Review: Unusual take on Regency romance
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 12, 2014
(I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for this honest review.)I looked forward to reading this book because of the attractive cover and blurb that led me to expect a cheerful, light and satisfying Regency romance, with a generous dose of humour. When I read the wry confessional intro, in which the author says she'd realised only after she'd written it that she'd made two key historical errors - the inclusion of wild boars and highwaymen - I recognised that this was no purist about historical accuracy, which didn't bother me too much, as my knowledge of the era is by no means expert. I'm at odds here with the historical book club that I belong to, of which members have been know to give up on a book as soon as they spot an anachronism. To my mind, the story's the thing.I also read the author's note at the end before I read the book, and was glad I did, because it added further context in which to read the book: that she's been partly inspired by Ronald Searle's creation, St Trinian's, an anarchic private girls' school which will be well known to most British readers, though I suspect not to other nationalities - and also by the opening scenes of Thackeray's Vanity Fair, in which Becky Sharp leaves the shelter of her school and goes out into the big wide world. Having read that, the book made much more sense to me, and I think it would be a good idea to put this at the front in future editions.The key premise of the book was promising: setting the product of St Trinian's loose on Regency London society. I love St Trinian's (both the old films and the new ones) so this sounded fun, and there were moments when it worked well. The notion would appeal to any 21st century reader who would have found the social norms of that society unbearably oppressive.As the author had confessed that she wasn't prepared to adhere to historical accuracy if it meant changing her storyline, I'd expected her narrative to take more liberties than it did. She has clearly gone to a lot of trouble to learn the idiom of the day and has had fun writing some of the chapters in the form of letters, complete with the idiosyncracies of handwritten correspondence from that era (abbreviations, extra capital letters, etc) and the reminder of the very efficient postal service of the day. There's a fine balance between writing in keeping with the period and sounding affected, and most of the time this balance was maintained.What I liked about this book was the spirited heroine, most of the time - although some of her activity really grated with me as unbelievable. I'm wording this carefully so as not to spoil the plot here, but it seemed highly unlikely to me that someone so naive and inexperienced with men would have behaved as she did.I also liked Isabella, severely injured by a carriage accident, and not treated well by her society. I liked the heroine's kind heart in helping her, when most of society behaved very badly towards her. I also liked the way this reminds the modern reader of just how far society has come in the way it manages disability.What I didn't like was the unlikely and sometimes abrupt transition from following the precise social mores of Regency society to explicit sex scenes. I was happy for the heroine to defy some social expectations - e.g. fighting off a highwayman rather than having a fit of the vapours - but her sexual activity outside of marriage jarred with me. It was just completely out of place here and not at all necessary. To my mind, it would have been more powerful and believable to depict the electrical attraction and passion between her and Griff without any sexual activity at all. (Yes, Mr Darcy and Miss Bennett, I'm thinking of you!)But I'm sure there are other readers who will be delighted with that unusual blend - perhaps the author has invented a new genre here: 50 Shades of Regency! As this is billed as Book 1 of "A Love For Every Season", it sounds as if those readers can look forward to at least three more of the same!