BOOK REVIEW: Bringing Down the Colonel. A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age and the "Powerless" Woman Who Took on Washington by Patricia Miller

Bringing Down the Colonel. A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age, and the "Powerless" Woman Who Took on Washington by Patricia Miller is interesting reading (but the title is way too long.)

Colonel W. C. P. (Willie) Breckinridge was a colonel in the Confederate Army from Kentucky who, following the war, entered politics and was elected to Congress. He was from an old, socially prominent, politically active Kentucky family. In 1893, he became embroiled in a sex scandal when his mistress of nine years, Madeline Pollard, sued him for breach of promise. He had promised to marry her if he ever became free, but a year after his wife died, he married a widow with a better pedigree. That woman was more than likely already pregnant with his child, as was Madeline.

Madeline had been a student at the Wesleyan Female College (presumably 17 years old but she may have been as old as 20) when the famous, middle-aged, married-with-children Breckinridge approached her on a train and flattered her with his attention. Soon after, he called on her at her school, took her out riding in a closed carriage after dark, and then, days later, seduced her at a house of assignation.

Breckinridge was one of those church-going, moralizing politicians who lived a lie and continued to lie even when caught out. He was so convinced his privilege and power would protect him from any consequences that he barely prepared any defense – except to slander Madeline. His excuse was simply that if Madeline slept with him, she was immoral and her suit should have no validity. He may have promised to marry her, but he could not be held to that promise because no one would seriously expect him to marry a woman who was compromised, even if he was the one who compromised her.

The book does a good job of describing the sexual mores of the time. Women had to be chaste. Any woman who allowed herself to be seduced, or even one who was raped, was at fault. (Apparently the fact that a woman survived the rape meant she did not fight her attacker strenuously enough to convince anyone the act was not consensual.)

Breckinridge attempted to malign Madeline’s character by claiming she’d been with numerous other men. He tried to say she seduced him and he was powerless to resist or to end the affair. He denied knowing about the babies he fathered with her and forced her to abandon. He showed no remorse, even knowing that they had been sent to infant asylums where the death rates were essentially 100%.

The author does present a balanced picture of Madeline’s difficult life. She was not, by the standards of the day, a sheltered, well-behaved southern daughter. Her father died when she was young. She grew up poor. And she was extremely intelligent and ambitious. So she was "forward" compared to the ideal, all of which was held against her during the trial.

Madeline was unique in that she did not shrink from pressing her suit, admitting her fault, and insisting that all she wanted was for Breckinridge to take his share of the blame. The injustice of a system where the guilty woman was ruined (truly ruined – socially and economically) while the equally guilty man would not even receive a slap on the wrist, was recognized by women and exploited by men. Breckinridge and his cronies were shocked to learn that anyone would even listen to a "fallen woman," let alone take her side in a dispute.

Parallel to Madeline’s story, the reader is presented with the story of Jennie Tucker. Jennie was born to wealth, but after her father’s death her family started slipping down the social ladder. Jennie had to go to work in one of the low-paying, back-breaking office jobs available to women at the time. However, she made an impression on one employer who, it turned out, was one of Breckinridge’s most steadfast supporters. Charles Stoll convinced Breckinridge to hire Jennie to spy on Madeline. He wanted her to "befriend" Madeline and dig up whatever dirt she could. She failed in that endeavor, despite giving it her all. (Her willingness, even eagerness, to take up Breckinridge’s cause makes her a less than sympathetic character.) And then, Breckinridge failed to pay her for her work.

Miller rounds out the narrative with the stories of other involved women, primarily Breckinridge’s politically active sister-in-law and his long-suffering daughter.

It’s a fascinating book to read in this #MeToo era. Women today (as a whole, though not necessarily in individual cases) have a great deal more social freedom and economic security than they did in the 1890s. And yet, privileged men still get away with sexual exploitation. Women who try to hold them to account are still slandered, shamed, and dismissed. This book was about events more than one hundred years ago! It’s depressing to see how far we still have to go.

BOOK REVIEW: The Earl Next Door by Amelia Grey

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

The Earl Next Door by Amelia Grey is an enjoyable Regency Romance that ticks all the boxes for current trends in Regency.

Adeline, the Dowager Countess of Wake, is a fiery, feisty, very young widow whose previous marriage was a disaster, leading her to swear off marriage for good. Being left financially secure, she decides to endow a school for girls – girls of lower social standing who will be taught marketable skills. (She’s supported in this endeavor by two friends, also young widows, to set up the next books in the series.) Adeline’s mission gets off to a shaky start. The new home she purchased in front of the new school is next door to the home of Lyon Marksworth, the Earl of Lyonwood.

Lyon made the mistake of listening to ill-informed gossip. He believes his new neighbor is a madam and the house will be used as a brothel. He marches over to confront the owner and insults Adeline with his behavior and suspicions. She’s furious, mortified, and attracted to Lyon.

They spar for a while, then make peace, then fall in love.

It took a little while to be drawn into the story. Lyon is a sensitive if impulsive hero. Adeline is a generous and bold heroine. Once the plot settled into the two resolving their difficulties it was a pleasant read. The ending was a little too simple. It was what I expected, but the story could have been more original and impressive had it refused to conform to Regency conventions, letting the characters forge on with the relationship despite the obstacle, rather than having the obstacle simply disappear.

Nevertheless, the characters grew on me throughout the course of the novel. Their growing love for each other was believable. And the plot was sweet.

BOOK REVIEW: Early Riser by Jasper Fforde

I read a review of Jasper Fforde’s novel Early Riser in the New York Times and, although it isn’t my usual fare, it sounded like a fun read. I’d never read anything by Fforde before, so I thought I’d start here.

Set in Wales, in a mash-up of future and present day, the novel depicts a world undergoing a post-climate-change Ice Age, or something like that. For sixteen weeks each year, temperatures plummet into the lethal below-zero degrees range. Fortunately, people have evolved to be hibernating creatures. They bulk up beforehand, sleep away the winter months, and, hopefully, emerge in the spring. But surviving hibernation is risky. Deaths in sleep were significantly reduced by the invention of a wonder drug, Morphenox, which prevents dreams. Dreaming apparently sucks away calories.

The Morphenox supply is limited, so access to it has to be purchased or earned. Access is highly coveted despite the well-known side effect of the drug. About 1 in 3000 users wakes up "dead." The body still moves about, but the people are zombie-like. If well-fed, these "Nightwalkers" are not dangerous but, when hungry, they become cannibals, a significant threat to a sleeping population.

Not everyone sleeps. In addition to Nightwalkers, there are Villains, RealSleep activists, Wintervolk, and Sleep Researchers, all dangerous to varying degrees. And there are the providers of Winter law and order, the Consuls.

Fforde does an extraordinary job building the world for the reader, letting it all unfold through the eyes of Novice Winter Consul Charlie Worthing. Chosen for his outstanding memory, Charlie is not the usual Consul material, not winter-hardened or tough. He’s far too honest, empathetic, and nice.

When Charlie’s mentor is summoned to Sector Twelve to investigate an outbreak of viral dreams, Charlie reluctantly follows. He finds himself stranded in a situation too bizarre to be summarized. The reader watches him blunder along, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing, guided only by an innate need to do the right thing, even if it’s the wrong thing.

The story is original, cleverly plotted, and very, very funny. The characters are quirky with wordplay that sometimes made me laugh out loud. Pop culture references pop up in unexpected places in delightfully absurd ways.

Part of the fun of the book is the way the plot zigs and zags, so I won’t give anything else away. But if you’re looking for something entertaining and different, this novel is highly recommended.

Witchcraft & Secret Societies of Rural England. The Magic of Toadmen, Plough Witches, Mummers and Bonesmen by Nigel Pennick

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

Witchcraft & Secret Societies of Rural England. The Magic of Toadmen, Plough Witches, Mummers and Bonesmen by Nigel Pennick is a weird book.

The title and description caught my attention. The book is exactly what it says it is, but I was expecting something a bit different. Maybe I thought it would be more synthesized for a popular audience. Instead, it is a densely detailed collection of data written in a way that presents information without much analysis.

The book begins by laying out the geography of the region and how people utilized the land historically. Then it discusses various historical occupations such as drovers, blacksmiths, shoemakers, ploughmen, wise women, farmers, etc.. It seems each of these groups had secret societies with somewhat bizarre (though often overlapping) superstitions and rituals. They invested objects, particularly animal bones, with magical properties. And they liked to drink and chant almost Monty Pythonesque songs (that the author quotes in their entirety.)

The book is a treasure trove of anecdotal information. Those who love this sort of thing, particularly historical novelists who want accurate period detail, should find this a remarkable resource. However, it’s a difficult book to sit down and read through from beginning to end.

BOOK REVIEW: The Golden Age of Burgundy: The Magnificent Dukes and their Courts by Joseph Calmette

I’m just back from an extraordinary vacation – a barge tour of canals in Burgundy. My husband and I were celebrating our 30^th anniversary so we wanted to do something special.

I couldn’t head off to Burgundy without learning a little of the history. I wish I’d studied up more, but limited myself to the book, The Golden Age of Burgundy: The Magnificent Dukes and their Courts by Joseph Calmette. The book was first published in 1949 and the English translation was first published in 1962 and it’s written in a fairly dry, historical monograph style. It covers the time period between 1364 and 1477, a time when the Duchy of Burgundy vied for supremacy with the kingdom of France. For a while, it seemed Burgundy would surpass France in wealth, splendor, and power, or possibly even absorb France altogether into a Burgundian kingdom.

The dukes who ruled during this Golden Age were Philip the Bold, John the Fearless, Philip the Good, and Charles the Rash. Calmette gives a chronological account through the reigns of each of the men. It’s necessarily focused, concentrating mostly on the conflict with France, but demonstrating the reach of the Burgundian dukes. Their domains stretched from present day Holland and Belgium to Southern France and included parts of what is now Germany. The borders were constantly expanding and contracting due to a combination of war, diplomacy, and marriage alliances. The dukes were educated, well-read, and patrons of the arts.

This book was somewhat dry, examining the successes and shortcomings of each of the men as leaders and administrators, but showing very little in the way of their personal lives. Still, it was a wonderful book for providing sweeping historical context. Combining it with a vacation left me wanting to know more. I’ll have to go back!

Tower of John the Fearless in Paris

BOOK REVIEW: The Love Artist by Jane Alison

The Love Artist by Jane Alison is a gorgeous, lyrical historical novel about Ovid and his mysterious muse, Xenia.

Ovid is a classical Roman poet best known for "The Art of Love" and "Metamorphoses." About the time he was writing "Medea," a play of which only two lines survive, he was banished by Augustus Caesar to Tomis, on the western side of the Black Sea. The end of the world. His crime is not recorded but since his exile lasted until his death, it must have been significant.

Alison imagines the artist’s biography from this time, filling in the historical blanks by creating a relationship with an exotic, beautiful witch, Xenia.

After "The Art of Love," Ovid is not in the stoic Augustus’ good graces. His friends urge him to absent himself from Rome until things blow over, to help ensure the success of his new work, "Metamorphoses." Ovid sails across the Black Sea to the Caucasus. There he meets Xenia.

This young woman has grown up among strangers, so is always an outsider. Her earliest memory is of being cast out to sea in a basket by her mother to die. Xenia is raised by Phasians (an ancient Colchian tribe, according to Wikipedia) and learns to read, to heal, to tell fortunes, and to cast spells. She’s a witch, but that isn’t a bad thing. She knows who Ovid is. She reads his poetry. When she hears he has arrived in her town, she lures him to her.

The magical lure is probably unnecessary, because Ovid grew intrigued by her even before the spell after catching an accidental glimpse of her. Or maybe that was part of her spell. He begins stalking her even as she bewitches him. Before long, they become lovers.

The prose is dreamy and soft-edged and beautiful. Ovid is inspired by Xenia. As he studies her, his next work flows from his stylus. She knows he’s using her in this way, but it doesn’t frighten or annoy her (as it did a previous love of his.) Xenia wants to become part of his art. She knows Ovid’s words will make him immortal and she wants his words to immortalize her.

Ovid realizes it’s time to return to Rome. He needs Xenia to come with him. Xenia realizes Ovid is getting ready to leave, and she casts a spell to make him ask her to follow him. Thus far, they are working towards a common purpose, but there is mutual insecurity and desperate dependence going on, too. Once they arrive in Rome, things get nasty. Xenia is not thrilled with Ovid’s social whirlwind and the many women who occupy his sphere. Ovid realizes he can use her jealousy to his art’s advantage.

Ovid needs a patron and finds one in Julia, the embittered grand-daughter of Augustus. He begins manipulating Xenia’s suspiciousness and jealousy so that he can transform it into his art. Xenia is both aware and unaware of what he’s doing. They are completely entwined with one another’s lives, but they no longer trust each other. Ovid delves deeper and deeper into the dark psychology of the play he is writing, one with a horrific ending, and is urged by Julia to finish what he has started.

The novel is short and builds slowly, but the final chapters are riveting. Ovid is so self-absorbed, and so desperate to believe that his work will live on after he dies, that he starts to seem mad. Either that or evil. Or both. And Xenia will either succumb to his mad plotting or she must find a way to break free.

I could not put the book down until I knew how it would play out.

BOOK REVIEW: Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer

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

Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer is the next re-release of a Heyer historical mystery by Sourcebooks. It follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the Kane family, introduced in They Found Him Dead, as well as the ongoing career of Inspector Hemingway.

It is fourteen years later. Timothy Harte, the too-curious, gore-loving young stepbrother of Jim Kane, the previous protagonist, is now grown up and engaged to be married. But his bride-to-be does not meet with his mother’s approval. Beulah Birtley has a secret past and no family to speak of. She works as a secretary/girl Friday for a social climbing newcomer, Mrs. Haddington. Mrs. Haddington has brought her strikingly beautiful daughter Cynthia to London to catch a wealthy, preferably titled gentleman. She has Timothy in her sights.

Things may have gone smoothly for Timothy and Beulah despite family disapproval and Mrs. Haddington’s scheming if an old friend of Mrs. Haddington’s (and possible new friend of Cynthia’s), Mr. Dan Seaton-Carew, had not been murdered at a duplicate bridge card party thrown by Mrs. Haddington.

The local police are quickly stumped and bring in Chief Inspector Hemingway, who is surprised and delighted to be reunited with Jim Kane and Timothy Harte. He is less delighted to find that Timothy’s fiancee is one of the primary suspects. He has encountered Beulah before, in a professional capacity.

There were numerous people at the party and several had opportunity to murder Seaton-Carew. A few even had motive, as Hemingway discovers. But it’s almost impossible to fit all the clues together. And, just when he thinks they may have it figured out, the person they believe to be the murderer is killed in exactly the same way.

Heyer’s mysteries are entertaining brain teasers, complete with wry humor and sweet romance, but she belonged to a different time. The novel is dated in some of its language and prejudices, so be prepared.