Morland Chronicles #9, "The Flood-Tide" (and Hamilton)

It's the War of Independence and the Morlands!

One of the things this book is really good at is demonstrating the length of the war, and the uncertainty of it all.  That said, of course it's very much from the British point of view, but that didn't stop me singing "The world turned upside down" at the end of the Battle of Yorktown.

I really wanted this review to be peppered with Hamilton quotes. I've been listening to this musical since the moment the soundtrack was announced and I love it to pieces, but I'm just not creative enough to drop bits and pieces in as easily as I'd like.

That said - Charles' story was poignant.  Calculated to appeal to the British reader, but also very interesting, and something I hadn't so much thought of.  It wasn't only the British who were threatening to kill friends and family...

William's plot may convince me to read Patrick O'Brien and other Age of Sail authors.  I was so sad about poor dear Charlotte, but William has a wonderful story... of guns and ships. And oh, Thomas - you see, this is the problem with writing the review two books later: I forgot Thomas!  Key to the battle of Yorktown, where the world turned upside down, for Charles, for Flora (for the other Charles...)

Next up: the French Revolution and The Tangled Thread - everyone give it up for America's favourite fighting Frenchman!

(Maybe I didn't do so badly on the Hamilton quotes after all.)

Review: "By Winter's Light", by Stephanie Laurens

I actually still have two first generation Cynster books left to read (the final two sisters), but this one

is something of a transitional book between the first and second generation.  It comes before the latest two that I've read and is referenced in the first of those - The Tempting of  Thomas Carrick.

In many ways the plot of By Winter's Light is slight.  The action takes place across only a couple of days, there is a great deal of feasting and merry-making, and most of the actual drama is unrelated to the romance, which is basically about Claire sorting out her own thoughts in her head.  As I finished it, I thought to myself, 'If Laurens wrote Chalet School fiction, this would be it.' There's a group of young people trapped in a cottage by a snowstorm, and on another occasion, a number of children play on an icy stream, with not-unexpected dramatic results.

It's a Christmas story, and a gathering of the clans, and the romance isn't even among the Cynsters themselves, but between the tutor of Alastair and Phyllida's sons, and the governess of Gabriel and Alathea's daughter.  The setting at Casphairn Manor (seat of Catriona) allows for a totally snowed in  Christmas tale, and sets the scene beautifully for the next two novels (focused on the eldest twins of Catriona and Richard - Lucilla and Marcus).

The romance is satisfying, and even when the main characters are not aristocrats but "members of the household", Laurens' heroines still get to have sex before getting married. (Although in this case that's less of a shock to the standards of the day, as Claire is a widow.)

I don't think missing this book would do anyone any harm in terms of understanding the rest of the series, but it was a lovely, light read, well suited to reading over a couple of days while still sick in bed.

Reading the Morlands #8, The Maiden - concluded.

Poor Jemima.  She had such a rotten life for so long.  I still feel a little sorry for Lady Mary, but she was so unbending.  Not that Marie-Louise helped the situation one little bit...  (Annunciata fatigue has transferred to the younger generations.)

Loved the inclusion of Handel and Maurice going to Dublin, although I do wish he'd been a better father to Rupert. Although I know Jemima was perfectly happy to not be the Countess of Chelmsford any longer, it did make me annoyed that she loses everything when he dies.  Bah!  

When I finished The Maiden I went straight into The Flood-Tide, and as I'm writing this review I've almost finished that one as well, and need to put the next one on hold from the library.

Books read in January/February 2016

I really haven't been reading much this year.  As proof, have my "books completed Jan-Mar" Project Life layout... (It says Jan-Feb, because I didn't finish any books in March.)  But I'm planning to get back to reading now.  I have to, or my TBR pile will overwhelm me.

Loving Rose: the Redemption of Malcolm Sinclair (Stephanie Laurens) - I honestly didn't remember who Malcolm Sinclair was, although as I was reading I knew I should know him.  It had been a long time since I read any Laurens, and I think this one may have reignited my love of Laurens.

Netherwood (Jane Sanderson) - This one has a sticker on the front saying "For fans of Downton Abbey" (or something like that).  It's set prior to the Downton era (Edwardian era, late 1890s), and very far from what's going on in London, but I'm really quite enjoying it.  The working class aspect of the story is less likely for this genre, but I really appreciate it.  

The Kingmaker's Daughter (Philippa Gregory) - Oh, my.  I do NOT agree with Gregory's view of Anne Neville in this book.  On the other hand, having read the first three books in this sequence, I suspect the genius of Gregory is her ability to get inside the skin of her major characters - because Jaquetta in Lady of the Rivers and Margaret Beaufort in The Red Queen are the same.  I'm looking forward to The White Princess now.

The Tempting of Thomas Carrick (Stephanie Laurens) - There's at least one Cynster I've missed (By Winter's Light) which apparently contains the first meeting of Thomas Carrick and his feted partner, Lucinda Cynster, daughter of Catriona, the Lady of the Vale.  Lucinda is awesome, and kickass, and Thomas gets there eventually.

Reading the Morlands #8 "The Maiden", pt 1

I have begun reading The Maiden, book 8 in the Morland Chronicles.  Annunciata is, would you believe, still alive!  And still meddling.  That said, she's enough in the background (as she eventually was in The Chevalier that she's not annoying me as much as she was. Although I still think there's just generally far too much Annunciata. That said, clearly Harrod-Eagles loves the Stuart/Hanoverian era, whereas it's never been one of my favourites (despite my totally having an interest in Queen Anne.)

Where I'm up to right now: Jemima Morland has been introduced - I know from looking at the blurbs of other books that she's the next key character: she at least gets the next book, although I don't think she's quite the next Annunciata.  Annunciata's granddaughter Mary-Lousie is a spoiled pain in the neck, and I feel so awful for the misunderstandings that have simply plagued the relationship of Jemmy and Lady Mary Holles.  I so wanted Jemmy and Mary to have a good marriage, and although the hideous Lady Derby has finally been dismissed, the damage has been done, and I'm terribly sad about it.

I will say I'm wondering what ever happened to the American Morlands - there's been nothing about them in the last few books.  And from where we last left them, they may well have died.  But I hope they'll be back as we get into the rule of George III (and if I've been uncomfortable with being a Protestant reading a very pro-Catholic story, imagine me reading about the American Revolution from the British side.  There will be a great deal of singing of "Hamilton" lyrics as I read, I imagine.)

Reading the Morlands, #7 - "The Chevalier"

Back in February last year, I gave up somewhere in the first fifty pages of The Chevalier due to The Chevalier again when I was about to go away for a weekend, and ploughed through to the point where Annunciata is now mostly offstage.

I am clearly suffering from Annunciata-fatigue.  It is clear that Harrod-Eagles is fascinated by her creation in Annunciata Morland, and to an extent I can understand why: her royal blood, her beauty and her string of husbands make for good fiction, but she's taken over the series in a way I find tiring.  I am so very over her, and it was only with a bit of perseverance that I picked up

Once she was offstage, I sped through the book in about three days. Maurice was a fabulous character to introduce: his connections with Scarlatti and Handel, and as a Vivaldi analogy through his second marriage were a lovely thing to bring in, especially Handel, and Maurice's ability to navigate Stuart and Hanoverian politics.  Karellie had his own sweetness, and Diane was lovely in her steadfastness.  I am starting to worry about all the men who marry women they've known since the woman was a small child, though. 

As to the other characters - I find the hints of Electress Sofie fascinating, given where the succession will go: India Neville (a one-liner indicates that she is probably one of "those Nevilles" although I haven't attempted to look at whether that's possible or not) was horrible, and I feel so sorry for poor Matt - but also for Davey and what he felt driven to.

I've already started the next book in the saga, The Maiden, and have the one after that on reserve from the library.  I am apparently back in the groove, Annunciata-fatigue or not.

Wednesday reads... 17 Feb 2016

And then I realised that it was Wednesday...

What I've just finished reading:
The Kingmaker's Daughter, by Philippa Gregory
Netherwood, by Jane Sanderson
The Tempting of Thomas Carrick. by Stephanie Laurens
The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo

What I'm reading now:
The Queen's Choice, by Anne O'Brien
Epitaph for Three Women,  by Jean Plaidy
Blood Sisters: the hidden lives of the women behind the Wars of the Roses, by Sarah Gristwood
A Match for Marcus Cynster, by Stephanie Laurens

What I plan to read next:
The Virgin Widow, by Anne O'Brien
By Winter's Light, by Stephanie Laurens
The White Princess, by Philippa Gregory

And all of a sudden, I'm back into the historical fiction in a big way.  Laurens and Gregory have captured my imagination (with Gristwood as a non-fiction addition.)