BOOK REVIEW: Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.


Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore is a delightful historical Romance that manages to spotlight the “historical” as well as the “romance.” It is set in 1879, during Queen Victoria’s reign, rather than the typical Regency period, but many of the same society customs and restrictions apply.

Annabelle Archer is the twenty-five-year old, impoverished daughter of a deceased vicar, forced to live with a cousin as a drudge because she has no other options. She is a commoner. She is too beautiful for her own safety/reputation. And she is extremely intelligent, not just intelligent in a witty, able-to-fend-for-herself way, but academically intelligent, intelligent enough to be frustrated by the lack of opportunity available to studious women and the inevitable “blue-stocking” label. If all this isn’t bad enough, she has a scandalous past.

When an opportunity arises for her to leave her cousin’s household to attend Oxford College with a stipend, she finds a way to do it. There is a condition on the stipend, however. It is provided by an organization of suffragists, and she is expected to take part in the women’s lobbying efforts. She immediately inadvertently lobbies the wrong man: the duke of Montgomery.

Sebastian, the duke of Montgomery, is known to be a cold-hearted efficient Tory who gets things done. A favorite of the queen, he has been tasked with ensuring the election of Prime Minister Disraeli in the next election. In truth, Sebastian has Liberal leanings, but he serves the queen with unquestioning determination because she is the only person with the authority to grant what he wants most: the return of his ancestral seat. The previous duke, Sebastian’s father, lost it in a card game. An ineffective duke, he frittered away much of the Montgomery holdings by neglect, drink, and gambling. Sebastian has spent his life trying to rebuild the legacy his father lost.

Annabelle’s assignment from the suffragist leader is to follow up on the initial encounter with the duke. Annabelle, desperate to avoid further scandal, is reluctant but complies. Typical developments for the genre--mistaken identity/motivations, miscommunication, prideful rebellion, and simmering passion--propel the story along as the two learn to understand one another and then fall in love.

Annabelle’s strength as a heroine is not simply her striking beauty and strong personality. Annabelle is a fascinating character because of her intelligence. She challenges the men around her with a brain and an education that more than equals theirs, despite all the advantages of their situations. Sebastian’s character impresses because even though he is a snob, his privilege has not blinded him to the plight of those lower in the pecking order. Even more importantly, he is not threatened by or made uncomfortable by Annabelle’s intelligence. He is able to recognize her as an intellectual equal and that doesn’t bother him. (What bothers him is her social inferiority.)

The two lovers have a number of hurdles to overcome. Each has to learn what is truly important to them and what goals can be sacrificed. It makes for a page-turner of a Romance.

BOOK REVIEW: How to Cross a Marquess by Jane Ashford

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence my review.

I’ve been following Jane Ashford’s Regency Romance series: The Way to a Lord’s Heart. In these novels, an older gentleman, the Earl of Macklin, uses his experience with grief to aid younger lords who have lost someone dear to them.

In How to Cross a Marquess, Macklin’s current project is Roger Berwick, Marquess of Chatton, whose wife died from a fever a year earlier. (The story behind the fever is complicated and drives the plot.)

Roger returns to his ancestral home in Northumberland where he meets up with his old neighbor, Fenella Fairclough. They had been children together. He was a few years older, a mischievous boy much admired by the others in their gang. Fenella was a smitten, shy, insecure girl. Their lands abutted and their fathers argued over boundaries until they hit upon the idea of marrying their children to each other. Roger had rebelled at the thought; he rebelled against any project of his father’s. Fenella, humiliated, also refused – by running away to her grandmother in Scotland. There she grew into a mature, self-confident, and beautiful young woman.

Roger went to London where he met and married a young beauty (Arabella) whom he accidentally compromised, at least according to the girl’s mother. The mother arranged the whole embarrassing charade in order to see her beloved daughter make a grand match.  The marriage was a disaster. When Arabella died after an ill-advised outing in the rain (one that Fenella had tried to talk her out of but could not), Roger was more relieved than saddened, which led to a tremendous burden of guilt. In response to the guilt, he tended to blame everyone involved, including Fenella.

When Roger returns, he and Fenella are frequently thrown together by circumstance. Macklin arrives to see how Roger is faring and watches with benign amusement as the two find their way to one another. Macklin takes a more passive role in this romance than he has in previous stories, because the two don’t need much help. They just need time and proximity.

The plot is well-constructed and the characters pleasant. Fenella is a particularly level-headed heroine. It isn’t my favorite story of the series but Ashford’s Romances continues to entertain.

BOOK REVIEW: The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore

I received this book free from Netgalley. That did not influence my review.

The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore is a beautifully written, atmospheric, gothic historical novel set in mid-eighteenth century New England. Unreliably narrated by the protagonist, Lucy Blunt, from the New Hampshire State Prison where she is being held for a double murder, the story moves back and forth through time to explain how she ended up with a death sentence hanging over her. She insists that she is innocent, but is she?

Lucy Blunt is not a likable character but she is sympathetic. Her life has been one of almost unrelenting misery. The book is pretty dismal because of this. At times I had to put it down to take a break from all the despair. The one bright spot in her life is her love for her employer, Eugenie Burton. The lady of the house also loves her, maybe. At least, they begin a torrid affair. Lucy is promoted from kitchen maid to Eugenie’s companion. (Eugenie is blind, and pretty much confined to the house by her possessive, overly protective husband.) This causes a good deal of friction with Eugenie’s current companion, Rebecca.

Things go from bad to worse for Lucy. Her backstory is a nightmare that keeps creeping up on her. She makes some bad decisions, but her options are so limited she doesn’t really have any good decisions available.

There is a mystery wrapped up in the story as well. If Lucy didn’t commit the murders, who did? Despite the downward spiral of misery, I had to keep reading to confirm the true culprit and learn how Lucy’s story would end.

BOOK REVIEW: Trials of Intimacy: Love and Loss in the Beecher-Tilton Scandal by Richard Wightman Fox

Trials of Intimacy: Love and Loss in the Beecher-Tilton Scandal by Richard Wightman Fox is another nonfiction work concerning a late nineteenth century scandal that played out in the press. (See also my review of Bringing Down the Colonel by Patricia Miller.)

In the 1870s, the renowned preacher Henry Ward Beecher (brother of Harriet Beecher-Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin) was accused by his longtime friend, protégé, and one-time parishioner, Theodore Tilton, of committing adultery. Tilton claimed Beecher had seduced his wife, Elizabeth, and he sued for damages.

Because Beecher and Tilton were such prominent moral leaders of the time (they had both been fervent abolitionists), the nation was enthralled and appalled by the charge, which was, of course, denied by Beecher and by Elizabeth. A six-month-long trial followed, which was reported in minute detail in the press, along with letters and explanations by the principals. It was such a hopeless, confusing mess of accusation and counter-accusation that the jury could not reach a verdict. Even when Elizabeth Tilton changed her story three years after the trial, now admitting the adultery, the truth remained murky. Her story had changed so many times during the trial and before it that no one placed much weight on what she said after it.

The author takes the unusual tack of presenting the story backwards, from end to beginning, to help deconstruct the arguments made by scholars, contemporaries, and the primary actors themselves. Although this leads to some repetitiveness, it is a very effective way to show just how difficult it is to get at "truth," when those involved may not have a firm grip themselves on what the truth was.

Beecher and Theodore Tilton had been extraordinarily close early on in their relationship, both personally and professionally. Beecher presided at the wedding between Theodore and Elizabeth, both members of his congregation. The Tiltons had grown up together and were teenagers when they fell in love. Beecher was old enough to be their father. But as the Tiltons grew and matured, the relationships among the three changed. This was partly a result of the men’s changing world-views and religious beliefs after the Civil War. But the interwoven rivalries and jealousies played a significant role as well. As Theodore and Beecher grew apart, Beecher and Elizabeth grew closer. How close? Close enough to deepen the wedge between the two men. By the time they were denouncing one another in court and in the press, the physical nature of the bond between Beecher and Elizabeth seems almost moot.

This is an excellent book that delves deep into the social, religious, and political culture of the times. Highly recommended for those interested in post-Civil War U.S. history.

BOOK REVIEW: Bethlehem by Karen Kelly

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence my review.

I love multi-generational historical sagas. Bethlehem by Karen Kelly is a perfect example of the genre. Alternating between a current day (early 1960s) storyline and that of a past generation (40-50 years earlier), the reader meets two very different women whose lives converge around family and scandalous secrets.

Joanna is a young woman from a working class background who marries into a fantastically wealthy Bethlehem Steel family, the Colliers. She and her husband, Frank, have two young children. They have been building a life for themselves when the death of Frank’s father leads to a change. Frank’s work hours with the family business increase astronomically. His mother and grandmother, alone in the ancestral home, need support. Nothing makes more sense than for Joanna and Frank to move into the mansion. Joanna is now a fish-out-of-water. The older Collier women are courteous, but aloof. Joanna feels isolated and bullied into conforming to a lifestyle she doesn’t want. Frank dismisses her complaints as unreasonable. She feels her identity melting away. Her only refuge is, unfortunately, the handsome young caretaker of the family cemetery, a man who seems to be a kindred spirit.

Joanna’s mother-in-law, Susannah Collier, is the most closed-off person Joanna has ever met. She seems to live in her own private world. Grief is understandable, she just lost her husband of many years, but Susannah’s cold shoulder goes beyond grief.

The reader is also cast back in time to Susannah’s childhood and young adulthood. Susannah Parrish, her sister India, and brother Kit, are the children of Bethlehem Steel’s chief engineer, Hollins Parrish. Kit is best friends with Chap Collier (the elder son of Bethlehem Steel’s owner) and close as well to Wyatt Collier (the younger son.) The children play together and get into all manner of mischief. For as long as anyone can remember, Wyatt has been desperately in love with Susannah and India has been infatuated with Chap.

We watch the Parrish and Collier children grow up and we follow Susannah’s successes and disappointments. She and Wyatt are the closest of friends, childhood sweethearts destined for marriage and happily-ever-after. But things don’t always go according to plan.

Meanwhile, in the current-day storyline, as Joanna’s life spirals out of control, the person who reaches out to her is Susannah, the mother-in-law with secrets of her own.

The story is lovely, full of warmth, love, and familial support. While not brimful of historical context, the period details set the scene well. The love stories are complex, realistic, and satisfying. This novel is recommended for fans of emotionally gripping multi-generational fiction.

BOOK REVIEW: Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence my review.

The Westcotts are back in Someone to Honor! I’ve been compulsively following Mary Balogh’s Someone to... series, watching all the members of the convoluted Westcott family (legitimate and illegitimate) fall in love and marry in Regency England.

Abigail Westcott is the younger daughter of the deceased Earl of Riverdale. When he died six years earlier, the world learned his secret: the earl was still married to his first wife when the wedding to Abigail’s mother took place. He had a daughter, Anna. His will left everything to her except the title and entailed property.

At a stroke, Abigail, her siblings, and her mother were rendered penniless. Her mother’s marriage was invalid. Abigail and her siblings were illegitimate. The scandalized ton shut them out. But that was Anna’s story (see Someone to Love.) Now it’s Abigail’s turn.

Abigail was born to take her place in society and never gave much thought to alternatives. The catastrophe following her father’s death not only showed the depth of her family’s love and unconditional support for each other, it also frees Abigail to discover who she is. She doesn’t have to define herself by society’s expectations any longer.

Lieutenant Colonel Gil Bennington is also illegitimate. He’s the son of a blacksmith’s daughter and a man he doesn’t know and doesn’t wish to know (a viscount, of course.) He grew up in extreme poverty but made his own way in the military. Unfortunately, he married the wrong woman. They had a daughter. His wife abandoned them while he was away at war. Then she died. The grandparents took the child and refuse to return her. Gil has engaged a lawyer but is terrified he won’t win.

Gil was in France with Abigail’s brother, Harry. (Harry would have been the new earl, but when disinherited, he went into the army.) He was wounded and has been trapped in France, withering away rather than recovering, for two years. Gil escorts him home, where Harry’s family descends, ecstatic to have him back.

Abigail comes to visit and decides to stay rather than accompany her family to London and another season, which she has been dreading.

Phew. So that’s the set-up.

Abigail and Gil meet cute. They immediately take a dislike to one another. But, when the family departs, they both stay on to help Harry and to lick their own wounds. Before long, their initial impressions change. When Abigail and Harry learn of Gil’s dilemma, Harry suggests they marry. It would help Gil’s case immensely to have a wife (and the backing of their cousin, the powerful Duke of Neverby). But Gil has been burned before and doesn’t want to wed again. And Abigail worries Gil’s lowly background will prove a stumbling block to gaining her family’s acceptance. Plus, is this really a reason to marry?

With her usual aplomb, Mary Balogh draws the reader along as the protagonists work through their conflicting emotions and face the trials before them. Once again, the carefully crafted storyline (with some familiar-feeling plotting and a comfortably predictable outcome) is enlivened by wonderful characters who pull at the heartstrings. Balogh’s characters are what keep drawing me back. I eagerly await what’s in store for the next of the Westcotts.

BOOK REVIEW: Elizabeth of Bohemia: A Novel about Elizabeth Stuart, The Winter Queen by David Elias

I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of King James (VI of Scotland and I of England) and his queen, Anne of Denmark, is one of those obscure but fascinating women of the Middle Ages/Renaissance whose lives provide material for historical novels that inform while they entertain.

Elizabeth of Bohemia: A Novel about Elizabeth Stuart, The Winter Queen by David Elias begins in October 1612 when the young princess is about to meet the man who will become her husband, Frederick V of the Palatine. Elizabeth is tired of being paraded in front of potential suitors. Beautiful, clever, and stubborn, she has strong opinions about everything, including her extravagant parents for whom she feels mostly contempt. The only person she cares for is her older brother Henry, who she believes would be a much better king.

Frederick woos her persistently, befriending Henry in the process. Unfortunately, Henry suffers from a recurrent illness that seems suspiciously like chronic poisoning. During Frederick’s visit, Henry dies. Elizabeth accepts Frederick’s proposal while in a deep depression. This is more than simply mourning; it appears Elizabeth suffers from bipolar disease, which influences her later behavior.

Frederick’s primary appeal, aside from his devotion to her, is his potential claim to the throne of Bohemia. In the novel, Elias portrays Frederick as a sensible, sensitive man content with the title and riches he possesses. Elizabeth, on the other hand, finds an outlet for her discontent: ambition. She bullies her husband into pursuing the throne against the advice of his counselors.

The novel closely follows the historical timeline. Frederick obtains the crown but cannot hold it for more than a couple of months. (Hence Elizabeth’s nickname, the Winter Queen). They are driven from the castle into exile. Frederick spends the rest of his life fighting a war he cannot win. Elizabeth falls from being a pampered, wealthy daughter of a king to being an impoverished exile, living on the charity of sympathetic nobles.

The historical detail is superb, bringing this woman out of the shadows. However, Elizabeth is not a warm protagonist. She does not love her husband. (She never really loves anyone but her dead brother.) She takes no interest in her many, many children until they are adults. She has no qualms about using men who fall for her to help her achieve largely selfish aims. Her political acumen is lacking. It’s difficult to root for her success.

Nevertheless, despite a somewhat unlikeable protagonist, the story itself is compelling enough to make this an enjoyable read.