A Rollicking Good Read!

Once again I have found myself in the minority regarding a romance novel. I found Jeane Westin's first novel, "Lady Anne's Dangerous Man," so enchanting, and just downright fun, that I read it in two days, which given my work schedule is speed personified. However, the opinion on the Romantic Times message boards, and various blogs, indicated that I was almost alone in my liking for this book, although everyone seemed to agree that the cover was very eye-catching and attractive.

The very things that seemed to be off-putting for those who didn't care for the book were the things that amused me and drew me in: the slightly archaic language, the somewhat improbable plot, and the breakneck speed at which the story accelerated to the, yes, predictable climax (this is a romance novel, after all, so the outcome was a given).

The language used by the author evokes the time period, Restoration England. This is not the first time that readers have encountered these speech patterns, especially if they have read "Forever Amber," or any of the classics such as "Tom Jones" or the plays of Oliver Goldsmith. The danger of trying to recreate the language patterns of a by-gone era are the same as trying to include regional dialects in novels: too many archaic phrases, or the over-use of dialect, can be the kiss of death to a novel. It becomes more like work than pleasure to decode the meaning of the dialogue. I personally felt that Ms Westin did an excellent job in avoiding the pitfalls of archaic language: the narrative sections are written in standard modern English, and it is only in the conversation between characters that she uses phrasing that has a slightly old fashioned feel. The chapter titles ("A Highwayman Hangs, or The Obscene Verse" is just one example) reminds this reader strongly of Fielding or Thackeray, which I believe to be the intent.

In this example, the heroine,Lady Anne Gascoigne, is disguised as a boy and conversing with a member of the town watch, who asks her destination: "I am to London, sir," she answered in her boy's voice..."And who might ye serve, me young cock?"... She said the first name that came to her mind. "Lord Waverby of Burwell Hall, gentleman of the bed chamber to His Majesty, King Charles, being the second of that name, sir." Nothing too difficult about that, is there? And yet it evokes the feeling of the time period far better than "I'm on my way to London, sir," and "Who do you work for?"

The plot is improbable in some ways -- yes, why would a judge put his only daughter under the protection of a man he had just sentenced to death? And, true, they arrive at the gallows only seconds before our hero, John Gilbert, is about to ride into eternity, but that is part of the fun of the book. Think of all the wonderful swashbucklers you have seen on televsion or in the theatre, including Errol Flynn's "Robin Hood," and the movie versions of "Tom Jones," as well as Johnny Depp's pirate. If you enjoyed those movies, then reading a book that evokes those same feelings shouldn't be a stretch.

Was there anything I didn't like about the book? Yes: I would liked to have had fewer TSTL moments from the heroine in the first part of the book; I thought Anne's mourning period for her father ended too soon, considering the circumstances under which he died; and I felt Charles II was presented as too much of a fop. His attractiveness to women was apparently genuine, especially in the early part of his reign, but Westin's word portrait of the Merry Monarch made him sound effeminate and petulant.

One of the things I am always reading on blogs, and on various message boards that deal with romance novels, is that readers want something different, not just the same old/same old. But often when something different comes along, the reaction is negative, which seems to be the case with "Lady Anne's Dangerous Man." Not only am I looking forward to the next book ("Lady Katherine's Wild Ride," due out in August 2006) but I ordered a copy of "Tom Jones" to reread that classic. I would just like to see Ms Westin's work given a fair chance and not just dismissed out of hand because it oh, so slightly, engages in a little envelope pushing.

The First of the "Roselynde Chronicles" Reissued

The classic Roberta Gellis series set in the Middle Ages of Richard I and his brother John is in the process of being reissued by Harlequin under their Signature Select imprint. "Roselynde," the first in the Roselynde Chronicles, came out in January 2006. It was originally published in 1978, reissued by a different publisher in the mid-1980s (which is when I first read it), and has since become a cult classic among those who love accurate historical romances.

Roselynde is not the name of a character. It is rather the name of the estate inherited by the heroine, Lady Alinor Devaux, named for Queen Alinor, widow of Henry II, mother of Richard and John -- whom we know best under the spelling Eleanor. The book takes place in England and in the Middle East, as Gellis has Alinor accompany Richard's bride, Berengaria, on crusade. The book is gritty and not for gentle readers, nor for those who enjoy "history lite." Ms Gellis knows her subject matter! The battle scenes are realistic (at one point, our hero, Sir Simon Lemangne, laughs as he decapitates the enemy in a rather gory fashion), and Alinor is not above striking her maids across the face with a beringed hand.

Queen Alinor, Richard, and John are as realistically portrayed as one can expect in a novel, while Lady Alinor and Sir Simon are fully realized characters, not cardboard cutouts plunked down in the Middle Ages, with modern sensibilities intact -- in fact, some readers may object to the rather sexist view of women that is present throughout much of the book. Perhaps men did want women to be emotional outlets for their frustration -- to berate and yell at as a means of venting -- but the fact that the female characters found this totally acceptable did grate on this reader's modern nerves from time to time. I had to keep reminding myself that this was probably historically accurate. Ms Gellis was, I believe, one of the first romance novelists to deal with the subject of Richard I's alleged homosexuality. Some 21st century readers may be slightly put off by the fact that Ms Gellis always deals with this issue in a manner consistent with the time period: it is generally refered to as a perversion.

One of the most controversial aspects of the book, however, has to do with the age difference between Alinor and Simon: Simon is 46 and Alinor is 16 when they meet. Alinor never sees the age difference as a barrier to their love, although Simon has grave reservations. Not only is he 30 years her senior, but he has never been in love, never married, and has, by his own confession, sometimes forced women to have sex with him (this is never explained, but I surmise it was in the aftermath of battle). I really don't have a problem with the age difference issue, as we know that marriages between young girls and older men were not unheard of at that period in history, or later, for that matter. What became tiresome after a while was the continual "does he really love me," "is she interested in someone else" byplay that would go on for pages, when a simple honest conversation would have cleared up the matter in a few minutes.

The next book in the series, "Alinor," will be issued later this year. No date was given for the third book in the series; however, the new fourth book, the disappointing "Desiree," was issued last year: it was not up to the standard of the first three books, as a beta hero and a beta heroine just fell flat in my opinion. I highly recommend the first three books in the series, but keep in mind that they are not written with modern views of the relationship between the sexes in mind.