul demon back to the hell which spawned you! I am under no circumstance going to address the is he/isn't he actually Philip here because, spoilers people, but I am totally going to talk about how his reappearance made me feel, and that was not good. It's interesting how one changes over time. I have been on a long journey with Emily and Colin, going through all their ups and downs and heartbreaks. I've seen them fall in love, fight, make up, get married, and have children. I've witnessed how they have found a balance to working together, relying on each others skills and instincts, knowing when to step aside and knowing when to step in. They have this life they have built together and one person could bring it crashing down. This isn't like now when a divorce and re-marriage could solve things, there's the fact that women were viewed as property and a legitimate heir was needed. Therefore I say this once again, Philip begone!

My not feeling good about Philip's reappearance is nothing to how Emily and Colin feel! Not just the fact that their lives are crashing down around them, but the fact that they feel their guilt anew. During their courtship I don't think I'd ever really thought about how their falling in love must feel. They have always been perfect for each other so after Philip shuffled off this mortal coil it was only natural that they would be thrown together. They are, in my mind, relationship goals. They perfectly compliment each other and are so in love. Yet their love came at a cost; Philip's life. Philip being dead meant they and I didn't over-analyze the fact that Colin was Philip's best friend and Emily was his wife. They both cared for him but in the end his death lead to their happily ever after. Yet in A Terrible Beauty they have to face this fact all over again. And they aren't dealing with nebulous ideas of what Philip would think from beyond the grave, here he is at their villa staring them down across the sitting room and they feel instant shame. How could they have done this to Philip's memory? How could they find love and happiness out of his demise? How could they have not known he was alive all these years living a harsh life while they lived in connubial bliss? This guilt and shame hang over Emily and Colin like a dark cloud. The fact that to their faces Philip is being so magnanimous makes it even worse. How can they be forgiven? Or will the guilt stay long after Philip is gone from their lives one way or another? Perhaps the answer lies in Death in St. Petersburg!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Terrible Beauty, Achilles, Acropolis, Alexander Autumn, Amelia Peabody, And Only to Deceive, Antiquities, Archeology, Art History, Elizabeth Peters, GBBO, Greece, Guilt, Santorini, Tasha Alexander, Viscount Ashton

Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur
Publication Date: October 16th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

As a child there is always that one person whom you are thrust into a relationship with because of your parents. The greatest joy of growing up is that there comes a time when you no longer have to associate with them and can relegate them to your past. Which is exactly what Emily did with Emma Callum. Emma ran off with an Italian Duke and Emily never thought of her again. Until Emma reached out for help. She had heard of Emily's success in solving crimes and is in desperate need of her assistance. Stranded in Venice Emma doesn't even speak Italian and her father-in-law Conte Barozzi has gone and gotten himself murdered and her husband Paolo is missing. If there was ever a time for Emily's help it is now. But even murder can't fully change someone and as Emma flirts with Emily's husband Colin instead of answering their questions Emily wonders if it was wise to help her old nemesis. Though Emily and her husband are professionals and they will do the job asked of them despite the hindrance of Emma. Their first clue is a ring that was found on the Conte's body and a historian is needed.

Luckily when they arrived in Venice a note was waiting at their hotel from a local scholar turned bookseller inquiring after the ring. Emily is hoping Signore Caravello can help answer a few questions as to the ring's provenance. With his magnifying glass he finds two initials next to the maker's mark, BB and NV. Because the ring was found in the possession of a Barozzi, it's assumed that this belonged to some relative. Emily, now with the help of Singnore Caravello's daughter Donata, searches for this relative and finds Besina, who lived in the 15th century. Yet their one hope of confirming her as the ring's owner is dashed when the painting that just might have shown her wearing it is vandalized. What's more the Barozzis sworn enemies, the Vendelinos, swear that the ring is theirs and has been missing for centuries. Soon Emily and Colin are juggling not just a murder, but valuable missing books, a possibly forgotten legacy, a medium whose reputation was destroyed, the Conte's probable mistress and her jealous husband, and most disturbing of all, a person dressed as a plague doctor following Emily through the canals of Venice. Yet the crucial question is, can they solve the crime in the present by finding out what happen to Besina all those years ago?

There is a plethora of books set in Venice, and the truth is the setting doesn't make the book but a well written book can make the setting, forever linking the two in your mind. Death in the Floating City perfectly fits into the pantheon of books set in Venice that were instant classics for me, from Daphne Du Maurier's Don't Look Now to Mary Robinette Kowal's Valour and Vanity to Susanna Clark's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. These are all books that show Venice as imperfect yet lead you to fall in love with the city despite it's issues. I'm not talking about the fact that it's sinking into the seas, but the Italian way of life as it was back in the day. As I think of it in my mind as women's rights, marriages, and whores oh my. Courtesans, mistresses, and illegitimate children were all par for the course in Venice. What's so fascinating though is the way Tasha writes so that there's our modern POV then there's Emily's POV, which is Victorian but constantly working to break the shackles and think more modern, and then the Venetian POV which is far more fluid and modern, but that fluidity and the resultant issues drives the plot forward. It's literally a culture clash at it's most dramatic and I couldn't put it down.

What really drove the narrative in this installment was that the secondary story instead of being journals or letters that are concurrent with our story was instead the story of Besina and her ill fated love to Nicolo Vendelino way back in 1489. At first I was prejudiced against this story because being set in Italy and the couple in question being from warring houses I was sure this would be Tasha's take on Romeo and Juliet and personally, that isn't a favorite play of mine. Yes, it's a classic, I mean, it's Shakespeare after all, but not all Shakespeare floats my boat. Oh how wrong I was to compare it to that play of the Bard's. This secondary storyline soon became my favorite part of Death in the Floating City and I had to restrain myself from jumping ahead to see how it played out. The best way I can describe the story of Besina and Nicolo is that it's like Sarah Dunant decided to write her version of Drake Carne and Morwenna Chynoweth's star-crossed romance from Poldark. Much as with the two young lovers on Poldark, my heart was continually breaking, hoping for Besina to break free and be with Nicolo. Their story is tragic and heartbreaking and achingly perfect. Because, if I'm being honest, much like how Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, sometimes perfection isn't a happily ever after.

Even though my attachment to Besina and Nicolo is the reason I lost my heart to this book I can not discount all the other awesomeness contained within the pages of Death in the Floating City. The menacing plague doctor like the "child" in the raincoat in Don't Look Now is haunting, but that's just the tip of the iceberg! There's Caterina Brexiano, the maligned medium! There's Brother Giovanni with his knowledge of books and his hunt for the truth. As for the books? Oh dear me, I swoon at the valuable books and illuminated manuscripts contained within these pages. But the vapors don't stop there. The gorgeous illuminated manuscripts contain secrets not just in their detailed artwork but on the very pages they were written. Secrets hidden in art? This is Lady Emily's version of The Da Vinci Code, but next level, because instead of being bogged down with religiosity we are on the hunt for the story of Besina and Nicolo! A love lost to history recovered! This book didn't just make me want to go to Venice, it made me want to delve back into my art history studies. Oh, I do love a good illuminated manuscript. If only they all held such secrets as the ones Tasha has dreamed up!

It should be a truth universally acknowledged that we all have in our past some frenemy. Imagine the theme song to Veronica Mars playing here... While Emily never considered Emma her friend, she was in one of those situations where friendship was forced on her and it turned sour, or shattered like her doll's face when Emma destroyed it. Whether it's similar to Emily's case or just a friend from childhood that proved themselves a complete and utter two-faced bitch, there's someone in everyone's past whom we'd rather avoid but some lingering sentimentality, AKA the sign that you are the better person, makes you willing to help if they reach out a hand. That is the situation Emily faces. While there is that deep temptation to just laugh from afar, something that social media makes so easy in this day and age, there's the other, more juicy feeling that you can prove to them that you are the better person. You hope that your help will finally awaken some kind of gratitude in them, but as is often the case, as Emily sees, they are just the same person but older. You can see them more clearly for who they are and you pity instead of hate them. But still, reaching out that hand and being the better person? Priceless.

Now here's a question I have for the floor. Hopefully you have been encouraged by Alexander Autumn to pick up one or all of Tasha's wonderful Lady Emily series and I want your expert opinion. Is this the first time that Emily's writing is shown to be definitely written from a future date for an audience? Because Emily has a throw away line about how her identification of NV would prove to be entirely inaccurate, proving this was written at a later date. Also at the same time she says "as you will see" where the you is us, meaning, definite knowledge of an audience. Now I don't have any problem with this, seeing as an author that Tasha greatly admires, Elizabeth Peters, used such devices in her Amelia Peabody series which is another series I love. In fact, there's a part of me, a part that will reference but will not spoil the ending of this book, that noticed a certain resolution that mirrors an event that takes place at the end of the sixth installment in that series, The Last Camel Died at Noon, that makes me think, Tasha did this on purpose. If she did this for that very reason, that's cunning. But also if you think about it, this is the first case that Emily and Colin take that doesn't literally land on their doorstep, so that could have been why there's a change as well... either way, I'll be waiting to see if this writing quirk happens again. Onwards to the next book!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander Autumn, Amelia Peabody, Death in the Floating City, Don't Look Now, Elizabeth Peters, Poldark, Romeo and Juliet, Tasha Alexander, The Da Vinci Code, Venice, Veronica Mars

A Terrible Beauty by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 11th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

First there was the letter addressed to The Viscountess Ashton. Then there was someone calling Philip's name at the zoo. Then there was Philip's journal placed on her desk. A man on the boat to Greece looked just like Philip. At the Acropolis someone in the dark called out té kallisté, something only Philip would do. By the time she arrived at the villa in Santorini Emily was well prepared for the impossible, the return of her first husband Philip, the Viscount Ashton. Never mind that he died over a decade ago, she would recognize those piercing blue eyes anywhere, though his nose does look a little different. Emily had concocted this trip to Greece as a way to distract her dearest friend Jeremy from the heartbreak and attempted murder at the hands of his fiance, Amity Wells. Little did she know it would prove such a distraction with her first husband back from the dead! Jeremy takes it in stride, it's just another blow to him ever winning Emily, before he had just the one husband to contend with, now there are two! As for Emily's second husband Colin, he is almost more shell-shocked than she. Here is his dearest friend in all the world returned to him and he has betrayed him by marrying Emily, the love of both of their lives. There are so many ramifications. Is Colin and Emily's marriage valid? What about the legitimacy of their two children? Is the villa even Emily's? And the guilt! But none of that matters because Philip has arrived with a shadow looming over him.

Philip insists that after learning of Emily and Colin being happily married that he vowed he would never intrude on their new life together. He has in fact built a new life for himself. Without the largess that came with his title he has had to earn a living and has become a rather decent archeologist. A job he has come to love. In fact he's been working on a site on Santorini for the past few years. He says that his not coming to Emily sooner, despite their proximity, proves his honorable intentions. The only reason he has appeared now is that his fellow archeologist was injured during a storm the night before Emily's arrival and the only place he could think to take him to get medical attention was the villa. Sadly his friend died and Philip's secret has been revealed. Though the inhabitants of the villa soon learn that it is not the only secret Philip has. There are some shady men following Philip and soon he reveals a story that is almost more incredible then his survival in Africa after everyone presumed him dead. Years earlier at a dig near the remains of Troy he found what he believes to be part of Achilles's helmet. The local working with Philip stole it and turned up dead the next day. Ever since then a crooked dealer in antiquities, Demir, has been following and harassing Philip. Demir and his Turkish henchmen have arrived on the island and Philip's life is in danger. Only Emily isn't sure she buys the story. If this is Philip he would never have let anything connected to Achilles out of his sight... Is it possible to put her guilt aside and find out the truth?

A Terrible Beauty is almost like a reset on the Lady Emily series. We're going back to the beginning, back to And Only to Deceive and seeing everything from a different angle. This isn't just "Philip's" story and his perspective on events but also another side to the world of antiquities. Emily reading Philip's journals after his death led to her becoming not just a Greek scholar but a lover of the antiquities that her late husband collected. This is the cornerstone to Emily's journey of discovering and the life and collection she builds over the years. Yet for all her love of antiquities we the readers have only seen certain aspects of this one word that encompasses so much. Antiquities covers the history, the excavation, the cataloging, the restoring, the purchasing, the forging, the collecting, the exhibiting, so many things under one banner. For all her talk of ruins and walking the remains of Troy this is the first book in which Emily's story takes us truly beyond the confines of the museum and the country houses and we get to see an excavation. Oh, and the archaeological sites we see through "Philip's" journey, I felt that at times I was reading an Elizabeth Peters novel about the exploits of Amelia Peabody. But what I found fascinating is that the archaeological work makes sense in regards to Philip's personality. He always relished the hunt, be it on safari or dealing with antiquities brokers, and here he is digging through the very earth in search of buried treasure.

This is why I wanted to be an archeologist for about a hot minute, the buried treasure. But my true love was in making art and no matter how many art history or anthropology courses I took this would never change. Though to truly understand art you need to understand it's history, which is why I took so many art history courses. A Terrible Beauty, besides throwing us back to the beginning of Emily's story took me on a bit of a time warp as well. I was having all these feelings about my first semester in college. SO many things combined to make me oddly nostalgic. One of my friends decided to go back to school and hearing her talk about midterms and finals is giving me all the feels. And with Thanksgiving I was dwelling on how I used that small respite from going to class to catch up on school work, even going so far as to be the odd one out at family gatherings sitting in a corner with flashcards drilling dates for the upcoming finals. Also this fall has been exceedingly cold and one thing that stuck with me from undergrad is that I was always constantly cold. No matter how many layers I put on the Wisconsin weather would defy it. It was twenty-one years ago that I took my first art history course that covered the ancient to medieval world, therefore covering both Greece and Rome. So when Emily was at the Acropolis I was giddy because I knew this! I somehow STILL knew this! It was locked away in the fog of time and cold and flashcards and yet it came back in an instant.

So A Terrible Beauty ended up not being just about Emily dealing with all these emotions and her past but in me going through the same experience on an entirely different level. This book became very personal to me and had me thinking about days gone by. In thinking about your own past, if you're one to overthink things, you start to think about the greater world, and as we're dealing with Emily, the history of ancient civilizations. What I'm getting at is specifically about the art we have left over from these civilizations. The gorgeous white marble statues and ruins that still thankfully stand. Yet in a bizarre coincidence The New Yorker just published an article on the fact that the art we look at and admire is nothing like what those in ancient Greece or Rome admired. Because all statuary, buildings, what-have-you, they were fully painted. Emily actually makes a reference to this when talking to Jeremy at the Acropolis and I was all, I JUST READ AN ARTICLE ON THAT! Yes, I know Emily and Jeremy couldn't hear me, but I just found it such a random coincidence that I couldn't not comment to fictional characters in a book who can't hear me. If you click on the link to the article you'll see what some of the most famous sculptures might have looked like and it's jarring. We are so used to "The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture" that to see marble covered in kind of cartoony paint makes you realize that sometimes an unfinished look has much more elegance. And now I'm thinking about naked cakes. Thanks Great British Bake Off.

With all this dwelling on the past I find it interesting that all those years ago and even just this past spring when I re-read And Only to Deceive I was 100% firmly in the camp of wanting Philip to somehow be alive. Yes, there would be problems to solve, so many problems, and perhaps Emily would no longer be the wife he had married, but I was sure they would work it out if only he wasn't dead. And here he is! Not dead! And while I would have given anything for Philip to return ten books ago now I was all go away foul demon back to the hell which spawned you! I am under no circumstance going to address the is he/isn't he actually Philip here because, spoilers people, but I am totally going to talk about how his reappearance made me feel, and that was not good. It's interesting how one changes over time. I have been on a long journey with Emily and Colin, going through all their ups and downs and heartbreaks. I've seen them fall in love, fight, make up, get married, and have children. I've witnessed how they have found a balance to working together, relying on each others skills and instincts, knowing when to step aside and knowing when to step in. They have this life they have built together and one person could bring it crashing down. This isn't like now when a divorce and re-marriage could solve things, there's the fact that women were viewed as property and a legitimate heir was needed. Therefore I say this once again, Philip begone!

My not feeling good about Philip's reappearance is nothing to how Emily and Colin feel! Not just the fact that their lives are crashing down around them, but the fact that they feel their guilt anew. During their courtship I don't think I'd ever really thought about how their falling in love must feel. They have always been perfect for each other so after Philip shuffled off this mortal coil it was only natural that they would be thrown together. They are, in my mind, relationship goals. They perfectly compliment each other and are so in love. Yet their love came at a cost; Philip's life. Philip being dead meant they and I didn't over-analyze the fact that Colin was Philip's best friend and Emily was his wife. They both cared for him but in the end his death lead to their happily ever after. Yet in A Terrible Beauty they have to face this fact all over again. And they aren't dealing with nebulous ideas of what Philip would think from beyond the grave, here he is at their villa staring them down across the sitting room and they feel instant shame. How could they have done this to Philip's memory? How could they find love and happiness out of his demise? How could they have not known he was alive all these years living a harsh life while they lived in connubial bliss? This guilt and shame hang over Emily and Colin like a dark cloud. The fact that to their faces Philip is being so magnanimous makes it even worse. How can they be forgiven? Or will the guilt stay long after Philip is gone from their lives one way or another? Perhaps the answer lies in Death in St. Petersburg!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Terrible Beauty, Achilles, Acropolis, Alexander Autumn, Amelia Peabody, And Only to Deceive, Antiquities, Archeology, Art History, Elizabeth Peters, GBBO, Greece, Guilt, Santorini, Tasha Alexander, Viscount Ashton

Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur
Publication Date: October 16th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

As a child there is always that one person whom you are thrust into a relationship with because of your parents. The greatest joy of growing up is that there comes a time when you no longer have to associate with them and can relegate them to your past. Which is exactly what Emily did with Emma Callum. Emma ran off with an Italian Duke and Emily never thought of her again. Until Emma reached out for help. She had heard of Emily's success in solving crimes and is in desperate need of her assistance. Stranded in Venice Emma doesn't even speak Italian and her father-in-law Conte Barozzi has gone and gotten himself murdered and her husband Paolo is missing. If there was ever a time for Emily's help it is now. But even murder can't fully change someone and as Emma flirts with Emily's husband Colin instead of answering their questions Emily wonders if it was wise to help her old nemesis. Though Emily and her husband are professionals and they will do the job asked of them despite the hindrance of Emma. Their first clue is a ring that was found on the Conte's body and a historian is needed.

Luckily when they arrived in Venice a note was waiting at their hotel from a local scholar turned bookseller inquiring after the ring. Emily is hoping Signore Caravello can help answer a few questions as to the ring's provenance. With his magnifying glass he finds two initials next to the maker's mark, BB and NV. Because the ring was found in the possession of a Barozzi, it's assumed that this belonged to some relative. Emily, now with the help of Singnore Caravello's daughter Donata, searches for this relative and finds Besina, who lived in the 15th century. Yet their one hope of confirming her as the ring's owner is dashed when the painting that just might have shown her wearing it is vandalized. What's more the Barozzis sworn enemies, the Vendelinos, swear that the ring is theirs and has been missing for centuries. Soon Emily and Colin are juggling not just a murder, but valuable missing books, a possibly forgotten legacy, a medium whose reputation was destroyed, the Conte's probable mistress and her jealous husband, and most disturbing of all, a person dressed as a plague doctor following Emily through the canals of Venice. Yet the crucial question is, can they solve the crime in the present by finding out what happen to Besina all those years ago?

There is a plethora of books set in Venice, and the truth is the setting doesn't make the book but a well written book can make the setting, forever linking the two in your mind. Death in the Floating City perfectly fits into the pantheon of books set in Venice that were instant classics for me, from Daphne Du Maurier's Don't Look Now to Mary Robinette Kowal's Valour and Vanity to Susanna Clark's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. These are all books that show Venice as imperfect yet lead you to fall in love with the city despite it's issues. I'm not talking about the fact that it's sinking into the seas, but the Italian way of life as it was back in the day. As I think of it in my mind as women's rights, marriages, and whores oh my. Courtesans, mistresses, and illegitimate children were all par for the course in Venice. What's so fascinating though is the way Tasha writes so that there's our modern POV then there's Emily's POV, which is Victorian but constantly working to break the shackles and think more modern, and then the Venetian POV which is far more fluid and modern, but that fluidity and the resultant issues drives the plot forward. It's literally a culture clash at it's most dramatic and I couldn't put it down.

What really drove the narrative in this installment was that the secondary story instead of being journals or letters that are concurrent with our story was instead the story of Besina and her ill fated love to Nicolo Vendelino way back in 1489. At first I was prejudiced against this story because being set in Italy and the couple in question being from warring houses I was sure this would be Tasha's take on Romeo and Juliet and personally, that isn't a favorite play of mine. Yes, it's a classic, I mean, it's Shakespeare after all, but not all Shakespeare floats my boat. Oh how wrong I was to compare it to that play of the Bard's. This secondary storyline soon became my favorite part of Death in the Floating City and I had to restrain myself from jumping ahead to see how it played out. The best way I can describe the story of Besina and Nicolo is that it's like Sarah Dunant decided to write her version of Drake Carne and Morwenna Chynoweth's star-crossed romance from Poldark. Much as with the two young lovers on Poldark, my heart was continually breaking, hoping for Besina to break free and be with Nicolo. Their story is tragic and heartbreaking and achingly perfect. Because, if I'm being honest, much like how Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, sometimes perfection isn't a happily ever after.

Even though my attachment to Besina and Nicolo is the reason I lost my heart to this book I can not discount all the other awesomeness contained within the pages of Death in the Floating City. The menacing plague doctor like the "child" in the raincoat in Don't Look Now is haunting, but that's just the tip of the iceberg! There's Caterina Brexiano, the maligned medium! There's Brother Giovanni with his knowledge of books and his hunt for the truth. As for the books? Oh dear me, I swoon at the valuable books and illuminated manuscripts contained within these pages. But the vapors don't stop there. The gorgeous illuminated manuscripts contain secrets not just in their detailed artwork but on the very pages they were written. Secrets hidden in art? This is Lady Emily's version of The Da Vinci Code, but next level, because instead of being bogged down with religiosity we are on the hunt for the story of Besina and Nicolo! A love lost to history recovered! This book didn't just make me want to go to Venice, it made me want to delve back into my art history studies. Oh, I do love a good illuminated manuscript. If only they all held such secrets as the ones Tasha has dreamed up!

It should be a truth universally acknowledged that we all have in our past some frenemy. Imagine the theme song to Veronica Mars playing here... While Emily never considered Emma her friend, she was in one of those situations where friendship was forced on her and it turned sour, or shattered like her doll's face when Emma destroyed it. Whether it's similar to Emily's case or just a friend from childhood that proved themselves a complete and utter two-faced bitch, there's someone in everyone's past whom we'd rather avoid but some lingering sentimentality, AKA the sign that you are the better person, makes you willing to help if they reach out a hand. That is the situation Emily faces. While there is that deep temptation to just laugh from afar, something that social media makes so easy in this day and age, there's the other, more juicy feeling that you can prove to them that you are the better person. You hope that your help will finally awaken some kind of gratitude in them, but as is often the case, as Emily sees, they are just the same person but older. You can see them more clearly for who they are and you pity instead of hate them. But still, reaching out that hand and being the better person? Priceless.

Now here's a question I have for the floor. Hopefully you have been encouraged by Alexander Autumn to pick up one or all of Tasha's wonderful Lady Emily series and I want your expert opinion. Is this the first time that Emily's writing is shown to be definitely written from a future date for an audience? Because Emily has a throw away line about how her identification of NV would prove to be entirely inaccurate, proving this was written at a later date. Also at the same time she says "as you will see" where the you is us, meaning, definite knowledge of an audience. Now I don't have any problem with this, seeing as an author that Tasha greatly admires, Elizabeth Peters, used such devices in her Amelia Peabody series which is another series I love. In fact, there's a part of me, a part that will reference but will not spoil the ending of this book, that noticed a certain resolution that mirrors an event that takes place at the end of the sixth installment in that series, The Last Camel Died at Noon, that makes me think, Tasha did this on purpose. If she did this for that very reason, that's cunning. But also if you think about it, this is the first case that Emily and Colin take that doesn't literally land on their doorstep, so that could have been why there's a change as well... either way, I'll be waiting to see if this writing quirk happens again. Onwards to the next book!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander Autumn, Amelia Peabody, Death in the Floating City, Don't Look Now, Elizabeth Peters, Poldark, Romeo and Juliet, Tasha Alexander, The Da Vinci Code, Venice, Veronica Mars

Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 1st, 2009
Format: Paperback, 307 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

What is one to do after a month of apologizing in Kent to one's family for eloping? Escape as soon as possible. Emily and Colin have taken themselves to the continent and are aboard the Orient Express speeding towards Constantinople for their honeymoon. Though they are able to use their cabin ingeniously, they occasionally have to go to the dining car to partake in sustenance. At one of their meals they meet Sir Richard. A diplomat with a sad past who seems to have overindulged. Before passing out he talks of the daughter he lost to kidnappers years and years ago, Ceyden. When they all disembark in Constantinople it becomes apparent that Sir Richard has lost more than his daughter, as some papers are missing from his compartment. The poor man is discombobulated and Emily and Colin feel sorry for him. Yet it is their honeymoon and Colin is determined it shall not be derailed by speculating on what really happened to Sir Richard so they leave him after a thorough search of the train and go to their lodgings. But Sir Richard feels their kindness should be repaid and invites them the next day to a performance of La Traviata at the palace.

Never has kindness so badly been repaid as an incident after the opera draws Emily and Colin into a plot that will blot out all thoughts of their honeymoon. A member of Abdul Hamit's harem has been murdered and the girl turns out to be none other than Sir Richard's missing daughter Ceyden! How could his daughter have been under his noise this whole time? Sir Richard begs Colin to investigate, knowing of his work for the crown, but it's really Emily's help that is needed, not just as Colin's partner, but as the only one able to go where the men can't, the harem. Soon Emily is embroiled in the politics of the harem, with the current valide sultan, Perestu hindering her investigation, while the former valide sultan, Bezime, holds her secrets close to her chest and offers Emily cryptic clues. While Emily tries to unravel all the secret allegiances, her Western mentality is rebelling at the idea that these women, while having access to the finer things in life, are really slaves. She is even willing to help one of them escape. Not just because Roxelana might be the key to Ceyden's fate, but because she is a Christian living in sin and Emily has a hero complex. As Emily gets closer to the truth Sir Richard's son is eyed by the authorities, but she knows this doesn't feel right, nothing feels right, and nothing may ever feel right again.

Taking a well loved couple from a flirtatious unmarried state to a married one can spell disaster for a series. What if the chemistry shifts and it just doesn't work after their relationship is consummated? Having just rewatched all of Moonlighting recently, it's amazing how quickly that show fell apart once Maddie and David did the deed. And they weren't even headed down the alter! They just headed to the bedroom! In fact for years I'd argue with anyone who would listen that it wasn't the consummation of their relationship but the outcome of the relationship that ruined the show, Maddie becoming pregnant to accommodate Cybil Shepherd's real life pregnancy and then having the baby die on the show! But I now see that it really was the consummation of the relationship and the shift this gave to the show that made it virtually unwatchable. So to all those people over the years talking about the Moonlighting Effect... you were right. Thankfully Tasha is able to keep the dynamic of the leads in this transition. There is no Moonlighting Effect, instead I think there is what I'll call the Peabody Effect. What is the Peabody Effect? Well, I'm of course referring to Elizabeth Peters' beloved Amelia Peabody series and how Amelia and her husband Radcliffe Emerson despite being married off in the first book continue to have a dynamic loving and playful relationship. Here's to Colin and Emily, the new Amelia and Emerson!

What I found really compelling in this installment is that Emily has so taken to her new life she is literally in wedding bliss. She is fully under the influence of the Peabody Effect! Therefore when she thinks that she might be pregnant, an expected outcome of marital relations, she is shook to her core. She has everything she could have ever wanted and the thought that after working so hard to achieve it, to get to work side by side with Colin as an equal, that she might be benched due to pregnancy scares her. It wasn't the pregnancy scare that I connected to, it was that feeling of everything going so right that any change could ruin it. Sometimes life is just perfect and anything, not to mention the enormity of having a child, could destroy it. Life is so rarely perfect, so rarely exactly how we want it, that you have to revel in the moments of perfection. Hoard them up and look back on perfect moments and perfect days. When Emily married Colin she saw her life being perfect from there on out. An adventurer solving crimes with Colin by her side. This vision didn't include a baby. Yes, an heir would be expected. Eventually. But not right at the beginning. Not right at the start of everything clicking into place. Oh, how I wanted to hug Emily and tell her, this is life, expect the unexpected.

Though Emily had very legitimate reasons to fear this change, and not just because it was change, but because pregnancy is dangerous, even in this day and age among my friends I think there was only one who didn't have scary complications or lasting problems. As for Victorian childbirth? Let's put it this way, Queen Victoria and her healthy brood were aberrations for the time period. Death was very commonplace, for the mother, for the baby, or for both. We read historical fiction and think that female confinement is quaint and antiquated, but it was necessary for the safety of all involved. And Emily is constantly reminded of the dangers of childbirth because her dear friend Ivy is in the midst of a precarious pregnancy. Being constantly reminded of the risky situation Ivy is in, that the next time Emily's in England Ivy might be no more makes her realize that she is just as susceptible, no matter how healthy she appears. Add to that the fact of her childhood experiences, loosing twin brothers, having her Aunt Clarabelle come to visit one Christmas and instead of celebrating a new addition to the family there was a joint funeral, and you can see why Emily is scared. And as for those anguished screams that woke her one December night? They now haunt her dreams.

With the plot of this book dealing with pregnancy and the harem, this is very much a book about women and the world they live in. I love that this book is taking real history and showing us aspects we would never have expected and yet they are 100% true. Tears of Pearl gives us a new way to look at history that we didn't necessarily do before. Because the truth is I'm sure almost everyone picking up this book has the same lurid ideas of what a harem is as Emily did from reading popular literature. We've been conditioned to think of the harem as sex slaves through sensational literature to films to television. I can even remember they did a harem episode on Jack of All Trades with Bruce Campbell, so you can imagine what impression that left... But the truth is far more complicated and political. Some of the women might never even meet Abdul Hamit! This is more a community of women with factions, but it's a family too, with children and love. So while it may be a gilded cage, the cage has it's advantages in education and wealth. The harem encourages education, unlike the Western world Emily hails from. In fact Victorian society is very much a cage too, just more invisible and therefore perhaps far more insidious.

Speaking so much about how Victorian yet feminist this book is makes me almost want to end my review here, but there's something odd that happened to me in reading this book that I must share. As I'm sure some of you know because of my Pink Carnation Dream Casting for Lauren Willig's books I have a tendency to cast actors as characters when I read books. It might have to do with being such a film buff before I turned to literature or my love of Star Wars novelizations, but it's just what I do. I know, it's a little weird, especially if you can't find the right actor. I know a lot of people would object to this way of thinking, especially because it indicates that the final form of a book isn't what's bound between the covers but what eventually makes it onto a screen, which I don't agree with, so let's just put it down as a quirk and move on. So one of the characters, who I will NOT mention because it's the murderer, was instantly cast the second he spoke as David Bamber, he of Mr. Collins fame in the Colin Firth adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Now I greatly admire David Bamber, but the truth is, I always think he's up to no good, even when playing good characters! So there was just something in the way the character first appeared that subconsciously triggered me to his guilt. I didn't even knowingly suspect him until near the end of the book! I say that proves what I great writer Tasha is, suspect everyone, but deep down, you sense the evil and despair!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Alexander Autumn, Amelia Peabody, Constantinople, Dream Casting, Elizabeth Peters, Harem, Jack of All Trades, Lady Emily, Lauren Willig, Moonlighting, Pregnancy, Tasha Alexander, Tears of Pearl, Victorian

The Painted Queen by Elizabeth Peters and Joan Hess
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: July 25th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Egypt, 1912—Amelia Peabody and her dashing archeologist husband, Radcliffe Emerson, are once again in danger as they search for a priceless, stolen bust of legendary Queen Nefertiti and Amelia finds herself the target of assassins in this long-awaited, eagerly anticipated final installment of Elizabeth Peters’ bestselling, beloved mystery series.

Arriving in Cairo for another thrilling excavation season, Amelia is relaxing in a well-earned bubble bath in her elegant hotel suite in Cairo, when a man with knife protruding from his back staggers into the bath chamber and utters a single word—"Murder"—before collapsing on the tiled floor, dead. Among the few possessions he carried was a sheet of paper with Amelia’s name and room number, and a curious piece of pasteboard the size of a calling card bearing one word: "Judas." Most peculiarly, the stranger was wearing a gold-rimmed monocle in his left eye.

It quickly becomes apparent that someone saved Amelia from a would-be assassin—someone who is keeping a careful eye on the intrepid Englishwoman. Discovering a terse note clearly meant for Emerson—Where were you?"—pushed under their door, there can be only one answer: the brilliant master of disguise, Sethos.

But neither assassins nor the Genius of Crime will deter Amelia as she and Emerson head to the excavation site at Amarna, where they will witness the discovery of one of the most precious Egyptian artifacts: the iconic Nefertiti bust. In 1345 B.C. the sculptor Thutmose crafted the piece in tribute to the great beauty of this queen who was also the chief consort of Pharaoh Akhenaten and stepmother to King Tutankhamun.

For Amelia, this excavation season will prove to be unforgettable. Throughout her journey, a parade of men in monocles will die under suspicious circumstances, fascinating new relics will be unearthed, a diabolical mystery will be solved, and a brilliant criminal will offer his final challenge . . . and perhaps be unmasked at last."

I thought we had seen the last of Amelia Peabody, how happy am I to be wrong! Plus Joan Hess is doing an event just a block from my house, oh, I can't wait to go!

Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: July 25th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Meet Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead.

Dr. Greta Helsing has inherited the family's highly specialized, and highly peculiar, medical practice. She treats the undead for a host of ills - vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights, and entropy in mummies.

It's a quiet, supernatural-adjacent life, until a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human and undead Londoners alike. As terror takes hold of the city, Greta must use her unusual skills to stop the cult if she hopes to save her practice, and her life."

This sounds like a really interesting take on the Dracula mythology!

Vanguard by Ann Aguirre
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: July 25th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The companion fourth book in the New York Times―bestselling Razorland YA series sees beloved characters reunited and features an unexpected new romance."

Could you give us less details?

The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein
Published by: Geek and Sundry
Publication Date: July 25th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 300 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It's the year 2147. Advancements in nanotechnology have enabled us to control aging. We’ve genetically engineered mosquitoes to feast on carbon fumes instead of blood, ending air pollution. And teleportation has become the ideal mode of transportation, offered exclusively by International Transport―the world’s most powerful corporation, in a world controlled by corporations.

Joel Byram spends his days training artificial-intelligence engines to act more human and trying to salvage his deteriorating marriage. He’s pretty much an everyday twenty-second century guy with everyday problems―until he’s accidentally duplicated while teleporting.

Now Joel must outsmart the shadowy organization that controls teleportation, outrun the religious sect out to destroy it, and find a way to get back to the woman he loves in a world that now has two of him."

I really had hope in loving Ready Player One and I so didn't... so I now have faith in this book instead.

The Backstagers by James Tynion IV and Rian Sygh
Published by: BOOM! Box
Publication Date: July 25th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"All the world's a stage . . . but what happens behind the curtain is pure magic—literally!

When Jory transfers to an all-boys private high school, he’s taken in by the only ones who don’t treat him like a new kid, the lowly stage crew known as the Backstagers. Not only does he gain great, lifetime friends, Jory is also introduced to an entire magical world that lives beyond the curtain. With the unpredictable twists and turns of the underground world, the Backstagers venture into the unknown, determined to put together the best play their high school has ever seen."

My old theater loving self just has to say YAS! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amelia Peabody, Ann Aguirre, Dr. Greta Helsing, Dracula, Elizabeth Peters, Joan Hess, Ready Player One, Strange Practice, The Backstagers, The Painted Queen, The Punch Escrow, Theatre, Vanguard, Vivian Shaw

Cocaine Blues (Phyrne Fisher Book 1) by Kerry Greenwood
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: 1989
Format: Hardcover, 175 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Phryne Fisher is a little bored in England. One more tedious yet perfectly prepared dinner party and she might lose it. Fast cars, aeroplanes, dancing lessons by gigolos only go so far as to fill the void. The night Bobby tried to make off with the Ambassador's wife's jewels, which Phryne quickly stopped, she is given an interesting alternative to her current life. The Colonel is worried about his daughter Lydia. Lydia has taken herself with her new husband off to Australia and her parents are convinced something is wrong. Phryne has always played with the idea that one day she would return to Australia. Having been raised out of the gutter and spirited away to wealth in England was well and good, but Australia is still her true home. She agrees to help the Colonel, if she is allowed to do it her way, with her money, and in her own time.

On the way to Melbourne, she befriends a female Scotch doctor, Dr MacMillan, and once she disembarks, Phryne picks up associates and friends left and right like they are strays. From the cab drivers, Bert and Cec, to her new maid Dot, who she stopped from committing a heinous crime, to the luscious Russian dancer Sasha, they soon all become her confidantes. Phyrne plans on approaching Lydia obliquely and naturally in a social setting so that she will never guess that Phyrne was sent by Lydia's parents. To do this Phyrne starts to mingle in society, a society she notices that has several flaws. One being a rather robust trade in cocaine, the other being an abortionist who rapes his patients. Seeing as by taking the Colonel's job she has ostensibly set herself up as a detective, Phryne figures she might as well solve these cases too. She doesn't expect to be shot at, set up, sapphically seduced, detained, and threatened. At least this is far more interesting then England.

Back in 2011 someone recommended the Phryne Fisher books to me. I really can't for the life of me remember who it was, but I have a feeling that it was because of my love of Daisy Dalyrymple and Amelia Peabody and my having just read The Forgotten Garden by fellow Aussie writer, Kate Morton, that this mysterious someone said "read this now." I obligingly bought Cocaine Blues and then promptly forgot to read it as it worked it's way into the morass of my reading pile. About a year after that forgotten purchase I was down in Illinois for a book signing with Lauren Willig and Tasha Alexander and afterwards I headed out to the local bookstore, because that's what I do. If I have an event to go to, I immediately find all the bookstores in the vicinity and try to visit as many as possible. This happened to be a Half Price Books Store. I hadn't been to this branch in, oh, at least a year, which is a long time for me. In the mystery section there was a large display of about eight of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher books. I immediately remembered that I had been recommended to read Kerry Greenwood and promptly bought all of them, not realizing I was re-buying Cocaine Blues, but on a side note, a hardcover edition when I only had a paperback, so score. This was one of those days I remember as a windfall bookstore day of awesomeness! Who would sell these books? Oh, what do I care, their lose is my gain.

Flash forward yet another year and I haven't started reading them yet. Let's be honest, I have so many books I shouldn't be allowed to buy anymore and just be forced to read what I own... I probably would never have to buy another book, want, yes, need, no... ok, yes, need, yes, I have an addiction, I need them! Anyway, back to my story. So anyway, I'm a huge fan of Acorn Media, they release all the best British shows on DVD, I mean seriously, look at all the best releases and they are from Acorn. Anyway, in their "new and exclusive" section this past January they had a new series that had aired in 2012 called Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. As it so happened I was reading the description and I realized that this show was based on all those lovely Kerry Greenwood books I had languishing. I rarely buy the DVDs direct from Acorn, usually waiting the extra months till they are no longer "exclusive" and are therefore about $20-40 cheaper, but it being my mom's birthday (handy right?) I figured I'd splurge and get her the DVD set and therefore get to watch the show. Now I rarely, and I mean rarely, will watch a show before reading the book, but my mom insisted. I instantly fell in love with the show, and, I must say, the clothes. Therefore, going to pick up the first book I was a little hesitant. I mean, the show was fresh in my mind and now I was worried it would color the book! Thankfully all my fears were unjustified.

Cocaine Blues has the bare bones of what the show is, but it's so much more. And you know what? While I like the show, the book has more interest and depth... but then again, it's hard to fit a truly ripping mystery into a rather small time slot. So if your love of the series has been putting you off picking up the series, hesitate no longer! The book is sexy and a little bit raunchy and has a younger more vibrant feel. There is also a rawness to the book that makes it seem more real then other books set in the 20s. Instead of a golden aura of nostalgia that envelopes a lot of this type of fiction, there was an immediate realness. The description of what the evil abortionist, Butcher George did, made the horror that much more real then if it had been glossed over. Now of course I have too too vivid ideas of getting septicemia and loosing my womb... but by forging this connection to me and my insides, wow, it packed a punch. Of all the other books I've read this summer, I would say that Kerry Greenwood's style most reminds me of Dashiell Hammett and Red Harvest. There's a noir sensibility that I just adored. Add to that that Bert has a tendency to say "yair" which just might replace my love of saying "Hodor" and it's a series that I don't think will be languishing in my "to be read" pile much longer.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amelia Peabody, Australia, Cocaine Blues, Daisy Dalrymple, Dashiell Hammett, Golden Summer, Hodor, Kate Morton, Kerry Greenwood, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Phryne Fisher, Red Harvest

When I set out to create my first Steampunk outfit there where a few things that had to be taken into consideration. Firstly, this was going to be my first foray into Steampunk in a convention setting, and what if I didn't like it? What if I outlaid a huge amount of money to get this fabulous costume and then had a cruddy time (this was proven totally false, best convention ever in fact.) Secondly, what do you do at a convention mostly? Sit. Or stand. Uncomfortably. I was not about to compound the lack of comfort by having an already uncomfortable costume. I've been to my share of cons, and they can try your patience in the most comfortable of clothes, add a corset and it's time for the torture. Lastly, budget. I didn't have much money at that time last year having spent it on things I needed more, ie, a new digital camera and a wacom tablet... so, there's $1000 outlay on things I needed... trust me, I needed a new digital camera, the wacom, well, not so much, but I adore it and used it on almost every assignment last fall. So back to the whole budget. The outfit had to be affordable, but also versatile, meaning, I could wear these clothes for other non-Steampunk related events. Multitasking with clothes, if you will.

At this time I hadn't really read up on all the subsets: Street Urchin, Tinker, Explorer or Aesthete, thank you Steampunk Bible! What I noticed clearly was two trends, more functional work-a-day clothes (Street Urchin, Tinker and Explorer) and more tradiational Victorian (Aesthete). Within the functional clothes there where a lot of explorer costumes. Instantly I felt drawn to that! I have always dreamed of being an explorer like Amelia Peabody Emerson, yes, I know she's fictional! I wanted to climb pyramids and dig up artifacts, I wanted to be an explorer! Yet an explorer with pants. I'm not much of a girly girl and don't own a number of skirts, so I wanted to wear pants.

I started by searching all over the internet, also, a big thanks to Pinterest, which I'm addicted to and which is so handy for keeping my visuals in one place. I stumbled on this image.

The golden age of aviation, which in style has much to recommend itself and has some crossovers with explorers, they are kind of the explorers of the skys. I really was drawn to the light pants, the short bomber jacket, the adorable gloves and the goggles. It also reminded me of Diane Holmes of Torchwood, and if that doesn't scream Steampunk, I don't know what show does.

I found this more recent bomber jacket, and it was totally the style I was hoping to find. Initially I was in favor of the lighter color, but as you'll see soon enough, I was won over by the darker hue. Also, this is just a very nice functional jacket.

Here was really the whole look that inspired me. If you look at it in a deconstructed manner, it's boots, gloves, pants, jackets, t-shirt, all the rest is just fun accessories. The accessories are the only thing that couldn't be worn everyday. That is, unless you felt like it.

Here was the same basic idea but leaning even further towards Steampunk. I liked it, but mainly the belt, gloves and goggles. The front is a little too fluffy for me.

This "inspiration board" I found perfectly captures the feel I was going  for. Now lets see if I could source all the requisite materials and items to make the costume I wanted... you'll just have to stop by next Sunday to see!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aesthete, Amelia Peabody, Aviation, Bomber Jacket, Explorer, Inspiration Board, Pinterest, Sartorial Sundays, Steampunk, Street Urchin, Teslacon, Tinker, Torchwood

The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog, Amelia Peabody Book 7 by Elizabeth Peters
Published by: Grand Central
Publication Date: 1992
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
Challenge: Valley of the Kings, Mystery and Suspense 2011
Rating: ★★★
To Buy
The Peabody Emersons are having a heck of a time hiding Nefret's origins. It's not just that coming out of the desert with a girl is odd, it's the fact that they have to concoct and stick to a story about missionaries in order to protect the valley wherein she spent her entire life and ancient Egypt still exists to this day. There are many who would desire this knowledge in order to plunder the valley... and many who might see holes in their story if closely examined. While Nefret and Ramses stay back in England, Ramses having developed an "attachment" to Nefret, for the first time in years Emerson and Amelia will have an excavation all to themselves. Soon their plan is thwarted with many unusual happenings and the kidnapping of Emerson. Amelia would lay down her life to save her husband and it is not long till he is returned to her. But returned damaged and broken... he has amnesia and no longer knows who she is.

Advised by a queer little doctor, Amelia does not force herself or her affections on Emerson and they go to where they first met, because Emerson thinks he is still on that dig. Hoping against hope that he will remember while trying to maintain a dig is one thing. Hoping that the enemy, whomever it might be will not attack again is another thing entirely. Amelia must keep Emerson alive or there is no hope at all. Perhaps the master criminal is involved... only one of genius and cunning could have such diabolical and nefarious plans.

For some reason I found this book more than a little confusing. I should note though, that I was sick and on a lot of antibiotics at the time. But as one of my friends said: "Honey, you must be sick. These plots are never hard to follow. It's part of their charm. The Peabodys go to Egypt, Ramses, David or Nefret (or all three) get into trouble, Emerson gets mad, crime solved, happy ending. Their very predictability keep me coming back." There is such a charm in the predictability of a happy ending coupled with the height of Egyptology. Though this one left me a little flat, not just because of the kidnapping, but more because of the soap opera tragedy of Emerson having amnesia and then another soap opera trope that I won't mention because it is strictly under the "spoilers" section. For the longest time I was debating back and forth as to whether Emerson really had amnesia or not, which I'm sure Peters did on purpose. For such a loving and stalwart relationship, it's really the first time since the beginning where Amelia gets to be uncertain in Emerson's love for her. I think Peters must have taken glee in shaking the unshakable, because only a complete erasure of Amelia from Emerson's memory could take away his feelings for her, and I'm sure Peters gets enough letters asking why there is no conflict (in their relationship) between them instead of Amelia just gloating about how lucky she is to have such a virile and sexy husband, even if they are couched in the terms of the day. Which, I will admit, sometimes get a bit much.

Also, it seems to me that Peters must be tired with her formulae a bit because she's starting to shake it up a little. In the previous installment, The Last Camel Died at Noon, she tried, and in my mind, failed, to do a more Rider Haggard adventure book. In this installment, because of a great deal of the characters being back in England, we have the introduction of an epistolary novel on top of the normal day to day story. While I enjoyed the letters, Ramses being hilariously Ramses in all of them, and while they added to the plot, the letters seemed to break up the plot and make it chunky. Almost as if there was a lull and then "Breaking News: This in from England!" For a seamless narrative and plot this did not do the book any favors. Worst of all though was the shoehorning in of their tragedies into the myth of "The Snake, The Crocodile and the Dog." Amelia seemed convinced that they where being sent three trials, but where and how? There's a kidnapping, a few attacks and a possibly rapid dog. Now, I see how you can derive the dog, but how are the others a snake or a crocodile? I don't think this was a lapse in my fevered brain patterns, but a failing on Peters part.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amelia Peabody, Egypt, Elizabeth Peters, Emerson, H. Rider Haggard, Nefret, Ramses, The Last Camel Died at Noon, The Snake The Crocodile and the Dog

The Last Camel Died at Noon, Amelia Peabody Book 6 by Elizabeth Peters
Published by: Grand Central
Publication Date: 1991
Format: Paperback, 430 Pages
Challenge: Valley of the Kings, Mystery and Suspense 2011
Rating: ★★
To Buy
Amelia and Emerson are all abuzz. Parts of the Sudan are once more under British control. All new archaeological sites are at their fingertips! All Amelia can think about is the pyramids. All those pyramids that have been not been studied due to political conflict and strife. But, never can the Emersons be allowed to just work, oh no. There must always be something more. That something more comes as a plea from a Mr. Forthright, who happens to pass out at Amelia's feet. Luckily Viscount Blacktower soon arrives to explain the situation in full, unconscious grandson and all. Over a decade ago, his eldest son, Willoughby Forth, set out to explore the Sudan with his new bride. They were never to be heard from again, until now. What with the conflict in the region there is a slim chance that a message might have taken this long to reach them. Now that England has reclaimed the land and the mysterious note has arrived scrawled on ancient papyrus, Lord Blacktower hopes that the rumors of the Emersons going to the Sudan are true and that they can help in his cause. Despite having known Willoughby, Emerson does not hold out hope for the Forths. The unique message and map drawn on a page from one of Emerson's own journals, does not raise Emerson to the bait. He is for pyramids and pyramids alone, but if he should hear of something, well then... he'll pass along the information.

Soon the Emersons are ensconced near the British regiment in Napata with a whole plethora of pyramids and Mr. Reggie Forthright. Thinking that perhaps he should be on the scene if news of the Forths reach them he has brought himself all the way to the Sudan. Things start to escalate, as they always do. Ramses is almost kidnapped, Reggie is attacked and then decides to head off into the dessert in search of his uncle, against the better judgement of everyone, where he soon disappears. Whence Reggie went, Emerson and Amelie feel it their duty to go. The mysterious map they follow appears to be eerily correct. Could the Forths still be alive in some secret oasis? As time passes it looks as if they will never know. Not only do their men desert them, but soon the last remaining camel dies. They are miraculously saved and awaken to find themselves in the secret oasis that the Forths discovered years ago. Ancient Egypt is alive and well in the secret land. Time has stood still for thousands of years. It's an archaeologists dream come true. If only they were treated as honored guests and not as well maintained prisoners. Embroiled in the fight for the crown between two brothers, one of which was secretly working at the Emersons' site, they must find out what truly happened to the Forths and then make good their escape. The natives seem a little too keen on keeping them in their hidden valley with their masked maidens waiting on them forever. Biding their time, the mysteries start to unfold, but hopefully, this mystery won't end in death or imprisonment.

Going in an entirely different direction than her previous novels, this is Amelia Peabody does Indiana Jones, or, as the author herself says, H. Rider Haggard. Only, it's more like the crappy forth Indiana Jones movie then the wonders of the earlier films. It's all just too far fetched having them stumble upon this "lost tribe," but thankfully it wasn't aliens. There has always been a grounding in reality with the Amelia Peabody stories. The ghosts aren't ghosts, the mummies don't actually walk amongst us, despite all evidence to the contrary leading up to Amelia's Scooby Doo reveal. But here, here it is like the mummies walking amongst us. It's just silly and stupid all at once. So the Forths found this secret place by accident and then lived out their days there, and now it appears the same thing has happened to the Emersons. So? I really couldn't be bothered to care. They sat around all day in a house with a nice courtyard which occasionally had a cat. The cat was the high point, they mainly sat around. So what if Mrs. Forth is still there? Once they finally get to the good part, it's convoluted and nothing is openly resolved. It's a mess of a novel which I pushed through. I'm just hoping we never end up in this bizarre Never-Neverland of the Peabody cannon again. Please, I want this series back on track, not meandering with dead pachyderms in the desert.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Amelia Peabody, Elizabeth Peters, Emerson, H. Rider Haggard, Indiana Jones, Lord Blacktower, Napata, Pyramids, Ramses, Reggie Forthright, The Last Camel Died at Noon, The Sudan

The Deeds of the Disturber, Amelia Peabody Book 5 by Elizabeth Peters
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: 1988
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
Challenge: Valley of the Kings, Mystery and Suspense 2011
Rating: ★★★
To Buy(different edition than one reviewed)

Heading back to England after their run-in with the master criminal, Amelia Peabody Emerson and her husband are hoping to spend the summer finishing up Emerson's manuscript that was due at the publishers quite awhile ago. But even on the return journey it looks as if that might not be the case. There has been a mysterious death at the British Museum. A death that just happened to have occurred in front of a mummy. All of London has an Egyptological fervor which reaches critical mass when a mysterious priest starts to visit the mummy. It should perhaps be mentioned that he was wearing historically accurate garb, animal prints and all, that the lay person would not know to employ. Further adding to their troubles is their old "friend" the journalist O'Connell as well as Amelia's niece and nephew, whom she unwittingly agrees to care for. O'Connell has brought the Emersons into the case saying that they will consult upon their return to England. O'Connell, of course, failed to consult them before making this wild claim. But he does know them almost better than they know themselves, because there is no way they can stay away from this story. Soon they have another reporter on their tail, a Miss Minton. Between the goings on at the museum and trying to avoid reporters all day it's sure to get worse before it gets better. Soon another death occurs and the police arrest the wrong man, or so O'Connell swears.

"Officially" delving into the investigation, the two Egyptologists are soon sneaking off to opium dens, running into Emerson's ex-flames, dealing with aristocrats, because they just seem to come out of the woodwork, and star crossed lovers, which Emerson just wishes would go away. With Amelia's rising jealousy of Emerson's past life and the escalation of bizarre incidents at the museum, it's no wonder that soon there's a few kidnappings and imprisonments and recreations of Egyptian rituals. Because once the Emerson's are involved, there's investigations and counter investigations and secrets half told, but at the end of the day, the bad guy will be locked up, with or without the help of the police.

I love Amelia and Emerson, I really really do, which is why it hurts me to say that this wasn't my favorite story. At first I was concerned that I would dislike it due to it's not being set in Egypt. But surprisingly, London really worked well. The atmosphere, the fog, oh yes, the fog, perfect for mysterious people to appear and disappear into. I just feel that this relied on too many cliches and was just lackluster in the extreme. Perhaps the fact that it was the only book that was out of print, until recently, should have been a clue. I will only focus on the two things that made me mad... ok three, or maybe four, but one can be mentioned really quickly. With all Amelia's understanding of humans, how could she not see that her nephew was a little evil bully. It' was so obvious, also, they could have gone a more interesting way with the niece and her screaming of dead over and over again... like what if she had seen a murder? Oh, I would so like that, the little curly haired annoyance would need therapy for years.

Next, Emerson and Amelia's love life. I adore that they still love each other so much, but one can only take so much of their amorous affections before it becomes over the top and a little sickening. I get how wonderful Emerson is, everyone falls for him, heck, I've fallen for him, I do not now need hundreds of little asides to reassure me of this. Which then leads to... if they are so in love, how can Amelia doubt that love? Their relationship has always been so solid, so in sync. Yet here we have constant doubts. What the what I say? It's absurd, their love is a given, so why do this Elizabeth Peters? WHY!?! You're tearing yourself down. Just stop it. Also, random aside, not part of my four points, how is it they haven't had like 50 million children like Evelyn?

As my final point, in my, what were you thinking Elizabeth Peters? An Egyptian Hellfire-esque Club, really? The Hellfire Club gets used so much in these period pieces, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. This is definitely one of the not times. If you're going to do it, do it all out, like in The Young Sherlock Holmes. I still get nightmares from that! This, I could barely be bothered to read it. I was almost skimming near the end, something I never, never do! Also with the syphilitic lordling and his friend, who cares. I kept getting them mixed up because they both had so many differing titles that I didn't know who was who. Stick to one naming convention and leave it at that. Don't confuse and alienate the readers! Ok, soapbox put away. Niece and nephew, check, love life, check, jealousy, check, Hellfire club, check. Looks like I've covered what I disliked thoroughly. I did still enjoy it, don't get me wrong, the ranting is just some things that got under my skin. I'm just concerned about which way this series is headed. This book was the first that felt almost like a parody of itself, take a cursed mummy, throw in some lines about the wonders of Emerson, add a Ramses mishap (with fire this time) and set page count for the late 300s, print.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Amelia Peabody, British Museum, Egypt, Elizabeth Peters, Emerson, Hellfire Club, Mummy, Ramses, The Deeds of the Disturber, The Young Sherlock Holmes

Lion in the Valley, Amelia Peabody Book 4 by Elizabeth Peters
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: 1986
Format: Paperback, 370 Pages
Challenge: Thriller and Suspense
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
As the Emerson's near Egypt Amelia has a dark foreboding... somewhere in the teeming streets of Cairo or the dusty dunes of the desert, the Master Criminal is awaiting their return. But due Ramses being Ramses, they have the firman for Dahshoor, and where Ramses is concerned it's best not to ask, he might never shut his mouth again. Once settled into their hotel they encounter that despicable Kalenischeff, conspirator with the Master Criminal, who seems to have a new target besides antiquities, the young Miss Debenham. Trying to ignore this despicable human, the Emerson's set out to view the pyramids under the light of a full moon. But an attempted kidnapping of Ramses, who is rescued by the opium addict going by the name of Nemo, spoils the night, though Mr. Nemo, despite his baser urges seems fit to be Ramses new bodyguard and he's hired on the spot. The next day as they prepare to leave Kalenischeff is found dead in Miss Debenham's room, with the lady in question missing. Amelia sees the hand of the Master Criminal, not that of a scorned lover. But to her beloved pyramids she goes, parasol in hand, there's always another day to foil that most devious of men.

But at their site things do not go according to plans. a Miss Marshall is found wandering the desert, of course it's really Miss Debenham in disguise, but Amelia is willing to help her for the time being. Then a Ronald Fraser, the cousin and supposed fiance of Miss Debenham arrives. And a man with the name of Nemo is never who he claims to be. Also Amelia appears to be constantly in the thoughts of the Master Criminal, sending her presents. Plus with all the people coming and going could Amelia have laid eyes on the Master Criminal more than once? He is more than a master of crime, as he is also one of disguise. And could his obsession with Amelia be more than revenge? With pyramids and plots and kidnappings, can Amelia solve the murder, help a young girl in her romantic entanglements and save herself?

I loved this Amelia Peabody adventure. Despite having kidnapping cliches and people in disguise she's somehow able to rise above it all for a rollicking good time. I loved the Dickensian overtones with Mr. Nemo, the opium addict. But more than that, I loved the Master Criminal. I was worried that his Moriarty to Amelia's Holmes, would not match wits with her. But I was wrong, cunning, devious and everywhere. His machinations on Amelia are truly dastardly, and while Amelia can't see the end goal, her jealous husband does. Ramses is still as precocious and freakishly intelligent, now with a slight fascination with the interactions between men and women... just a little creepy that, but he is an advanced specimen of child genius. I would write more, but really, I have to pick up book five immediately, just the time it's taken me to write this review means I have been too long away from the Emerson Clan.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Amelia Peabody, Donald Fraser, Egypt, Elizabeth Peters, Emerson, Kalenischeff, Lion in the Valley, Miss Ddebenham, Mr. Nemo, Opium, Ramses, Reading Challenge, Ronald Fraser, The Master Criminal

Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell
Published by: Balzar and Bray
Publication Date: April 26th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it—the crazy characters in her neighborhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties, and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she's finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream.

This sequel to The Carrie Diaries brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country "sparrow"—as Samantha Jones dubs her—to the person she always wanted to be. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile her past with her future, Carrie realizes that making it in New York is much more complicated than she ever imagined.

With her signature wit and sparkling humor, Candace Bushnell reveals the irresistible story of how Carrie met Samantha and Miranda, and what turned a small-town girl into one of New York City's most unforgettable icons, Carrie Bradshaw."

Candace Bushnell keeps using the Sex and the City franchise to make herself more money while exploiting the ever growing YA market at the same time!

Abandon by Meg Cabot
Published by: Point
Publication Date: April 26th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld. Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid. Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld."

I like it when Meg Cabot doesn't do the typical Meg Cabot, Princess Diaries thing.

Naked Heat by Richard Castle
Published by: Hyperion
Publication Date: April 26th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"When New York's most vicious gossip columnist, Cassidy Towne, is found dead, Heat uncovers a gallery of high-profile suspects, all with compelling motives for killing the most feared muckraker in Manhattan. But Heat's murder investigation is complicated by her surprise reunion with superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook. In the wake of their recent breakup, Nikki would rather not deal with their raw emotional baggage. But the handsome, wise-cracking writer's personal involvement in the case forces her to team up with Rook anyway. The residue of their unresolved romantic conflict and crackling sexual tension fills the air as Heat and Rook embark on the search for a killer among celebrities and mobsters, singers and hookers, pro athletes and shamed politicians. This new, explosive case brings on the heat in the glittery world of secrets, cover-ups, and scandals."

I heart Castle so much and it makes me joyous that his "books" really exist!

A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: April 26th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Set in 1910, the delightful 19th Amelia Peabody novel from bestseller Peters (after Tomb of the Golden Bird) takes Amelia and her husband, Emerson, to Palestine, where an English adventurer, George Morley, is planning to excavate Jerusalem's Temple Mount in search of the Ark of the Covenant. Gen. David Spencer, the director of Military Operations in London, suspects Morley, an amateur archeologist at best, of spying for the Germans, whose influence has been growing in the Middle East. Spencer wants Egyptologists Amelia and Emerson to stop Morley from undertaking a project sure to offend the three religious groups that consider the temple site holy. Meanwhile, son Ramses embarks on a treacherous journey to convey to his parents important information learned from two travelers he meets while on a dig in Samaria. Once again, MWA Grandmaster Peters uses vivid settings, sharp characterizations, and deft dialogue to transport the reader to another time and place."

I love Amelia Peabody so very much!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A River in the Sky, Abandon, Amelia Peabody, Candace Bushnell, Elizabeth Peters, Meg Cabot, Naked Heat, Richard Castle, Sex and the City, Summer in the City