Sandra Heath - Second Thoughts
Georgette Heyer - An Infamous Army
Georgette Heyer - The Devil's Cub

Labels: TBR

"Ten thousand a year and a large estate in Derbyshire!" That was all Mrs. Bennet desired to know of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy before she began to entertain hopes that one of her daughters would attract his attention. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen reveals little of her creation's past or present before banishing him for quite two thirds of her book. But, who is Fitzwilliam Darcy?

An Assembly Such as This, the first book of the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy, answers that intriguing question by taking the reader into Darcy's world, a world very different from Elizabeth Bennet's. Chronicling Darcy's supervision of his naive friend Charles Bingley and his growing fascination with Elizabeth Bennet, it culminates with the disastrous ball at Netherfield and Darcy's return to London with the express intention of forgetting Elizabeth amidst the dizzying and dangerous whirl of Regency society."

Continuining with my interest in Jane Austen related reads I recently loaned this book from A.. It's P&P told from Mr Darcy's point of view and I was highly curious about it. I must say though that I found this Mr Darcy a bit boring, not as much introspection regarding feelings as I would like and he wasn't as focused on Lizzy as I would like. Or maybe he was too focused as one thing I found a little odd was how he interpreted her reactions to him, too emotional I thought for such a reserved man. I'm afraid I measure every book with a male hero against Gaskell's Mr Thornton and I have yet to find such beautiful and intense feelings as she gave him in other men.

I must say that my favourite part was after Darcy and Lizzy started sparring verbally and she clearly was the best in their witty dialogues. Aidan does create some new scenes and characters. I particularly enjoyed Darcy's relationship with his valet Fletcher. It provided some humourous situations and Darcy seemed a bit unsure on how to deal with Fletcher occasionally.

The book only covers a third of P&P and I'm hoping the next ones will be better as Darcy and Lizzy interact more.

Grade: B-

Labels: Book review

Novel by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, published serially in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words from 1851 to 1853 and in book form in 1853. Basing her tales on the village in which she was reared, Gaskell produced a gently comic picture of life and manners in an English country village during the 1830s. The novel's narrator (a young woman who periodically visits Cranford) describes the small adventures in the lives of two middle-aged sisters in reduced circumstances who do their best to maintain their standards of propriety, decency, and kindness. Using an intimate, gossipy voice that never turns sentimental, Gaskell conveys the old-fashioned habits, subtle class distinctions, and genteel poverty of the townspeople. Cranford quickly became one of the author's best-loved works.

After having read Gaskell's North and South last year and loving it I was eager to try another one of her stories. I was fortunate to come across a copy of Cranford recently and so this was the one I read.

Unlike N&S where we had a story, and specifically a love story to follow, here it's like we get to know the daily lifes of a few people for a lenght of time. There's no particular storyline but more a number of situations that have to be faced and dealt with so everyone can go on with their lives unperturbed.

The narrator is Mary Smith, a young woman who comes to Cranford to visit the Miss Jenkyns and so is a privileged spectator of their lifes and those of the other Cranford people. Miss Mary notes how manners and society rules are observed, how an interest in neighboors can be both of gossipy nature and true will to help when needed, how when romance is in the air even the old maids become matchmakers. It really is very interesting to get to know all the characters involved, they all seem very simple and straightforward in the beginning but as we know them better we realise there are layers of complexity beneath the surface. And their peaceful lifes are going to be disrupted by the modern, more industrialised, times that approach quickly.

Besides Miss Mary we get to know Miss Matty, always very proper but with a heart broken a long time ago and dreams that will never be, Miss Debora Jenkyns, seemingly the most strict in terms of moral conduct, Miss Pole always ready for a good gossip, the Browns, newly arrived in town, and many others... They go though heartbreak, tragedies, financial problems and sometime they break those cherished society rules but they all help and support each other.

Truly a story to be read and appreciated...

Grade: B+

Labels: Book review

more cat pictures

I thought this picture was just too funny! And totally appropriated for my blog ;-)

Labels: Fun

You can take the quiz here

Labels: Fun

The Mistaken Mismatch
Beautiful Lady Belinda Deveraux and handsome Lord Gerald Courtenay were passionately in love when they were married. Unfortunately they were not in love with each other. Belinda's heart belonged to Lord Anthony Furneaux, whether or not he chose to accept the rest of her. Meanwhile, Gerald was totally devoted to the ravishing Felice D'Aubigny.

Though bride and groom vowed to remain faithful to their own true loves, they were surprised to find that marital duty led to unexpected desire - as their marriage of convenience became something entirely different!

The premise was good - a couple forced to a marriage of convenience who slowly develop feelings for each other. They were both in love with someone else in the beginning and I was looking forward to know how they would deal with that change of feelings and with getting to know each other.

I found that in the end none of that was really explored, the heroine just had a childhood attraction to another man and the hero had a mistress that he gave up when he found himself in love with his wife. There was no big analysis of their feelings and in the end I wondered why he fell in love with her, and why every other man seemed expected to do the same. She was bit too impulsive and naive which led to some bad decisions when she discovers the husband's mistress. After that I was hoping for some confrontation where they would bare their feelings but I didn't even get that as the husband is hurt in a duel and when unconscious speaks in his dreams and proclaims his love for his wife which is enough for her.

I was much more interested in her friend Cornelia who seemed a level headed young woman and fortunately also has a happy ending of her own. The author seems so determined to give happy endings to all that even the husband's mistress gets one. In the end I found too neatly wrapped and not emotional enough.

Grade: C

Labels: Book review

Lady Jane Averham had been married once - and once was quite enough. Her late, unlamented husband left her with wealth, position, and two daughters to raise. He left her as well with a delight in freedom after the constraints of wedlock. All that was missing from her life was love - and the handsome, ardent Archibald MacGowen was on hand to fill that need. Unfortunately this marvelous man wanted her as a wife as well as a woman . . . and somehow Jane had to find a way to keep the primrose path from leading her to the altar!

I was quite interested in this little story set in Vienna during the Congress and that featured a widow heroine who didn't want to remarry not to be under a man's thumb again. There's also the fact the heroine is older than the hero!

I must say that I found it very interesting and well written. The heroine, Lady Jane has two daugthers with the older one in her first season and is chaperoning two other girls. The brother of one of those girls visits her house and they are both immediately attracted to each and soon start an affair. I found it original that it's the hero who pursues the heroine, he wants to marry her after they became lovers which seems a bit odd to her considered how society marriages work and she doesn't want to marry him as she as fallen in love with him and doesn't want to suffer when he evetually gets tired of her.

I thought both their behaviours were interesting and believable. The hero, Archie is a diplomat and I liked that the author portrayed Vienna is such an important period for the world replete with diplomats, spys and several national interests on the table. Jane's daughters and charges are also involved in several adventures and some get their happy ending too.

My only complaint is that all seemed a bit too rational to me and never really felt for them. I enjoyed it, appreciated how good it was but I didn't love it...

Grade: B

Labels: Book review