strange and random happenstance

The Sisterhood by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 23rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Victoria Goldsborough is shimmering like pearls in her white satin for her engagement ball but soon her skin will be cold like marble. Her murder is garnering more press than her wedding to the Marquess of Harrington ever would have. Of course Lady Emily's mother blames Emily for the young girl's death. Because obviously if Emily had been present so would Colin and no one in their right mind would dare commit murder in the presence of Colin Hargreaves. Though offering to help solve the case just further enrages Lady Bromley who storms off in high dudgeon. Emily being Emily she's going to investigate anyway. Mainly because she can not sit idol when there's a murderer on the loose. Plus she knew Victoria growing up. Sadly Emily was too old to be a friend and too young to be a mentor. Still, it makes this case personal. Which means Colin is off to speak to the king while Emily is writing to Victoria's younger sister Portia to get the lay of the land. Portia arrives in full widows weeds, which seems a tad theatrical, but then again, one of four girls without dowries raised by their grandmother making the match of the season only to be cut down in her prime is worthy of some theatrics. Though perhaps she doth protest too much? Emily can not rule her out for sororicide, but at least the suspect spills the tea. Victoria making the match she did has to have upset someone, perhaps even created an enemy with murder in their heart. Could that murderer be Cressida Wright? Who, according to Portia, wanted Victoria's fiancé Peregrine for herself. But murder might be too much of an effort for Cressida. Though Cressida is only one possible culprit. Peregine's friend Lionel Morgan has taken several loans from his friend and was with him moments before Victoria's demise. Frances Price was Victoria's dearest friend and while being properly prudish her family residing on Radical Row are anything but. Then there's Victoria's maid Ida who had recently committed suicide due to an unwanted pregnancy, how does that tie in? And one must never overlook the fiancé. There's only one thing that Emily and Colin are certain of, they are being deliberately manipulated. All the suspects' stories have been expurgated. They are purposefully hiding things. And if that wasn't enough, Sebastian Capet, the notorious jewel thief, happened to be purloining a tiara upstairs the night of the murder at Harrington House. But it's Emily's mother who might have broken the case wide open. It's those nasty suffragettes! An underground movement threatening decent society, a cohort of young ladies calling themselves Boudica's Sisters are trying to destroy the social structure. And Victoria was recently approached about becoming a member. But Boudica's Sisters seem to stand for everything Victoria was against. Except for the fact that she had a watercolor of Boudica in her bedroom. Could Emily's mother actually be on to something? One shudders at the thought.

At her release event for The Sisterhood at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona, Tasha said that her first editor told her after she finished writing her second Lady Emily book, A Poison Season, "You have to keep these books in England. You can go into the country. Preferably London, fine a country house once in awhile. But that's what you have to do. And then you can own Victorian London." But Tasha didn't want to own Victorian or, as it stands now, Edwardian London. She wanted to take Emily out of the world in which she was raised and open her eyes. I have to say that I heartily agree with this. Every time that Tasha announces a new book I can't wait to find out which far-flung destination Emily will be going to. The year previously when she was promoting Death by Misadventure she mentioned that she and her husband Andrew were off to India to research the next Lady Emily book. Sadly I learned during that talk that the India book, Murder on the Scared River, was the next but one and Emily was returning to London. Now I will follow Emily anywhere, but I am with Tasha and not her first editor, those far-flung places call to my heart. But then Tasha came in and did her magic and, well, this book wasn't just perfection, it was perfection for our times. Because this book deals with women and women's rights. The Sisterhood shows how women can build each other up and tear each other down. How we have always been treated as second class citizens and, because of this, infighting is self-defeating yet expected and accepted. There are men lined up waiting to tell us how we're not good enough and yet we fight each other. We have common goals and we should band together and yet, put two women in a room and they'll either be expected to fight or fail the Bechdel Test. This book is set in Edwardian England and yet these are the same problems, safety, healthcare, rights, voting, power, that still exist today. What's more, with the section set during the rule of Boudica in Britannia you see that the problems of being a woman are endemic. We could be kick ass warlords and yet people will question that. Here's an idea, how about we question the right of white men to rule? How about we question all their decisions that are in our "best interests" that they made without consulting us? I mean, this book brings out a rage in me, because, when will it end? But that rage, that indignation, and then the reveal of the murderer's motives, all of that hit home so hard that I think I need to go rewatch all of Britannia to recover, because I love me some Roman miniseries. And then I'll reread this book, because, damn, it got me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bechdel Test, Boudica, Britannia, Colin Hargreaves, Edwardian, Lady Bromley, Lady Emily, London, Marquess of Harrington, Murder, Rome, Sebastian Capet, Suffrage, Suffragette, Tasha Alexander, The Sisterhood, Top Ten, Victorian, Women

A Cold Highland Wind by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Jeremy, Duke of Bainbridge, does like an excuse to dress up, and his dear friends coming to visit him en famille at his estate in Scotland means it's time to break out the Bainbridge tartan, a flamboyant concoction of bright turquoise, scarlet, and yellow designed by his late lamented Uncle whom he inherited Cairnfarn Castle from. Emily, Colin, and their three children are headed north to visit Jeremy because of one of their children. Henry is very persuasive and upon learning that Jeremy is in possession of a menagerie he demanded to inspect the living conditions of the animals. And yes, this would be the same Henry who walks around with his crocodile Cedric on a lead. He seems to think that animals should be free, but what's safest for the animals might not be safest for the residents of Cairnfarn. Luckily there is a new danger on the horizon, that of a murderer. On their second day at Cairnfarn the village hosted a ceilidh for their new doctor. A new doctor who happens to be a woman! There was dancing, drinking, storytelling, a punch that packed a punch, and Jeremy in Bainbridge tartan from tip to tail, and, before the night was out, murder. Only the body of Jeremy's gamekeeper, Mr. Sinclair, wasn't found until the next morning. By Emily's precocious children. His body was a bloody sight and on his forehead lay a single stone with a rune carved in it. One would think that such brutality couldn't exist there beside the loch in quiet splendor. But that's one thing Emily has learned over the years, death can happen to anyone at anytime. Now they just have to figure out the who and the why. And there are plenty of candidates, especially when you're victim is a handsome stranger in a new place who kept to himself. When Mr. Sinclair arrived in Cairnfarn he left behind a fiance in Edinburgh to steal the hearts of the local lassies. One lassie in particular loved him desperately but her affections were not returned. Could either of these spurned ladies have been the culprit? Or perhaps the young farmer in love with the girl Mr. Sinclair spurned? When love and lust is at play anyone could be capable of murder. And Cairnfarn has a dark history of witchcraft. And everyone knows though shalt not suffer a witch to live...

Having reached seventeen volumes and an ever expanding cast of beloved characters I'm always wondering who will be drawn into Lady Emily's current case. Will her mother-in-law deign to make an appearance? Will the ghost of Kristiana von Lange loom large? Will Cécile du Lac be lured away from Paris and yet another paramour? Could Emily's dear friend Ivy Brandon stop by? Or what about the formidably smart American Margaret Seward? Or could it be just Jeremy, the Duke of Bainbridge? While I love all these characters more than I can say I was not the least bit disappointed to see that just Jeremy was on board for the latest adventure. As much as I love every single entry in this series the two books that top my list are The Adventuress and A Terrible Beauty. And The Adventuress gives us so much wonderful Jeremy I could die happy, he wouldn't have died happy, but thankfully he got away from his fiance. His minute cameo at the end of the last adventure wasn't enough, I needed more and thankfully Tasha somehow knew. What's more, here we have Jeremy attempting to adult and being almost nearly useful. In a kilt. Sadly, there is no Colin in a kilt. Once you meet Jeremy's Greats you will hope that perhaps they will be able to force Colin into a kilt for their own amusement, because they know a fine specimen of a man when they see one, but sadly it was not to be. And I'm sorry for that slight kilt spoiler, but I think that it's important to make sure you don't suffer the same crushed dreams I did. But at least there's Jeremy, you think he's growing up, taking on responsibility, and then he has the vapors and has to go lie down for a bit, have a drink, and possibly a game of billiards. As Tasha said, "The Ducal Struggle® is real." Yet thankfully we are introduced to some of Jeremy's relatives who are very much wanting to get their fingers into all the pies versus keeping their hands as clean as possible with their nails as nice as the valet can make them. I'm talking about the aforementioned Greats. These are Jeremy's great-aunts, Miss Adeline and Miss Josephine. They have sequestered themselves in their own salon in Cairnfarn from which they know all and see all and desperately want to know about the murder. They are my new favorite characters and if they don't minimally get their own novella I shall have a fit of the vapors myself.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Cold Highland Wind, A Terrible Beauty, Cairnfarn Castle, Ceilidh, Colin Hargreaves, Duke of Bainbridge, Lady Emily, Murder, Scotland, Tasha Alexander, The Adventuress, The Ducal Struggle, The Greats, Witchcraft

A Cold Highland Wind by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Jeremy, Duke of Bainbridge, does like an excuse to dress up, and his dear friends coming to visit him en famille at his estate in Scotland means it's time to break out the Bainbridge tartan, a flamboyant concoction of bright turquoise, scarlet, and yellow designed by his late lamented Uncle whom he inherited Cairnfarn Castle from. Emily, Colin, and their three children are headed north to visit Jeremy because of one of their children. Henry is very persuasive and upon learning that Jeremy is in possession of a menagerie he demanded to inspect the living conditions of the animals. And yes, this would be the same Henry who walks around with his crocodile Cedric on a lead. He seems to think that animals should be free, but what's safest for the animals might not be safest for the residents of Cairnfarn. Luckily there is a new danger on the horizon, that of a murderer. On their second day at Cairnfarn the village hosted a ceilidh for their new doctor. A new doctor who happens to be a woman! There was dancing, drinking, storytelling, a punch that packed a punch, and Jeremy in Bainbridge tartan from tip to tail, and, before the night was out, murder. Only the body of Jeremy's gamekeeper, Mr. Sinclair, wasn't found until the next morning. By Emily's precocious children. His body was a bloody sight and on his forehead lay a single stone with a rune carved in it. One would think that such brutality couldn't exist there beside the loch in quiet splendor. But that's one thing Emily has learned over the years, death can happen to anyone at anytime. Now they just have to figure out the who and the why. And there are plenty of candidates, especially when you're victim is a handsome stranger in a new place who kept to himself. When Mr. Sinclair arrived in Cairnfarn he left behind a fiance in Edinburgh to steal the hearts of the local lassies. One lassie in particular loved him desperately but her affections were not returned. Could either of these spurned ladies have been the culprit? Or perhaps the young farmer in love with the girl Mr. Sinclair spurned? When love and lust is at play anyone could be capable of murder. And Cairnfarn has a dark history of witchcraft. And everyone knows though shalt not suffer a witch to live...

Having reached seventeen volumes and an ever expanding cast of beloved characters I'm always wondering who will be drawn into Lady Emily's current case. Will her mother-in-law deign to make an appearance? Will the ghost of Kristiana von Lange loom large? Will Cécile du Lac be lured away from Paris and yet another paramour? Could Emily's dear friend Ivy Brandon stop by? Or what about the formidably smart American Margaret Seward? Or could it be just Jeremy, the Duke of Bainbridge? While I love all these characters more than I can say I was not the least bit disappointed to see that just Jeremy was on board for the latest adventure. As much as I love every single entry in this series the two books that top my list are The Adventuress and A Terrible Beauty. And The Adventuress gives us so much wonderful Jeremy I could die happy, he wouldn't have died happy, but thankfully he got away from his fiance. His minute cameo at the end of the last adventure wasn't enough, I needed more and thankfully Tasha somehow knew. What's more, here we have Jeremy attempting to adult and being almost nearly useful. In a kilt. Sadly, there is no Colin in a kilt. Once you meet Jeremy's Greats you will hope that perhaps they will be able to force Colin into a kilt for their own amusement, because they know a fine specimen of a man when they see one, but sadly it was not to be. And I'm sorry for that slight kilt spoiler, but I think that it's important to make sure you don't suffer the same crushed dreams I did. But at least there's Jeremy, you think he's growing up, taking on responsibility, and then he has the vapors and has to go lie down for a bit, have a drink, and possibly a game of billiards. As Tasha said, "The Ducal Struggle® is real." Yet thankfully we are introduced to some of Jeremy's relatives who are very much wanting to get their fingers into all the pies versus keeping their hands as clean as possible with their nails as nice as the valet can make them. I'm talking about the aforementioned Greats. These are Jeremy's great-aunts, Miss Adeline and Miss Josephine. They have sequestered themselves in their own salon in Cairnfarn from which they know all and see all and desperately want to know about the murder. They are my new favorite characters and if they don't minimally get their own novella I shall have a fit of the vapors myself.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Cold Highland Wind, A Terrible Beauty, Cairnfarn Castle, Ceilidh, Colin Hargreaves, Duke of Bainbridge, Lady Emily, Murder, Scotland, Tasha Alexander, The Adventuress, The Ducal Struggle, The Greats, Witchcraft

The Dark Heart of Florence by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: March 9th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Yes, it has been inconvenient trying to incorporate Colin's recently revealed daughter into their lives, but Emily is trying her best, despite appearances, or more rightly, accusations, that she let a dead body end up in her step-daughters bed. It's not like the bed was being occupied by anyone other than the corpse! Colin's ex, Kristiana von Lange, left their daughter a palazzo in Florence. A palazzo which is reputed to have a hidden treasure secreted in the walls and has been the target of a string of burglaries. This has come to the attention of Colin's shadowy superiors and he has been asked to investigate, discreetly. This means he heads off to Florence with Emily and her friend Cécile in tow making it look like a holiday when really they are to meet up with Colin's colleague Darius Benton-Stone. And Emily really is supposed to be viewing the excursion as a holiday, because Colin can not tell her all the real reasons Florence is important at this moment, but what is she to do when a body just lands at her feet? And no, this isn't the body in the bed, that's later. This is a body that fell off the roof into the courtyard AT HER FEET! The poor corpse is known. He was one of the palazzo's servants. Which makes the case even more interesting. All the servants were carefully picked by Kristiana and therefore aren't your typical servants. But thankfully, like servants everywhere, they are open to a little gossip. Which leads Emily to look into the rumors of the treasure... and the more she looks, the more plausible it seems, but also the more dangerous it becomes. There are corpses of treasure hunters littered in the wake of the rumor. If Emily isn't careful she or someone she loves could be next.

Lady Emily's latest adventure is a breathtaking tale combing the literary heart of The Name of the Rose with the history of The Birth of Venus and a dash of the love letter to Florence that is A Room with a View. I almost feel like what I'm about to say is sacrilege because it is such a classic, but suck it E.M. Forster, A Room with a View is no longer my favorite book set in Florence. Yes, I'm a sucker for murder mysteries solved by a certain Lady Emily, but it's more than that, I felt more connected to Florence as a whole than to just one character's experiences of Florence. This wasn't filtered through the eyes of Lucy Honeychurch, and while you could argue, isn't this filtered through the eyes of Lady Emily? I'd disagree, because Emily is a more reliable narrator, plus the inclusion of a secondary voice from the past lends a more rounded portrait of the city and it's history. So now that I've offended all you Forster lovers, without even ranting about Howards End, let's get back to the most important part of what I said, and that's Florence. I've said this before about Tasha's writing, but it bears repeating, I don't just love Tasha's work for her work, I love her work for how much it connects me back to other things I've loved. She's the center of a mind map that connected me while reading this book to my love of the kitschy Da Vinci's Demons, which was set in Florence, and most importantly to my love of art history. Art history and the Renaissance is more about Florence than you can imagine if you've never studied it. It is literally where the Renaissance started! So to study one you must study the other and because of that I have this big old soft spot for Florence. Tasha brought me back to my first love of the city and made it even more unforgettable. The truth is the whole Lady Emily series combines my love of art and literature, making me agree with Mena about what treasure really is.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Room with a View, Colin Hargreaves, Da Vinci's Demons, E.M. Forster, Lady Emily, Palazzo, Renaissance, Tasha Alexander, The Birth of Venus, The Dark Heart of Florence, The Name of the Rose, Treasure

In the Shadow of Vesuvius by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: January 7th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

When one goes to Pompeii one expects to see dead bodies. The eruption of Vesuvius preserved so many people in their agonizing final moments that you go there expecting not just to see the ruins of a city but also the inhabitants of that city. Though Emily stumbles on one that's rather fresh. This body wasn't killed by ash and debris, that's for sure. Luckily Emily is rather used to this by now. The unhelpful police, the danger, the intrigue, really, it's rather a normal holiday for her all things considered. So a killer is sending her notes? That's nothing new. She has her husband and her stalwart friends old and new to back her up as she tries to catch a killer. But a murder isn't the only thing uncovered at the dig, there are secrets from Colin's past that where hidden even from him when a young woman appears claiming to be his daughter. Could this be true? Could everything Emily thought she knew about her husband be upended? Could it even jeopardize their happiness? Could Colin choose this young woman and her needs ahead of Emily's? Emily would doubt it all if it didn't all fit so perfectly together. The girl's mother, Kristiana von Lange, was an Austrian countess who also happened to work with Colin while occupying his bed. Emily and her had a contretemps and Emily won at the cost of the countess's life. This girl is the living embodiment of Kristiana but with shades of Colin. There is no doubt who she is, the only doubt is what damage she can do to Emily, the woman whom she views as responsible for her mother's death. If Emily doesn't sort out her personal life surviving a killer doesn't matter if at the end of the day she doesn't come home to Colin.

Tasha herself would acknowledge the influence of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series on her own Lady Emily series. As an ardent fan of both I love when Lady Emily's adventures hew a little closer to one Amelia Peabody and her steadfast husband Emerson might have had. Therefore In the Shadow of Vesuvius fit the bill splendidly. Oh, to go on an excavation for a holiday in the ruins of Pompeii! And to solve a murder! This is literally combining two of my favorite things, my love of art history and crime solving. Because as someone who studied art history you can never discount the value of the eruption of Vesuvius. The preservation of the catastrophe showed us our first real glimpse of life from the time period. The use of color in homes alone was magnificent. Those cold white statues that we think of when we think of the ancient world isn't at all what life was like! I will never forget visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and stumbling on the famous room they have from Pompeii. I had seen it in all my art history books and projected large in the lecture halls, and here it was! Tasha's book takes that feeling of discovery and gives you an even more intimate connection. You have that constant feeling I had of stumbling on a piece of this famous site over and over throughout the narrative as Emily delves deeper into the ruins of Pompeii. What's more, the connection you develop to each and every character means that as the series continues when we find out who are secondary characters are we rejoice as if seeing an old friend. I don't believe Ivy has graced the pages of Emily's adventures for eight volumes! And then there's the irrepressible Jeremy! Everything about this series is like being wrapped in the biggest most comfortable blanket you could imagine and being handed a mug of hot cocoa and a cookie. Lucky for us readers each year we get to experience this joy anew, and this year's coming installment doesn't disappoint either.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Fatal Waltz, Amelia Peabudy, Archaeology, Art History, Colin Hargreaves, Elizabeth Peters, In the Shadow of Vesuvius, Italy, Kristiana, Lady Emily, MET, Murder, Pompeii, Tasha Alexander, Vesuvius, Volcano

Upon the Midnight Clear by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 5th, 2019
Format: Kindle, 73 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

What could have possessed Lady Emily and her husband Colin to actually take their three precocious boys to the legendary Hamleys Toy Shop days before Christmas? Yes, perhaps it's sheer joy at having London to themselves and avoiding their neighbor's overly enthusiastic holiday celebrations at Montague Manor that Colin refers to as The Festival of Horror. But their arrival at the toy shop seems fortuitous because a kind-hearted stranger gives her three boys Christmas crackers. Emily wants to view it as the act of kindness it appears, but in her husband's line of work appearances can be deceiving, just as the crackers turned out to be with each concealing a cryptic clue. Could this be the start of a Christmas case? When a Scottish stranger arrives the next day on their stoop Emily has every reason to believe the two events are connected as this man brings them a case. Years ago he married the love of his life against her parents wishes and she died in childbirth. He had every reason to believe that his child, a daughter, had died as well. Only recently he has found out that this might not be the case. Could Emily and Colin find his deceitful in-laws who are hidden under false identities within the teeming metropolis of London before Christmas or will he forever be separated from his daughter and any chance of happiness? Also, what about those Christmas crackers?

I'm OCD about reading books in order. So while I had an ARC of Lady Emily's fourteenth adventure, In the Shadow of Vesuvius, waiting on my Kindle I couldn't bring myself to read it immediately because of the upcoming Christmas Story, Upon the Midnight Clear. Tasha's Christmas tales are all such wonderful little slices of Emily's life coupled with just the right amount of Christmas cheer and literary allusions, like the perfect Christmas cookie, and I was ravenously waiting. Therefore the day it was released I devoured it whole. Yet my enjoyment didn't end there. This past holiday season was horrible for me. Starting at Thanksgiving and going straight through until Epiphany I was caring for my dad who was in and out of the hospital while watching my mom die. I had no Christmas. There were no gifts, there was nothing. I was barely able to squeeze in my mandatory traditions of watching Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas and The Vicar of Dibley episode "The Christmas Lunch Incident" with a few cookies baked in haste. Yet I didn't feel cheated because I had the lingering memory of this story. The importance of family and the connection between fathers and daughters, important to me for what I was going through and also for what I knew Tasha had been through in the past year. Therefore in the cold days at the of the year when I was making my best of books list I knew this story had to be included, for giving me cheer and for helping me cope. There's nothing like getting lost in the pages of a book with an old friend to help you through the tough times.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Christmas, Colin Hargreaves, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, In the Shadows of Vesuvius, Lady Emily, London, Tasha Alexander, The Christmas Lunch Incident, Upon the Midnight Clear, Vicar of Dibley

A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: May 20th, 2008
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Not every country house party ends in murder, but this one will. Oh, if only Emily had had the sense to stay home. But no, she agreed to come to the home of a man she detests in order to support her dear friend Ivy. Ivy's husband Robert needs the political support of their odious host, Lord Fortescue, if he's going to make it in government. The only bright spot in the whole endeavor is that Emily gets to spend the weekend with Colin Hargreaves, her fiancé. But that bright spot is soon eclipsed by the Austrian Countess Kristiana von Lange. Kristiana makes it very clear that she and Colin have a past, possibly a present, and maybe a future, and there's nothing that Emily can do about it. This leaves Emily impotent with rage as Kristiana insinuates herself into the political talks among the men after dinner while Emily, trying to keep Ivy's best interests in mind, demurs and retires with the women, much to Lord Fortescue's approbation. In fact leaving the dinner table is the only thing Emily has done right in the eyes of their host. Emily's hackles are raised and another guest, Mr. Harrison, conveniently has a plan to get back at Lord Fortescue.

If Emily hadn't been so turned around by Kristiana, maybe she would have realized that Mr. Harrison didn't have her best interests at heart and maybe Emily could have seen there was a murderer among them. Instead their host is shot dead and dear Ivy's husband Robert is arrested for the murder. Once back in London Emily tries to piece together the information she has at hand with rumors and suppositions. Robert even gives her a few clues and everything points to a nefarious plot in Vienna. Emily can't exonerate Robert from London, so she packs up her bags, grabs her trusty sidekicks, Jeremy, Cecile, and Cecile's odious dogs, and heads to the town of her romantic rival. Little does she know that she is being followed by Mr. Harrison and her beloved Colin. And though she loathes to do it, she approaches Kristiana for help, which is denied. Kristiana will only help if Emily will forfeit all claims to Colin, something Emily knows, deep in her heart, she could never do. As the danger mounts and Emily makes alliances with the oddest assortment of artists and villains, she worries that she will be unable to save Robert, herself, or Colin. Could this be the end of all of them?

There's a realness to this installment that deepens your connection to Emily and her world. Up until this point it's not that her world was shallow, but that the stories dealt with situations that weren't too far removed from the world Emily inhabited. She was investigating her own little sphere of the world and crimes that were closely adjacent to it, maids that might be murderers. We've seen the strictures and the societal surface one must maintain, but at the same time it felt more in the realm of romanticized historical fiction with the denouement tied up nicely with a bow. Yet Victorian times weren't all fluff, there were real concerns, real problems, and here we are digging deeper into those issues and forging a stronger connection to Emily as Emily herself forms a stronger connection to the world around her. The first time this struck me was when Lord Fortescue has the hundreds and hundreds of birds from their shoot laid out for display during lunch. This excess, this cruelty to animals, this is the real world the landed gentry inhabited and exploited. House parties weren't wonderful social gatherings, they were sanctioned murder, even if your host didn't bite the big own.

Then there's the death fog Emily remembers engulfing London when she was a child. The poverty, the anarchists, every little thing makes Emily's world more real. Her world is grounded in truth, in a world we can see every night when we turn on the news. She is no longer sheltered, she is becoming an educated woman who we can relate to more than even before when she was just a pampered princess destined to marry royalty, if her mother had had a say in it. As Tasha writes in her afterward, this introduction of the horrors of the world is being done purposefully to make Emily a socially conscious being. And in becoming socially conscious Emily herself is becoming more real to us. Sure, we all occasionally dream of the life Emily had, being blissfully ignorant and free to flounce around the house being indulgent, but a fantasy can not last in the long run. Lady Emily's adventures would have no long term sustainability. There's only so many wrongfully accused kitchen maids a series can contain, and by expanding Emily as a person you expand her horizons. Therefore a series that could have petered out a few volumes in is releasing it's thirteenth volume this fall.

All this realness means that there is real danger and real consequences. Yes, we've had death and danger before, but Emily treated it breezily, it was there but it would be overcome and there would be no consequences except for the guilty. Here the danger is palpable. The threat of Mr. Harrison and his bullet calling cards, while yes, a little like something a Bond villain would do, upsets Emily's world of luxurious hotels and Sacher Tortes. Having to make alliances with anarchists who are dangerous themselves and are scared of Mr. Harrison gives you an idea as to this man's villainy. And while I knew there were more books in the series, I couldn't help but be drawn in and think, as Colin and Emily were, that they might not survive. This question being raised makes Emily and us realize the true dangers of Colin's job. He has faced this kind of situation again and again. In fact Kristiana hints that that is why she never left her husband for Colin, because the distraction of a wife could endanger him. Which makes Emily wonder, is Colin in her life worth the constant risk of losing him? Can she live like this? Real danger means you might not want to have to face the answers to real questions.

But for the longest time Emily views Kristiana as a far bigger danger to her and Colin's happiness than the looming specter of death. While I could groan at the introduction of a love triangle, this one never falls into the typical tropes. There was something fun about Emily having competition for Colin. You knew, deep in your heart, that Colin could never stray. At least not now that he's met Emily. But that doesn't discount the importance of this woman in his past or her powers over him in the present. Every chance she got Kristiana was pulling on Emily's strings and getting just the rise out of her she wanted. Historical Fiction with a romantic bent seems to always marry off their couples in too rapid a fashion and then have a happily ever after that only occasionally sees bumps of the romantic kind. That's why I love that Tasha hasn't married off Colin and Emily just yet. There's more believability that Kristiana is a threat. There's a playfulness in this what-if scenario. Competition can bring out the best in people, but not with Emily in this instance. It brings out all her bad qualities, and again, it makes her more real, more relatable. That Lady Emily Ashton could get her hackles up over her true love? Just shows it can happen to any of us.

Though for all it's realness, the most important aspect of A Fatal Waltz to me is it's most memorable character, the city of Vienna itself! I've never been and oddly enough have never really given much thought to this city that was literally the center of an artistic and cultural revolution, but now I want to pack my bags and go. Right. Now. Of course I'd prefer to go in winter with the snow falling in beautiful drifts as Emily enjoyed it, but as long as I can go to all the cafes and walk all the streets I think I could find true enjoyment. But alas, I don't know if such famous personages would be peopling the cafes. So could I literally get a time machine and go when Emily went? To see Klimt paint and dance to a Strauss waltz actually conducted by Strauss! To visit Sisi, the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, though I have a feeling I'd need to take Cecile with me to get that invite. Even if I didn't know how well traveled Tasha is, you can tell in reading the book that Tasha has been there, she's walked in Emily's steps before she even put pen to paper. This just makes the city so real that as I said earlier, it's a character onto itself! It's not just buildings, but memorable people and a feeling, something that makes you want to go back there even if you've never been because somehow Tasha has made this city an old friend.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Fatal Waltz, Alexander Autumn, British Country House, Colin Hargreaves, Competition, Historical Fiction, Klimpt, Lady Emily, Love Triangle, Murder, Realness, Sacher Tortes, Sisi, Strauss, Tasha Alexander, Vienna

A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur
Publication Date: October 25th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

As Emily dances a man burns. How could she have thought the ballroom she was in was stuffy once she learns of the fate of Mr. Dillman? The heat as he was burned alive chained to his office window is horrible to contemplate, yet Emily and Colin must, as Colin has been sent in by the crown to investigate. But it's information they glean from Mr. Dillman's fiance, Cordelia Dalton, that shines a light on the investigation and shows a disturbing pattern. The day of Mr. Dillman's death the Sanders household was defiled with red paint and it was revealed at the ball that their daughter, Polly, was the illegitimate offspring of Mr. Sanders and a maid. Polly's betrothal to Thomas Lacey was ended and any chance she had of a good marriage went up in smoke. Cordelia informs Emily and Colin that Mr. Dillman's house was similarly vandalized the week before. What could Mr. Dillman's secret have been? If the revelation of Polly's parentage is anything to go by whomever is leaving these threatening and very public warnings seeks to out the deepest and darkest of secrets of the ton and Mr. Dillman's secret might just have followed him to the grave.

Soon more homes are vandalized and what seemed at first mildly titillating and a field day for gossips has the ton gripped in terror. How each family approaches their secret shame depends on how bad their crime. Some wait with baited breath, some flee England, some openly expose their own secrets, and some choose to take their secrets to the grave. Emily and Colin can see no connection between the victims aside from the fact that they had something to hide, which could apply to anyone they know, from the highest ranking individuals to their dearest friends. Soon their investigation narrows on a few individuals; Mr. Foster, a politician being groomed for Prime Minister, his best friend and policy shaper Mr. Barnes, who could never rise to power on his own being half West Indian, Mrs. Winifred Harris, an inveterate busybody, and the outlandish Lady Glover, whom the vandal appears to be in contact with when she's not taking her zebras for a stroll in the park. But if this individual wants to cause as much damage to as many individuals as possible why are they targeting Cordelia Dalton, someone peripheral to the first victim? When she goes missing it becomes clear Mr. Dillman is more important than the other victims. He might just be the key to catching this odious criminal and stopping their stranglehold on the city.

A Crimson Warning takes place about a year after Emily and Colin's last adventure in France and we get to see them settled into their new life in London. While I initially thought I was being mildly cheated by not getting to see Emily and Colin merge their households and their staff with all the ensuing chaos, I realized that I should never question Tasha because she knows what's right for her characters. The relative calm of the Hargreaves household is needed to serve as a counterpoint to the mania that is gripping the town. If they had a household in disarray while the town was balancing on a knife's edge the book would have ended up too frenetic. You need moments of calm, especially in a murder mystery, where you can gather your thoughts and let your heart stop racing with a nice cup of tea or glass of port. I think this is why I don't like action films, they don't understand the need for proper pacing. But then again, in an action film they rarely have a plot and if you were given a moments respite you might notice this. Whereas Tasha's writing is perfectly plotted, with just the right hints, red herrings, and reveals that you are enthralled until the very last page.

But what made me breathe the biggest sigh of relief? Because a year has passed since Colin was a total controlling dick in France, justifiable in his mind not mine, Emily and him have worked out their respective rolls in their marriage and in their investigations, smoothing over the bumps from his being reactionary and overprotective. Colin isn't shutting Emily out and Emily in turn isn't sneaking around behind his back trying to help while still trying to be a dutiful wife. They know where their strengths lie and know that they will ask for the others help when it is needed. When Colin flits away into the night to follow a new lead he has faith that Emily knows he doesn't need him at the moment, but the second he does he will call her into action. While Emily knows he won't interfere with her own line of inquiry and will even be there to help should she need it. They are in balance and oh how this made me happy. But not nearly as happy as when Emily stopped by Mr. Dillman's and the butler let her in to search the victim's possessions. Emily thought he let her in because she was so convincing in her justifications to him, but really it's because the butler had heard of the successful partnership of her and her husband. They have a reputation! A good one! This made Emily understandably flattered and made my heart sing that her reputation now proceeds her!

While Emily is shocked to discover that she is now known for something more than being a little eccentric, A Crimson Warning is fascinating in that it's all about discovery. What do the people you know everyday have to conceal. Because it's made quite clear that when the scarlet mark appears on their door they know exactly to what secret it pertains. And most of the secrets are quite scandalous. Therefore it is quite surprising that of all Emily's friends the one most worried about finding their doorstep covered in paint is Ivy! Ivy has a secret! This really proves that you never really know someone. Because from the outset Ivy has always been depicted as the perfect Victorian bride. A perfect wife supporting her husband and a perfect mother now that she was blessed with a daughter. Of course Emily is always trying to corrupt her with sensational literature and port, but to all outward appearances Ivy is just perfectly normal. Though in a London filled with secrets normal apparently means she must have a secret as well. The way Tasha draws out the reveal with Ivy's journal entries is deliciously suspenseful. Will we learn Ivy's secrets from her own lips or from a red slash on her door? I'm obviously not going to spoil it, other than to say it's perfect.

Now though I need to address a serious question I have to raise. Is it possible to marry a fictional character who isn't just fictional but also dead? I'm talking about my complete adoration of Mr. Dillman. That fiance of his, Cordelia Dalton, sure lucked out in locking that one down, that is until he was murdered of course. Why my love of Mr. Dillman? Well, beyond the fact he is a good, kind man who takes care of his workers and has a social conscience, he is also bookish and encourages Cordelia to read literature that even Emily thinks is a little scandalous and therefore wants to read immediately! But more than that, he creates these amazing scavenger hunts for Cordelia that has her searching all over museums to find the right object that then ties into another stage of the hunt that ends in going through Mr. Dalton's library where Mr. Dillman has secreted a surprise for his fiance. I mean, my heart literally melted. I love scavenger hunts and literature, if someone cared about me this much to stage this amazing game, not once but often? That is the man for me ladies and gentlemen! The fact that this game ties into the overall plot just shows how much I love and adore Tasha's series. She creates memorable characters we love and care for but who also serve a purpose dramatically.

One aspect of Tasha's writing that is mentioned again and again in the pull quotes used for the back of her books is that Lady Emily has a sparkling wit and that humor imbues all her adventures. I'm not going to disagree with this statement. In fact I think all books need humor in order to work. Not just because I love me a little snark, but because you get a better sense of someone's personality by laughing with them. A Crimson Warning seems to me to notch up the humor a bit than previous installments. Again I think this is a balancing act that Tasha has carefully staged. Emily's life is calm while Rome burns, and the jokes become more prevalent the bleaker the situation Emily finds herself in. This installment we see even more of the horror of the lower classes in London and the humor is a nice way to combat the stark reality of the situations that Emily finds herself in. The humor never diminishes the suffering she sees, but it's a nice counterpoint to the suffering and helps to further form her social conscience with her wanting to do more and fight for women's suffrage with the Women's Liberal Federation. But all that analysis aside, nothing has made me laugh heartier recently than Emily's observations on Lady Glover and her zebras to Ivy: "Zebras, Ivy. Zebras," I said. "Why are we not better acquainted with this woman?"

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Crimson Warning, Alexander Autumn, Colin Hargreaves, Dangerous to Know, Fictional Romance, Humor, Lady Emily, Literature, London, Mr. Dillman, Murder, Secrets, Social Conscience, Suffrage, Tasha Alexander, Zebras

A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur
Publication Date: October 25th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

As Emily dances a man burns. How could she have thought the ballroom she was in was stuffy once she learns of the fate of Mr. Dillman? The heat as he was burned alive chained to his office window is horrible to contemplate, yet Emily and Colin must, as Colin has been sent in by the crown to investigate. But it's information they glean from Mr. Dillman's fiance, Cordelia Dalton, that shines a light on the investigation and shows a disturbing pattern. The day of Mr. Dillman's death the Sanders household was defiled with red paint and it was revealed at the ball that their daughter, Polly, was the illegitimate offspring of Mr. Sanders and a maid. Polly's betrothal to Thomas Lacey was ended and any chance she had of a good marriage went up in smoke. Cordelia informs Emily and Colin that Mr. Dillman's house was similarly vandalized the week before. What could Mr. Dillman's secret have been? If the revelation of Polly's parentage is anything to go by whomever is leaving these threatening and very public warnings seeks to out the deepest and darkest of secrets of the ton and Mr. Dillman's secret might just have followed him to the grave.

Soon more homes are vandalized and what seemed at first mildly titillating and a field day for gossips has the ton gripped in terror. How each family approaches their secret shame depends on how bad their crime. Some wait with baited breath, some flee England, some openly expose their own secrets, and some choose to take their secrets to the grave. Emily and Colin can see no connection between the victims aside from the fact that they had something to hide, which could apply to anyone they know, from the highest ranking individuals to their dearest friends. Soon their investigation narrows on a few individuals; Mr. Foster, a politician being groomed for Prime Minister, his best friend and policy shaper Mr. Barnes, who could never rise to power on his own being half West Indian, Mrs. Winifred Harris, an inveterate busybody, and the outlandish Lady Glover, whom the vandal appears to be in contact with when she's not taking her zebras for a stroll in the park. But if this individual wants to cause as much damage to as many individuals as possible why are they targeting Cordelia Dalton, someone peripheral to the first victim? When she goes missing it becomes clear Mr. Dillman is more important than the other victims. He might just be the key to catching this odious criminal and stopping their stranglehold on the city.

A Crimson Warning takes place about a year after Emily and Colin's last adventure in France and we get to see them settled into their new life in London. While I initially thought I was being mildly cheated by not getting to see Emily and Colin merge their households and their staff with all the ensuing chaos, I realized that I should never question Tasha because she knows what's right for her characters. The relative calm of the Hargreaves household is needed to serve as a counterpoint to the mania that is gripping the town. If they had a household in disarray while the town was balancing on a knife's edge the book would have ended up too frenetic. You need moments of calm, especially in a murder mystery, where you can gather your thoughts and let your heart stop racing with a nice cup of tea or glass of port. I think this is why I don't like action films, they don't understand the need for proper pacing. But then again, in an action film they rarely have a plot and if you were given a moments respite you might notice this. Whereas Tasha's writing is perfectly plotted, with just the right hints, red herrings, and reveals that you are enthralled until the very last page.

But what made me breathe the biggest sigh of relief? Because a year has passed since Colin was a total controlling dick in France, justifiable in his mind not mine, Emily and him have worked out their respective rolls in their marriage and in their investigations, smoothing over the bumps from his being reactionary and overprotective. Colin isn't shutting Emily out and Emily in turn isn't sneaking around behind his back trying to help while still trying to be a dutiful wife. They know where their strengths lie and know that they will ask for the others help when it is needed. When Colin flits away into the night to follow a new lead he has faith that Emily knows he doesn't need him at the moment, but the second he does he will call her into action. While Emily knows he won't interfere with her own line of inquiry and will even be there to help should she need it. They are in balance and oh how this made me happy. But not nearly as happy as when Emily stopped by Mr. Dillman's and the butler let her in to search the victim's possessions. Emily thought he let her in because she was so convincing in her justifications to him, but really it's because the butler had heard of the successful partnership of her and her husband. They have a reputation! A good one! This made Emily understandably flattered and made my heart sing that her reputation now proceeds her!

While Emily is shocked to discover that she is now known for something more than being a little eccentric, A Crimson Warning is fascinating in that it's all about discovery. What do the people you know everyday have to conceal. Because it's made quite clear that when the scarlet mark appears on their door they know exactly to what secret it pertains. And most of the secrets are quite scandalous. Therefore it is quite surprising that of all Emily's friends the one most worried about finding their doorstep covered in paint is Ivy! Ivy has a secret! This really proves that you never really know someone. Because from the outset Ivy has always been depicted as the perfect Victorian bride. A perfect wife supporting her husband and a perfect mother now that she was blessed with a daughter. Of course Emily is always trying to corrupt her with sensational literature and port, but to all outward appearances Ivy is just perfectly normal. Though in a London filled with secrets normal apparently means she must have a secret as well. The way Tasha draws out the reveal with Ivy's journal entries is deliciously suspenseful. Will we learn Ivy's secrets from her own lips or from a red slash on her door? I'm obviously not going to spoil it, other than to say it's perfect.

Now though I need to address a serious question I have to raise. Is it possible to marry a fictional character who isn't just fictional but also dead? I'm talking about my complete adoration of Mr. Dillman. That fiance of his, Cordelia Dalton, sure lucked out in locking that one down, that is until he was murdered of course. Why my love of Mr. Dillman? Well, beyond the fact he is a good, kind man who takes care of his workers and has a social conscience, he is also bookish and encourages Cordelia to read literature that even Emily thinks is a little scandalous and therefore wants to read immediately! But more than that, he creates these amazing scavenger hunts for Cordelia that has her searching all over museums to find the right object that then ties into another stage of the hunt that ends in going through Mr. Dalton's library where Mr. Dillman has secreted a surprise for his fiance. I mean, my heart literally melted. I love scavenger hunts and literature, if someone cared about me this much to stage this amazing game, not once but often? That is the man for me ladies and gentlemen! The fact that this game ties into the overall plot just shows how much I love and adore Tasha's series. She creates memorable characters we love and care for but who also serve a purpose dramatically.

One aspect of Tasha's writing that is mentioned again and again in the pull quotes used for the back of her books is that Lady Emily has a sparkling wit and that humor imbues all her adventures. I'm not going to disagree with this statement. In fact I think all books need humor in order to work. Not just because I love me a little snark, but because you get a better sense of someone's personality by laughing with them. A Crimson Warning seems to me to notch up the humor a bit than previous installments. Again I think this is a balancing act that Tasha has carefully staged. Emily's life is calm while Rome burns, and the jokes become more prevalent the bleaker the situation Emily finds herself in. This installment we see even more of the horror of the lower classes in London and the humor is a nice way to combat the stark reality of the situations that Emily finds herself in. The humor never diminishes the suffering she sees, but it's a nice counterpoint to the suffering and helps to further form her social conscience with her wanting to do more and fight for women's suffrage with the Women's Liberal Federation. But all that analysis aside, nothing has made me laugh heartier recently than Emily's observations on Lady Glover and her zebras to Ivy: "Zebras, Ivy. Zebras," I said. "Why are we not better acquainted with this woman?"

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Crimson Warning, Alexander Autumn, Colin Hargreaves, Dangerous to Know, Fictional Romance, Humor, Lady Emily, Literature, London, Mr. Dillman, Murder, Secrets, Social Conscience, Suffrage, Tasha Alexander, Zebras

The Bridal Strain: Emily and Colin's Wedding by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Tasha Alexander
Publication Date: 2009
Format: Kindle
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

After much temptation, much heartache, and much delay, Colin has decided that he can no longer wait to be married to Emily, his future mother-in-law and Queen Victoria be damned. So drenched to the bone high above the caldera on Santorini he proposes that he and Emily be married that very night and Emily agrees. Though Emily is swept away by the romantic gesture, not thinking of the practicalities of showing up at the church soaking wet and demanding to be wed, she is thankfully marrying a very organized man capable of pulling off the most elaborate of missions for the crown with the simplest of ease. So when they return to her villa she shouldn't be surprised that preparations are underway for a full wedding celebration, and yet she is. She's surprised and touched. The entire village has come together to see her and Colin wed. But that won't be the only surprise of the evening, as Emily's dearest friend Cecile is also on hand, there to celebrate the nuptials, but also there to provide emotional support while mourning such a handsome man leaving the marriage market. Though Cecile wouldn't let Emily marry unless the man was worry of her, luckily for Colin he is. And so, their married life begins.

So much of the first two books in Tasha's Lady Emily series is the will-they-won't-they of Emily and Colin. This isn't just played for romantic tension, though one can't deny that it is titillating, but it's practical. Emily, as a widow, has so much freedom that she has to be certain of Colin in order to be willing to shackle herself into another marriage where to the majority of Victorian society she would be nothing but a possession, and viewed, in the extreme, as a slave. But thankfully Colin loves her not as the ideal her first husband Philip viewed her as, but as this intelligent woman willing to fight at his side, not sit home and be content as the typical wife would in raising her brood. He loves her for what she has become, what she has evolved into, and that's why their relationship is so epic and why it would have been a shame not to see their wedding day. To be there as they became one, but still stayed themselves. Colin's wedding gift to Emily, of a gorgeous Greek vase, shows that he loves her for who she is and he will never force her into a mold labelled "Standard Victorian Wife." Though Tasha's extras are interesting in that it sheds light on the fact that what we view as the "Victorian Standard" isn't truth. Not everything is as it seems, Victorians were far more liberal, and there were quite a few pregnant women walking down the aisle...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander Autumn, Colin Hargreaves, Emily and Colin's Wedding, Freedom, Greek, Kindle, Lady Emily, Revisionist History, Santorini, Short Story, Tasha Alexander, The Bridal Strain, Victorian, Weddings

A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: May 20th, 2008
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Not every country house party ends in murder, but this one will. Oh, if only Emily had had the sense to stay home. But no, she agreed to come to the home of a man she detests in order to support her dear friend Ivy. Ivy's husband Robert needs the political support of their odious host, Lord Fortescue, if he's going to make it in government. The only bright spot in the whole endeavor is that Emily gets to spend the weekend with Colin Hargreaves, her fiancé. But that bright spot is soon eclipsed by the Austrian Countess Kristiana von Lange. Kristiana makes it very clear that she and Colin have a past, possibly a present, and maybe a future, and there's nothing that Emily can do about it. This leaves Emily impotent with rage as Kristiana insinuates herself into the political talks among the men after dinner while Emily, trying to keep Ivy's best interests in mind, demurs and retires with the women, much to Lord Fortescue's approbation. In fact leaving the dinner table is the only thing Emily has done right in the eyes of their host. Emily's hackles are raised and another guest, Mr. Harrison, conveniently has a plan to get back at Lord Fortescue.

If Emily hadn't been so turned around by Kristiana, maybe she would have realized that Mr. Harrison didn't have her best interests at heart and maybe Emily could have seen there was a murderer among them. Instead their host is shot dead and dear Ivy's husband Robert is arrested for the murder. Once back in London Emily tries to piece together the information she has at hand with rumors and suppositions. Robert even gives her a few clues and everything points to a nefarious plot in Vienna. Emily can't exonerate Robert from London, so she packs up her bags, grabs her trusty sidekicks, Jeremy, Cecile, and Cecile's odious dogs, and heads to the town of her romantic rival. Little does she know that she is being followed by Mr. Harrison and her beloved Colin. And though she loathes to do it, she approaches Kristiana for help, which is denied. Kristiana will only help if Emily will forfeit all claims to Colin, something Emily knows, deep in her heart, she could never do. As the danger mounts and Emily makes alliances with the oddest assortment of artists and villains, she worries that she will be unable to save Robert, herself, or Colin. Could this be the end of all of them?

There's a realness to this installment that deepens your connection to Emily and her world. Up until this point it's not that her world was shallow, but that the stories dealt with situations that weren't too far removed from the world Emily inhabited. She was investigating her own little sphere of the world and crimes that were closely adjacent to it, maids that might be murderers. We've seen the strictures and the societal surface one must maintain, but at the same time it felt more in the realm of romanticized historical fiction with the denouement tied up nicely with a bow. Yet Victorian times weren't all fluff, there were real concerns, real problems, and here we are digging deeper into those issues and forging a stronger connection to Emily as Emily herself forms a stronger connection to the world around her. The first time this struck me was when Lord Fortescue has the hundreds and hundreds of birds from their shoot laid out for display during lunch. This excess, this cruelty to animals, this is the real world the landed gentry inhabited and exploited. House parties weren't wonderful social gatherings, they were sanctioned murder, even if your host didn't bite the big own.

Then there's the death fog Emily remembers engulfing London when she was a child. The poverty, the anarchists, every little thing makes Emily's world more real. Her world is grounded in truth, in a world we can see every night when we turn on the news. She is no longer sheltered, she is becoming an educated woman who we can relate to more than even before when she was just a pampered princess destined to marry royalty, if her mother had had a say in it. As Tasha writes in her afterward, this introduction of the horrors of the world is being done purposefully to make Emily a socially conscious being. And in becoming socially conscious Emily herself is becoming more real to us. Sure, we all occasionally dream of the life Emily had, being blissfully ignorant and free to flounce around the house being indulgent, but a fantasy can not last in the long run. Lady Emily's adventures would have no long term sustainability. There's only so many wrongfully accused kitchen maids a series can contain, and by expanding Emily as a person you expand her horizons. Therefore a series that could have petered out a few volumes in is releasing it's thirteenth volume this fall.

All this realness means that there is real danger and real consequences. Yes, we've had death and danger before, but Emily treated it breezily, it was there but it would be overcome and there would be no consequences except for the guilty. Here the danger is palpable. The threat of Mr. Harrison and his bullet calling cards, while yes, a little like something a Bond villain would do, upsets Emily's world of luxurious hotels and Sacher Tortes. Having to make alliances with anarchists who are dangerous themselves and are scared of Mr. Harrison gives you an idea as to this man's villainy. And while I knew there were more books in the series, I couldn't help but be drawn in and think, as Colin and Emily were, that they might not survive. This question being raised makes Emily and us realize the true dangers of Colin's job. He has faced this kind of situation again and again. In fact Kristiana hints that that is why she never left her husband for Colin, because the distraction of a wife could endanger him. Which makes Emily wonder, is Colin in her life worth the constant risk of losing him? Can she live like this? Real danger means you might not want to have to face the answers to real questions.

But for the longest time Emily views Kristiana as a far bigger danger to her and Colin's happiness than the looming specter of death. While I could groan at the introduction of a love triangle, this one never falls into the typical tropes. There was something fun about Emily having competition for Colin. You knew, deep in your heart, that Colin could never stray. At least not now that he's met Emily. But that doesn't discount the importance of this woman in his past or her powers over him in the present. Every chance she got Kristiana was pulling on Emily's strings and getting just the rise out of her she wanted. Historical Fiction with a romantic bent seems to always marry off their couples in too rapid a fashion and then have a happily ever after that only occasionally sees bumps of the romantic kind. That's why I love that Tasha hasn't married off Colin and Emily just yet. There's more believability that Kristiana is a threat. There's a playfulness in this what-if scenario. Competition can bring out the best in people, but not with Emily in this instance. It brings out all her bad qualities, and again, it makes her more real, more relatable. That Lady Emily Ashton could get her hackles up over her true love? Just shows it can happen to any of us.

Though for all it's realness, the most important aspect of A Fatal Waltz to me is it's most memorable character, the city of Vienna itself! I've never been and oddly enough have never really given much thought to this city that was literally the center of an artistic and cultural revolution, but now I want to pack my bags and go. Right. Now. Of course I'd prefer to go in winter with the snow falling in beautiful drifts as Emily enjoyed it, but as long as I can go to all the cafes and walk all the streets I think I could find true enjoyment. But alas, I don't know if such famous personages would be peopling the cafes. So could I literally get a time machine and go when Emily went? To see Klimt paint and dance to a Strauss waltz actually conducted by Strauss! To visit Sisi, the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, though I have a feeling I'd need to take Cecile with me to get that invite. Even if I didn't know how well traveled Tasha is, you can tell in reading the book that Tasha has been there, she's walked in Emily's steps before she even put pen to paper. This just makes the city so real that as I said earlier, it's a character onto itself! It's not just buildings, but memorable people and a feeling, something that makes you want to go back there even if you've never been because somehow Tasha has made this city an old friend.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Fatal Waltz, Alexander Autumn, British Country House, Colin Hargreaves, Competition, Historical Fiction, Klimpt, Lady Emily, Love Triangle, Murder, Realness, Sacher Tortes, Sisi, Strauss, Tasha Alexander, Vienna

And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: 2005
Format: Paperback, 321 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
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Lady Emily is the widow of the Viscount Philip of Ashton, the husband everyone wanted. It was a very convenient marriage all around. Emily needed to get away from her domineering mother and Philip had the credentials to appease said mother and viewed Emily as the apex of beauty, his Kallista. So he asked for Emily's hand and was accepted and promptly went off to Africa and died, leaving her comfortable and independent. Who could ask for anything more? But now Emily is ready to shed her mourning after two long years sequestered away from society. What little society she has been allowed consists of her best friend Ivy, or friends of her husband, like Colin Hargreaves, or her mother. Who is trying to convince her that she should marry. AGAIN! Didn't the marriage to Philip count? Sure he died and they had no children, but the statues she attained should be enough to keep her mother at bay for at least one lifetime. Being a widow is liberating! Why would Emily give that up to be the property of another man she barely knows?

Emily's removal from society has made her realize she can do whatever she wants under the guise of trauma. She can sit in her husband's study and drink port and learn Greek and go to the museum and forge a life for herself that doesn't require a man! Yet she finds, to her astonishment, that her husband was really a fascinating man. A true scholar with a mind teaming with knowledge and a love of art. A man who truly loved her and whom she just thought of as a way out of an intolerable situation. He loved her, yet she didn't love him... then. Following in his steps, learning about his interests and passions, she slowly starts to fall for her dead husband. If only her husband where still alive, think of the conversations they could have because of the new learned woman she has become thanks to the position he gave her. But if, by some miracle, he did return, would he approve of the woman she's become? Would she be willing to accept his flaws, even if they are illegal? But most importantly, how would he view her bevy of suitors?

With Emily and Philip you have a truly interesting love story. Not the typical boy meets girl and then after some problems, they live happily ever after with Emily's mom being a good foil during their courtship. Here we have boy meets girl, they marry, girl loses boy and years later falls in love with who she thinks he might have been. We get to experience all the joys and sorrows of two people falling in love, but simultaneously know that it is doomed. Philip was in love with a woman he put on a pedestal and literally made his goddess, Kallista, and Emily fell in love with a past that never was. Yet Tasha strings us along, making us see the romantic what ifs without initially focusing on what the truth of their relationship would have been given societal constraints. Leading you on, building this epic and tragic love story that you are so completely committed to you totally ignore the fact that it would never work. I was hoping against hope that by some miracle Philip would be alive and that these two crazy kids would make their relationship work.

But the realist in me knew it wasn't to be, and the doubt even seeps into the cracks Emily has been ignoring. The fact that her husband might have been morally dubious is just a catalyst for her to actually look at the reality of her situation. Philip never knew Emily. He saw her as this beautiful creature, renaming her Kallista to be his romantic ideal. He loved the idea of her, much like he loved his art. She's a statue of loveliness to him. But could he love this statue if it came to life? After his death she changed, she became self-reliant, knowledgeable, all the things Victorian women weren't supposed to be. I don't think Philip would be able to rectify his image of her with the learned woman she has become, much less Emily being able to rectify the scholar of her imagination with the big game hunter he was. If he had never gone and died in Africa he'd expect Emily to be a typical Victorian wife. Seen, not heard. Beautiful and his most prized possession. Because two people can easily be desperately in love with each other when they have no idea who the other person is.

While much of the book deals with the heartbreak of falling for someone after they're gone, there is other, more familiar DNA that Tasha mines for Emily's other suitors. I can not but agree with the spot on quote on the back of my paperback edition that says "[h]ad Jane Austen written The Da Vinci Code, she may well have come up with this elegant novel." It's not just the secrets of antiquities that bring to mind Dan Brown's bestseller, or the effortless writing reminiscent of Austen that makes it feel like this book sprang fully formed from Tasha's head like Athena did from Zeus's, but Philip's two friends who are vying for Emily's heart. Or at least her hand. On the one hand we have Colin Hargreaves, with the wavy hair and stoic demeanor of a 1996 Colin Firth, he's a bit of a mystery, but Philip trusted him and therefore Emily does, to an extent. On the other hand we have Andrew Palmer, a delightful conversationalist, a bit of a gossip, and a total flirt, but such a hansom flirt. Yes folks, it's the Pride and Prejudice of it all with Colin being our Darcy and Andrew being our Wickham.

And much like Austen's classic, "[o]ne has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.'' There's a reason Austen tropes work, they are classic. Which is why there are countless retellings and reimaginings, but Tasha does all those read-a-likes one better, because this love triangle isn't the crux of the book. She takes one of the most famous plots ever written and makes it a subplot. She's not out to rewrite Pride and Prejudice, she's out to write her own story, create her own legacy. This book is about lost love, art theft, forgeries, antiquities, education, societal constraints, with a little Jane Austen thrown in. This is why I'm almost of the mind to just delete this paragraphs I've just labored over because while there is this kernel of Austen by just saying that people are going to have certain expectations. They're going to think it's Victorian Bridget Jones or some such nonsense that is in no way what this book is. This is the problem of being a reviewer, you can see what it's like but also what it is on it's own and my purpose in writing this review is not only to discuss my feelings of what I've read but to get you to pick up this book. PICK IT UP! Just go in without preconceptions.

Because this book literally has so much fun twisting and turning what you'd expect from this time period. While Tasha has today's sensibilities she clearly states in her afterward that she wrote it from the point of view of Victorian society, and then as a reader you take great joy as she finds all the loopholes and makes something that is both of it's time and of our time. What I took great glee in was all the art in the book, from classic Greek statuary and vases to the Impressionists working in Paris while Emily was there. While today we view the Impressionists as the greatest artists of that time, at the time they were frowned upon. I felt like for once all those art history classes I took were paying off! But more than that it's the counterpoint of a woman's life proscribed by Victorian mourning with that of the artistic scene in Paris at the end of the 1800s. Constriction versus liberation. Which is very much a theme throughout the book. While Emily is under so many strictures, at the same time she is given a liberty by her status that would never have been conferred on her had Philip survived. Being a widow of means is literally the only way women could have freedom in the Victorian era. To see Emily embrace all that that means is the greatest of joys. It makes you realize how much better we have it and that we need to embrace all that we have because we could have it far worse.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander Autumn, And Only to Deceive, Colin Firth, Colin Hargreaves, Darcy, Greek, Jane Austen, Lady Emily, Pride and Prejudice, Tasha Alexander, The Da Vinci Code, The Impressionists, Victorian, Wickham, Widow