Review: Lovely read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 8, 2013
Putting aside for the moment that we don't actually get to see whether London society does in fact that ill of the H (story never takes us to London), H's conviction that having killed his wife ten years previously his reputation is beyond repair was actually far more powerful than having the locals treat him with contempt or suspicion. The H was well able to do that all by himself, and that inner conflict was the biggest stumbling block to a HEA.I loved Freddie. I loved her resilient spirit, her intellect, her dignity and candor. I particularly loved the way she could be brutally honest with herself - for instance, she knew her father's attitude to her, but didn't let it cower her. I loved the H too, especially for the level of respect he showed her, and in doing so, made me wonder whether he had in fact killed his wife. I am pleased to say that while I did not go "Ah ha! You are the killer!" when I first met the murderous party, I did go "I wonder if you killed your best friend...?"The characters - h and H, and the secondary and minor characters were all well developed and well written. One was so slimily odious she almost waddled off the page.I liked the contrast between the H's conviction that he was beyond redemption as far as others were concerned, and the way everyone else in the district was ready to respond with acceptance of him when he finally stuck his head out. In real life, we are each able to be our worst enemy/our own worst critic/the saboteur of our own aspirations without any help from the rest of the world, and that is what was happening here. The good (cloyingly, annoyingly persistent, and very judgmental) local doctor is overt in his hostility towards the H, but as he'd also coveted the H's wife - and now the h, that wasn't a surprise.I enjoyed this story immensely.