strange and random happenstance

The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer
Published by: Puffin Books
Publication Date: February 21st, 2009
Format: Kindle, 188 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

The main reason Enola has been able to keep herself hidden from her brothers is by secreting herself away in the poorer section of London. While sacrificing luxury and safety and a well cooked meal, her landlady, Mrs. Tupper, has become something of a surrogate mother to Enola in her own mother's absence. So when Mrs. Tupper is threatened things hit a little too close to home for Enola's sake and she vows to get to the bottom of things. It turns out Mrs. Tupper isn't at all who Enola assumed, starting with the fact she's far more observant than Enola has ever given her credit for. Enola could have sworn she'd gotten away with all her different disguises, turns out Mrs. Tupper just didn't like to pry. Mrs. Tupper has kept her own history secret so what does she care if her own lodger does the same? But the time has come to tell Enola of her past because whatever "message" the thugs want from her she has no idea what they are referring to. Mrs. Tupper's husband was in the Crimean War. As was often the case she followed her husband to the front because there was no way to send money home and it was the only way for her husband to support her. When he was injured in Scutari, Turkey, Mrs. Tupper met Florence Nightingale, who was trying to help care for the wounded. Byzantine ideas about health care meant that the injured men were left alone all night, the nurses only allowed to work during the day. Mrs. Tupper's husband died one night and Florence Nightingale took pity on the young pregnant war widow who had gone deaf from the bombs at the front. She gave her a new outfit and money enough to return home to England. Sadly Mrs. Tupper lost the baby and in her despair throughy no more of the nice nurse who helped her return home. But as far as she knew there was no message. Yes, she was given a piece of paper, but she can't read and got ride of it. But apparantly that message is very important because Mrs. Tupper is soon kidnapped and Enola is demanding to see the bedridden Florence Nightingale because no one takes her landlady and gets away with it!

In a series that is peopled with fictional characters it's always a bit of a risk to bring in an actual historical figure. People have preconceived notions about what they were like and unless it's a small cameo there's more chance for it to go wrong. Now I'm sure some people actually view Sherlock Holmes as real and hopefully love the way Nancy Springer has portrayed him like I do, but he's real in a different way than say Florence Nightingale. And that was really the sticking point for me in this book. I loved the idea of Florence Nightingale being a spy, I loved the coded message in the crinoline composed of embroidered flowers, once more showing how women can subvert what society thinks of them by using home arts to convey important information, but it just didn't quite work. The version of Florence Nightingale that I have in my head really comes from two sources, Drunk History and Victoria. I know these aren't probably the best sources, but Paget Brewster covered the whole Florence Nightingale taking to her bed and ruling her little world from the comfort of her mattress so I at least knew about that weird little historical detail that actually plays an important role in Enola's case. My problem was more with how Enola talked about Florence being an invalid than necessarily in how Florence herself was handled. Enola views Florence as a strange eccentric who likes to hold everyone under her power by claiming to be an invalid. Of course she eventually admits that her "every inference concerning the remarkable Florence Nightingale proved wrong, as became apparent to [her] within a few minutes." Florence just didn't want to waste time on social niceties and just wanted to get down to work. OK, fine. That's totally believable. What wasn't cool was that Enola's view of invalids was so negative. Yes, she's from the upper classes where invalids are more likely highly strung people looking for attention, but that doesn't mean they can be all classified as malingerers. Her contempt for the ill, and let us make it very clear, we actually don't know if Florence Nightingale was ill or not, left a bad taste in my mouth that all the flowery codes couldn't ameliorate.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Crimean War, Drunk History, Embroidery, Enola Holmes, Florence Nightingale, Invalid, Kidnapping, Mrs. Tupper, Nancy Springer, Paget Brewster, Scutari, Sherlocked, The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline, Turkey, Victoria

If there's one thing that is certain in this life it's that we viewers love a good glimpse into royal life. And seeing as until recently Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch it makes sense that she's the one most often brought to the screen, especially in cameos in any film set during the Victorian era. In fact many of my favorite actresses, and a handful of actors, have portrayed Victoria in their time, Annette Crosbie, Miriam Margolyes, Anna Massey, Victoria Hamilton, Prunella Scales, Pauline Collins, Pam Ferris, Gayle Rankin, Imelda Staunton, Kathy Bates, and Gemma Jones are a few of my favorites, though a tip of the hat to certain members of Monty Python's Flying Circus is also due. You might notice I omitted Emily Blunt and The Young Victoria. I know it feels sacrilegious to say I don't like something written by Julian Fellowes, but the movie just felt like a subpar version of the Victoria and Albert miniseries staring Victoria Hamilton and the lesser Firth. Needles to say this meant I was very excited when I heard about the new Victoria series staring Jenna Coleman. She's a talented actress and they just destroyed her character on Doctor Who and I felt that this would be her redemption. Also the show just happened to be created by an author whose work I really like, Daisy Goodwin! Seriously, do yourself a favor and check out The American Heiress! In interviews prior to the show's release she talked about reading Victoria's diaries and really realizing what it would mean to elevate a teenager to absolute ruler. It's actually rather intimidating and scary giving someone that young that much power, but luckily there are advisors... in other words, there is Lord Melbourne. Lord M as portrayed by Rufus Sewell captured the hearts of everyone. Historical accuracy be damned! Lord M and Victoria forever! Who is this Albert person anyway? In fact that ravenous cult of Lord M and our lingering love for him makes every other series of this show pale in comparison. Season one had Lord M and Rufus, therefore season one is the best. Period.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Daisy Goodwin, Doctor Who, Fifty Years a Masterpiece, Jenna Coleman, Julian Fellowes, Lord M, Monty Python, Rufus Sewell, Teenager, The American Heiress, The Young Victoria, Victoria, Victorian, Victorian Hamilton

The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman
Published by: Speak
Publication Date: January 21st, 2017
Format: Paperback, 512 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

After being caught in her bedroom with Lord Carlston on the night of her ball Lady Helen has been tossed out by her uncle. If only she could tell her family it's not what they think! But her duties as a Reclaimer come first and that means only those in the Dark Days Club can know what really happened that night in her bedroom; that she killed the rogue Reclaimer Benchley and lost her chance of ever having a normal life. She has luckily clung to respectability by the discretion of all involved and by being whisked away to Brighton for the rest of the season. While it might seem odd that she has withdrawn to Brighton "for her health" with her new acquaintances, Lady Margaret and her brother Mr. Hammond, they at least lend her an air of respectability while helping to train her in her duties as a Reclaimer. As Lord Carlston's aides the siblings are helping Lady Helen in Lord Carlston's grand scheme to disguise her as a man for her Reclaimer duties. A task that sounds easier than it's turning out to be as she must unlearn all that is feminine in order to be masculine. Add to that that she must also maintain the life expected of Lady Helen and there's barely time to sleep. Though her sleepless nights might be more the memory of an embrace shared with Lord Carlston and worrying over his declining mental health than trying to maintain two separate lives simultaneously.

Due to the rigors of the job and the demands on their bodies Reclaimers at some point have to retire before going completely mad. Yet Lord Carlston seems to be getting rapidly worse. A fact that must be kept from the bureaucratic arm of the Dark Days Club. Mr. Pike would relish the chance to put Lord Carlston out to pasture or in the ground because he was going the way of Benchley. So it is rather disconcerting when Mr. Pike arrives in Brighton. Though he's not just there to monitor Lord Carlston, he's there to force Helen to swear her allegiance to the government and to assign her a mission which she must accomplish without her full training and with only the help of Mr. Hammond. Benchley's Terrene Lowry claims to have a journal that his Reclaimer kept written in the blood of his victims that Mr. Pike is desperate to get his hands on. Only when Helen confronts Lowry his price is unacceptable to her. She must find another way to get the journal, which becomes more desperate when a Deceiver, the Comte d'Antraigues, tells Lord Carlston that the journal is the only thing that will cure his madness. Lady Helen is caught between her duty and her desire and either outcome could prove fatal.

The first book in Lady Helen's series, The Dark Days Club, for all it's darkness in showing the seamy underbelly of Regency England was still nestled in the comfortable world of Jane Austen with the drawing rooms and balls and Dukes plighting their troth. Here that life is gone. Lady Helen is no longer ensconced in society but clinging to the edges as best she can. This is a darker world from the one she was cast out from. There are whore houses catering to all tastes. Cruelty, depravity, sexual congress, all that which Lady Helen was shielded from her entire life is now on full display as she walks through Brighton disguised as a man. She was raised to arrange dinner parties not cavort around in men's garb in back allies. Yet she readily accepts the change as the duties of a Reclaimer. I fully embraced this darker tale, it's kind of like comparing an adaptation of Jane Austen to the Tom Hardy series Taboo, both take place during the same time period, but both show such radically different views of that time period. And the thing I've noticed with me, as I get older, I'm less inclined to the happily ever after and more drawn to the ambiguous, darker endings. To me they feel more real, like they're reflecting the world as it is versus how we want it to be.

And poor Helen, she is trying so hard to fit herself into this new world order but underneath it all you can see she is struggling. The scene that I think best exemplifies this is when she's told that she's getting a radical new haircut. While I've never been a girl who longs for the long hair, there is that connection between gorgeously flowing hair and femininity, more so during earlier time periods. Think how much of an impact O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi had? Or when Fantine has to sell her hair in Les Misérables? Yet for how revolutionary she is being in embracing this new life and the challenges that it presents I think she occasionally is willing to fall back on her upbringing a little too much. She was raised to listen to her Uncle, listen to men, they know what's right, so as soon as Mr. Pike swoops in with all his horrid ideas that he says she must follow she follows them when instead she should tell him to STFU. She questions Pike in her mind yet there's a part of her that just follows him blindly despite disagreeing with everything he says and does. This just shows the larger problem endemic to society and that's women should obey because they are nothing more than property. They are to do what is expected, they can not color outside the lines. Helen might be a Reclaimer, but to her brethren she is just there for their use not her opinions.

Now, to get off my high horse, let's talk about something else, let's talk about the Deceivers. So Deceivers, if they are acting in accord to the compact they have with Reclaimers they skim energy off of people without them knowing it. They are taking a little bit of their life force in order to survive. When I started reading this series I had just been on a day trip to Chicago after which one of my friend's credit cards got a fraud warning. My other friend was convinced that the number had just been swiped by an unscrupulous waitress at the restaurant we had ate at, which wasn't at all the case, because the card had never once left my friend's wallet and had been scanned with a RFID reader. The scanner takes all your vital information and gives it to the thief without you even knowing until you get a ping on your credit card. They can take away your entire life without you knowing it and as I was explaining this a light went off above my head and I realized that is what an Deceiver does! Here was a real life example of the supernatural elements in the book and it made me appreciate Alison Goodman's worldbuilding even more. To be able to explain a supernatural element in terms that those who don't necessarily get fantasy can understand made me so happy! Now I just have to convince everyone I know to read this series and invest in RFID wallets.

In another real world and book world colliding incident I'm going to shift to Mr. Hammond. I know I've talked about this in another review before but seeing as I tend to dream cast books as I read them when an aspect of my dream casting and an aspect of the character come together it's fascinating and a little unnerving and is therefore worth repeating. From the second Mr. Hammond entered this story I have pictured him as Lord Alfred Paget from Victoria. There's something just so sweet and reassuring about this character as he threads his way through the politics and paramours of the royal household that his caring and concern rang true to who Mr. Hammond is. In season two of Victoria Lord Alfred falls in love with Edward Drummond, the Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, which was doomed from the beginning and oh so heartbreaking. When Alison Goodman, through the deplorable Mr. Pike, reveals that Mr. Hammond is homosexual I had a moment of confusion. Had I totally, through my dream casting, learned a secret part of Mr. Hammond's character without even realizing I was doing it? I'm not sure, but it sure looks that way! Whatever the case is, whether I was subconsciously picking up on something or I just can somehow predict the future, I don't know, but it was simultaneously spooky and cool.

Putting my uncanny abilities aside there was an aspect of this story that just warmed the cockles of my heart, and that was to do with Delia Cransdon. Poor Delia who was ruined by a Deceiver who then killed himself to body jump when surrounded by Reclaimers and has since been under lock and key at her parents estate with the asylum looming ever larger. Her parents estate is close to Brighton and Helen views it as her duty to at least tell Delia what she can so that Delia will know she's not insane. Of course there's lots of back and forth with what can and can not be told but in the end Delia knows all that Helen does and is sworn in as Helen's aide. While the book doesn't go into specifics about how acceptable society views it that Helen is championing Delia, especially as Delia is viewed as rather "loose" at the one party they attend, that doesn't bother me so much as how glad I was to see how honorable Lady Helen is. Even before she knew about this other world Helen wanted to rush to Delia's side. As soon as Helen knew the truth and was shown the door by her relatives she reached out to Delia to ease her mind and also to reaffirm their friendship. If their was still any doubt in Helen's maid Darby's mind about whether Helen is on the side of the angels, this would have been proof enough. Lady Helen, saving the world one friend at a time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alison Goodman, Brighton, Deceivers, Homosexuality, Lady Helen, Les Misérables, Lord Carlston, O. Henry, Reclaimers, Regency, Regency Magic, Taboo, The Dark Days Pact, The Gift of the Magi, Tom Hardy, Victoria

The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman
Published by: Speak
Publication Date: January 21st, 2017
Format: Paperback, 512 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

After being caught in her bedroom with Lord Carlston on the night of her ball Lady Helen has been tossed out by her uncle. If only she could tell her family it's not what they think! But her duties as a Reclaimer come first and that means only those in the Dark Days Club can know what really happened that night in her bedroom; that she killed the rogue Reclaimer Benchley and lost her chance of ever having a normal life. She has luckily clung to respectability by the discretion of all involved and by being whisked away to Brighton for the rest of the season. While it might seem odd that she has withdrawn to Brighton "for her health" with her new acquaintances, Lady Margaret and her brother Mr. Hammond, they at least lend her an air of respectability while helping to train her in her duties as a Reclaimer. As Lord Carlston's aides the siblings are helping Lady Helen in Lord Carlston's grand scheme to disguise her as a man for her Reclaimer duties. A task that sounds easier than it's turning out to be as she must unlearn all that is feminine in order to be masculine. Add to that that she must also maintain the life expected of Lady Helen and there's barely time to sleep. Though her sleepless nights might be more the memory of an embrace shared with Lord Carlston and worrying over his declining mental health than trying to maintain two separate lives simultaneously.

Due to the rigors of the job and the demands on their bodies Reclaimers at some point have to retire before going completely mad. Yet Lord Carlston seems to be getting rapidly worse. A fact that must be kept from the bureaucratic arm of the Dark Days Club. Mr. Pike would relish the chance to put Lord Carlston out to pasture or in the ground because he was going the way of Benchley. So it is rather disconcerting when Mr. Pike arrives in Brighton. Though he's not just there to monitor Lord Carlston, he's there to force Helen to swear her allegiance to the government and to assign her a mission which she must accomplish without her full training and with only the help of Mr. Hammond. Benchley's Terrene Lowry claims to have a journal that his Reclaimer kept written in the blood of his victims that Mr. Pike is desperate to get his hands on. Only when Helen confronts Lowry his price is unacceptable to her. She must find another way to get the journal, which becomes more desperate when a Deceiver, the Comte d'Antraigues, tells Lord Carlston that the journal is the only thing that will cure his madness. Lady Helen is caught between her duty and her desire and either outcome could prove fatal.

The first book in Lady Helen's series, The Dark Days Club, for all it's darkness in showing the seamy underbelly of Regency England was still nestled in the comfortable world of Jane Austen with the drawing rooms and balls and Dukes plighting their troth. Here that life is gone. Lady Helen is no longer ensconced in society but clinging to the edges as best she can. This is a darker world from the one she was cast out from. There are whore houses catering to all tastes. Cruelty, depravity, sexual congress, all that which Lady Helen was shielded from her entire life is now on full display as she walks through Brighton disguised as a man. She was raised to arrange dinner parties not cavort around in men's garb in back allies. Yet she readily accepts the change as the duties of a Reclaimer. I fully embraced this darker tale, it's kind of like comparing an adaptation of Jane Austen to the Tom Hardy series Taboo, both take place during the same time period, but both show such radically different views of that time period. And the thing I've noticed with me, as I get older, I'm less inclined to the happily ever after and more drawn to the ambiguous, darker endings. To me they feel more real, like they're reflecting the world as it is versus how we want it to be.

And poor Helen, she is trying so hard to fit herself into this new world order but underneath it all you can see she is struggling. The scene that I think best exemplifies this is when she's told that she's getting a radical new haircut. While I've never been a girl who longs for the long hair, there is that connection between gorgeously flowing hair and femininity, more so during earlier time periods. Think how much of an impact O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi had? Or when Fantine has to sell her hair in Les Misérables? Yet for how revolutionary she is being in embracing this new life and the challenges that it presents I think she occasionally is willing to fall back on her upbringing a little too much. She was raised to listen to her Uncle, listen to men, they know what's right, so as soon as Mr. Pike swoops in with all his horrid ideas that he says she must follow she follows them when instead she should tell him to STFU. She questions Pike in her mind yet there's a part of her that just follows him blindly despite disagreeing with everything he says and does. This just shows the larger problem endemic to society and that's women should obey because they are nothing more than property. They are to do what is expected, they can not color outside the lines. Helen might be a Reclaimer, but to her brethren she is just there for their use not her opinions.

Now, to get off my high horse, let's talk about something else, let's talk about the Deceivers. So Deceivers, if they are acting in accord to the compact they have with Reclaimers they skim energy off of people without them knowing it. They are taking a little bit of their life force in order to survive. When I started reading this series I had just been on a day trip to Chicago after which one of my friend's credit cards got a fraud warning. My other friend was convinced that the number had just been swiped by an unscrupulous waitress at the restaurant we had ate at, which wasn't at all the case, because the card had never once left my friend's wallet and had been scanned with a RFID reader. The scanner takes all your vital information and gives it to the thief without you even knowing until you get a ping on your credit card. They can take away your entire life without you knowing it and as I was explaining this a light went off above my head and I realized that is what an Deceiver does! Here was a real life example of the supernatural elements in the book and it made me appreciate Alison Goodman's worldbuilding even more. To be able to explain a supernatural element in terms that those who don't necessarily get fantasy can understand made me so happy! Now I just have to convince everyone I know to read this series and invest in RFID wallets.

In another real world and book world colliding incident I'm going to shift to Mr. Hammond. I know I've talked about this in another review before but seeing as I tend to dream cast books as I read them when an aspect of my dream casting and an aspect of the character come together it's fascinating and a little unnerving and is therefore worth repeating. From the second Mr. Hammond entered this story I have pictured him as Lord Alfred Paget from Victoria. There's something just so sweet and reassuring about this character as he threads his way through the politics and paramours of the royal household that his caring and concern rang true to who Mr. Hammond is. In season two of Victoria Lord Alfred falls in love with Edward Drummond, the Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, which was doomed from the beginning and oh so heartbreaking. When Alison Goodman, through the deplorable Mr. Pike, reveals that Mr. Hammond is homosexual I had a moment of confusion. Had I totally, through my dream casting, learned a secret part of Mr. Hammond's character without even realizing I was doing it? I'm not sure, but it sure looks that way! Whatever the case is, whether I was subconsciously picking up on something or I just can somehow predict the future, I don't know, but it was simultaneously spooky and cool.

Putting my uncanny abilities aside there was an aspect of this story that just warmed the cockles of my heart, and that was to do with Delia Cransdon. Poor Delia who was ruined by a Deceiver who then killed himself to body jump when surrounded by Reclaimers and has since been under lock and key at her parents estate with the asylum looming ever larger. Her parents estate is close to Brighton and Helen views it as her duty to at least tell Delia what she can so that Delia will know she's not insane. Of course there's lots of back and forth with what can and can not be told but in the end Delia knows all that Helen does and is sworn in as Helen's aide. While the book doesn't go into specifics about how acceptable society views it that Helen is championing Delia, especially as Delia is viewed as rather "loose" at the one party they attend, that doesn't bother me so much as how glad I was to see how honorable Lady Helen is. Even before she knew about this other world Helen wanted to rush to Delia's side. As soon as Helen knew the truth and was shown the door by her relatives she reached out to Delia to ease her mind and also to reaffirm their friendship. If their was still any doubt in Helen's maid Darby's mind about whether Helen is on the side of the angels, this would have been proof enough. Lady Helen, saving the world one friend at a time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alison Goodman, Brighton, Deceivers, Homosexuality, Lady Helen, Les Misérables, Lord Carlston, O. Henry, Reclaimers, Regency, Regency Magic, Taboo, The Dark Days Pact, The Gift of the Magi, Tom Hardy, Victoria

Victoria by Daisy Goodwin
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: November 22nd, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"I do not like the name Alexandrina. From now on I wish to be known only by my second name, Victoria. Melbourne nodded. Victoria.

Early one morning, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria is roused from bed with the news that her uncle William IV has died and she is now Queen of England. The men who run the country have doubts about whether this sheltered young woman, who stands less than five feet tall, can rule the greatest nation in the world. Surely she must rely on her mother and her venal advisor, Sir John Conroy, or her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, who are all too eager to relieve her of the burdens of power.

The young queen is no puppet, however. She has very definite ideas about the kind of queen she wants to be, and the first thing is to choose her name.

Everyone keeps saying she is destined to marry her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but Victoria found him dull and priggish when they met three years ago. She is quite happy being queen with the help of her prime minister, Lord Melbourne, who may be old enough to be her father but is the first person to take her seriously.

Drawing on Victoria’s diaries, which she first started reading when she was a student at Cambridge University, as well as her own brilliant gifts for history and drama, Daisy Goodwin, author of the bestselling novels The American Heiress and The Fortune Hunter as well as creator and writer of the new PBS/Masterpiece drama Victoria, brings the young queen richly to life in this magnificent novel."

Even if I wasn't suffering from severe withdrawal since the end of the Victoria series ended this would be a must read for all the Lord M that apparently was cut for time from the series. More Rufus!

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
Published by: Blue Rider Press
Publication Date: November 22nd, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager.

With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. And today, as she reprises her most iconic role for the latest Star Wars trilogy, Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience."

Royalty week continues with another of my favorite royals... Princess Leia! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Carrie Fisher, Daisy Goodwin, Princess Leia, Queen Victoria, Royalty, Star Wars, The American Heiress, The Fortune Hunter, The Princess Diarist, Tuesday Tomorrow, Victoria

Summerset Abbey by T.J. Brown
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2013
Format: Kindle, 322 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Rowena and Victoria Buxton are reeling from the death of their beloved father. Yet there are more shocks to come. The two girls were raised in a rather unorthodox manner growing up with their nanny's daughter, Prudence, as their closest friend and confidant. But now their lives are in the hands of their Uncle and things are going to be different; proper. Banished to the countryside so their uncle can secretly sell their London house, Prudence was only allowed to accompany the sisters by posing as their lady's maid. Something Rowena failed to mention to Victoria and Prudence... but then Rowena doesn't do conflict. She'd rather hide her head in the sand than face what her life has become, an endless parade of changing clothes to please her aunt's sense of propriety. Rowena's behavior drives a wedge between the girls and Prudence, more so than Victoria, feels that her life has been irreparably changed. Banished to living a half life among the servants she doesn't fit in either upstairs or down. What's more there are forces at work trying to oust Prudence from the family seat. Because Prudence is the living breathing proof of a long buried secret that could destroy the Buxton family. Rowena and Victoria's lives could be ruined by the person they love most in the world and who they've inadvertently wronged.

Summerset Abbey is an odd little book in that it was obviously written to cash in on the Downton Abbey craze. Some books are more subtle about this cash grab, Summerset Abbey isn't. That actually makes it kind of refreshing. It doesn't have delusions of grandeur, it knows what a knock-off it is and plays it up. Every trope you could ever possibly imagine in an "upstairs/downstairs" world is used. It's not just one trope played up and overused, it's all of them. Illegitimate offspring, tragic child death, Cinderella story, long lost relatives, improper liaisons, suffrage, evil lady's maids, sweet kitchen maids, deep dark family secrets, money problems, looming war, newfangled gadgets from cars to airplanes, omniscient butlers, Bohemian brothers, beautiful ladies against societal norms, the list goes on and on. In a little over three hundred pages Summerset Abbey uses almost every plot point from seven seasons of Upstairs, Downstairs and never lets up. Yet this overabundance pays off. It's like a giddy headlong rush into this Edwardian world where we get every kind of scandal and twist we could possibly imagine or want. It's like Downton Abbey concentrate. Here, have it all AND the kitchen sink! And you as the reader say thank you very much.

The one trope that niggled at me a little from the plethora of tropes on hand was the backlash of the Bohemian lifestyle. When reality comes a-crashing down the sisters just can't cope. I am really of two minds as to this plot contrivance. What I really liked is that Brown actually bothered to establish the credibility of this Bohemian lifestyle they were living. It wasn't just an aside, like it is in most books, it was discussed and built on. The jobs and independence of the girls. The friends of the family that embodied this movement, such as Picasso. The fact that women struggling for suffrage were referred to properly as suffragists NOT suffragettes. Even how their beliefs were reflected in their beloved home's architecture and how the rooms were incorporated into large communal spaces. I loved all this. What I didn't love is the girls being unwilling or unable to comprehend that their father wasn't as farsighted as he should have been. If they truly were the Bohemians and strong independent women their father raised them to be they should have been able to face this new reality and take it head on and make of their lives what they wanted. They should have been strong, independent, "new" women that get things done, not roll over! Yes, technically the book is about them figuring out how to do this in little ways, but overall it just annoyed me that they couldn't at least make a better attempt at living the life they wanted.

This is exacerbated to the nth degree with Prudence. I mean how could she be so ignorant? She knew how lucky she was being raised alongside Rowena and Victoria, yet when reality comes a calling she is unable to face it. She is the daughter of a servant, did she really expect to be treated as one of the family? Yes, her Cinderella story seems unfair, but the way she handles it. Ugh. Cinderella buckled down and accepted her new fate until she found a way out. Prudence whines and moans and actually is a rather belligerent lady's maid. Just, ugh. How!?! How could she not know or expect this? Plus, once she starts learning more about her past and her mother, she should have no doubt that this is the life that should have been hers. She was lucky. She spent her childhood in this little magical bubble that protected and coddled her, but in no way prepared her for reality. In fact, that I think is what annoys me most with the "Bohemian" aspect to this book. The girls were all raised in a word that showed them truth and reality, not that rarefied magical gentrified world that would soon come to an end. Yet somehow they were in an even more magical world that made them less able to handle harsh reality. I guess I just can't come to terms with my heroines being so stupid and not knowing that this is how life works. That this would be their life. It's like they are purposefully deluding themselves.

But there is no one better for delusions than Rowena. Rowena is obviously the Lady Mary of the sisters. She has no focus in life, no goals, and can not confront reality so just sits around doing nothing. The pain she inflicts on Victoria and Prudence by her hording secrets is just viciously cruel. All the more so because she knows how it will hurt them but just ignores it. And her acquiesce to her uncle's plans. Ugh. She could have tried. She could have had Victoria at her side trying to fight this, but no. She just lets it happen. See, the thing with having "bad guys" is that you need to love to hate them. Like Thomas and Lady Mary, you can see other sides to them through the bad behavior, they're not just one dimensional. Rowena is one dimensional. She is all about whatever is best for her. I hated her more than any other character in any book I've read recently. She doesn't just deserve to be smacked, she deserves to be smacked with a lead pipe. By someone who can do serious damage. Rowena in fact keeps grinding the book down every single time she appears on it's pages. What's even worse is that with the pilot she meets and starts up a flirtation with, Jon, she is the only one of the three women who gets moments of happiness. She is a spineless self-centered bitch, she doesn't deserve one second of happiness. I wish she'd get in that plane and it would crash and burn. That is the only fitting end for her.

The tropes and the characters all being so a-typical I found the a-typical mystery a bit ludicrous. Are we really supposed to be surprised by the dark and dangerous secret that Prudence's past hides? Because it was handled so heavy-handedly that at times I was laughing at the book. I kept expecting someone to show up and drone on about there being something nasty in the woodshed. The melodrama was worthy of old silent films with the villain twirling his moustache while the damsel was tied to the train tracks. Here's a radical idea. If there's a big evil secret, don't have everyone know about it and then drop heavy hints left right and center. A mystery should be mysterious. There should be some work on the part of the reader to solve it. The solution to the enigma shouldn't be a foregone conclusion. But this would be expecting more than what this book is. This book is nothing more then a fun and cheesy Downton Abbey pastiche mashing up everything into a read that doesn't strain your braincells but gives you just the right amount of period immersion. To expect more wouldn't be fair to the book. As for the possibility of me continuing on with this series? I don't quite see myself taking that plunge. I just didn't love the characters enough and the thought that Rowena might actually get a HEA makes me physically ill. But I enjoyed it for what it was, at times despite itself.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: ARCs, Bohemian, Cinderella, Downton Abbey, Downton Denial Denouement, Downtonesque, Lady Mary, Picasso, Prudence, Rowen, Suffrage, Summerset Abbey, T.J. Brown, Thomas Barrow, Trope, Upstairs Downstairs, Victoria

We now move onto the third book in Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series. A lovely Irish air is blowing through as Letty and Geoff are off on their unexpected honeymoon in The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Now if I might say, I think this might be my best casting of the films that play in my head, I'd like to say a cinema near you, but it's my head... when I was reading this, both Geoff and Letty instantly sprang into my mind as these actors. And doesn't our actress look lovely in green? A very Irish color at that. Now onto Letty being portrayed in my cranium by...

Name: Bryce Dallas Howard

Dream Character Casting for the Lauren Willig Miniseries: Letty Alsworthy

First Impression: The Village, which she did a really good job in, despite how easy it was to figure out what was going on.

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Lauren Willig Miniseries: Did you see her in As You Like It?!? Pitch perfect British accent, plus, the hair, the smile... Letty all the way!

Lasting Impression: The Village... because the PR for this film would not let you forget her name! But that's as a person, for as an actress... As You Like It.

What else you've seen them in: Aside from her roles in M. Night Shyamalan movies, you'll probably recognize her from two of the biggest film franchises where her installments was sadly lacking, notably Terminator and Spider-Man. But these big blockbuster movies that are synonymous with the name Howard don't do her the justice she deserves, just watch As You Like It, and you'll see what I'm saying.

Can't believe it's them: She was a Who in Whoville! Not surprising seeing as her dad directed it.

Wish they hadn't: Victoria in the Twilight Saga's Eclipse. I'm sad cause she's back in a blockbuster and now she's going to always and forevermore be associated with this franchise, but more sad in that they've recast the role. I hate hate hate recasting. Just, studios, STOP IT! I don't care that she's a better actress or a bigger name, you've f'd up the continuity and for me that's the biggest sin of all.

Bio: To quote an old Eddie Murphy sketch: "Opie had sex!?!" Yes, she is Opie's child. Enough said.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:33 AM 4 comments  

Labels: As You Like It, Eddie Murphy, Lauren Willig, Letty Alsworthy, M. Night Shyamalan, Opie, Pink Carnation Spotlight, Ron Howard, The Village, Twilight, Victoria, Whoville