Recent Reads {To Whisper Her Name}

To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander - I wonder why it has taken me so long to read anything by Tamera Alexander.  If her other novels are as enjoyable as this one, she will be counted among my favorite Christian authors.  This story is set immediately following the Civil War, with young widow Olivia Aberdeen going to live with family friends at Belle Meade Plantation.  Olivia's late husband was shot as a traitor to the South, so she is no longer accepted by society.  And since her marriage was an unhappy one, she is determined not to be under the thumb of any man again.  Olivia expects that she will be head housekeeper at the plantation and famous stud farm, but feels betrayed again when she finds that her host, General Harding, is planning to find her another husband.

Ridley Cooper is from South Carolina, but during the Civil War, he fought for the Union.  An encounter during wartime with Belle Meade's head hostler affected him deeply and after the war, he returns to Belle Meade, hoping to learn from this 'horse whisperer'.  Of course, in order to get - and keep - a position working in Belle Meade's stables means keeping his Union Army past a secret. Olivia and Ridley are surprised by their growing feelings for each other, and each must deal with their own secrets and find ways to honor their loyalties and deal with the past.

Although the developing love story is what drives the novel, the changing attitudes and tensions following the Civil War are handled well, and I loved that some of the characters were members of the Harding family and plantation.  The horse whisperer, Bob Green, was a former slave at Belle Meade, and was largely responsible for the success of the stud farm.  In fact, the story told in the Prologue of To Whisper Her Name is based in history.

Recent Reads {Love's Reckoning}

Love's Reckoning by Laura Frantz - This first novel in a family saga is set in York County, Pennsylvania, in the late 1700s.  Silas Ballantyne arrives to finish his blacksmith apprenticeship with Liege Lee, but what he doesn't realize is that the Lees expect him to marry one of their two daughters.  The characters of the daughters are a huge contrast - Elspeth is selfish and scheming, and apparently rather free with her favours.  Eden, the younger daughter, is quiet and shy, and acts as girl of all work for the family.  Silas determines to finish out his few months of apprenticeship per the contract and then continue west to Fort Pitt, but he is drawn by Eden's gentle nature and her thirst for spiritual things.  Even as Elspeth pulls out all the stops to try and win Silas for herself, and their father insists that Eden play matchmaker for them, Silas and Eden find themselves drawn together.  They make plans to marry and to go together to Fort Pitt.  But there are still obstacles in their way - a suspicious fire that destroys the blacksmith shop means that Silas agrees to stay longer to help rebuild the business; and then another crisis that sends Eden reeling and puts her in a dangerous situation.  

While I enjoyed this novel a great deal, it took me quite awhile to decide that I wanted to like Eden.  I felt some sympathy for her, because from the beginning it was clear that she was very much the victim in her family. Mr Lee and Elspeth seemed to have no redeeming qualities at all, so at times I was invested in the story in hoping they would get their come-uppance more than wanting to see Eden find happiness.  The second book in this series will be available later this year and if I remember, I will probably continue reading as it will follow the Ballantyne family through the next generation.

Recent Reads {Lady Catherine's Necklace}

Lady Catherine's Necklace by Joan Aiken - What is it about Lady Catherine's necklace, that it is so often stolen or misplaced in Pride and Prejudice sequels?  This has to be at least the fourth of fifth I've read in which this is the case. Anyway, Joan Aiken is widely regarded as a superb storyteller and one of the best at providing sequels to Jane Austen's work.  For myself, though, I am not impressed.  For whatever reason, her style does not resonate with me, and this particular story seemed to be flying in too many different directions and with a very unsatisfactory conclusion.

The premise of this "Jane Austen Entertainment" is that a brother and sister, the Delavals, find themselves stranded at Rosings after Miss Delaval is injured in a carriage accident.  Lady Catherine reluctantly invites them to stay until the injury is healed, which takes a remarkably long time.  Mr Delaval ingratiates himself with Lady Catherine to the point that she takes his advice on improving her gardens.  The improvement calls for a certain cottage to be demolished, thus leaving the two painters that have lived there for many years homeless.  Lady Anne de Bourgh is upset about this, but feels she can do little about it.  Then Lady Catherine decides to pay a visit to a sister-in-law, and Anne makes the most of some new-found freedom in her mother's absence, by visiting the friends in the cottage frequently, and building a friendship with the garden-boy.  On her journey, Lady Catherine's carriage meets with disaster and she is stranded at a remote farm with a farmer of dubious character.  As a background to all of this, Maria Lucas is visiting her sister Charlotte and keeping her company while Mr Collins is called away. Since Colonel FitzWilliam is in the area, we find that he and Maria have a bit of a past together and there is a hint that they may find happiness together.

Even in my brief and simplified description, it seems like there are at least three plots for the story, along with several sub-plots.  At less than 200 pages, it's quite an undertaking to develop all these storylines sufficiently, and the narrative jumps from one to another willy-nilly.  There is far too much going on and at the expense of character development.  In addition, several of the events and circumstances are far-fetched and ridiculous.  At some points I felt that the characters had little in common with those invented by Austen other than their name. 

I questioned a number of aspects of the story, and will mention a few here, as examples of the inconsistency of the writing.  1) At the outset of the story, Anne is said to be about seventeen years old.  Only a few pages later, the friendship between Anne and the two painters is said to have begun about three years earlier, when Anne was about sixteen years of age.  Which is it?  2) Are we really expected to believe that Lady Catherine placidly accepts how ill she has been used when she finds that her own relatives plotted to have her detained while on her visit to her sister-in-law?  And that Lady Catherine's brother really needed to resort to such subterfuge in order to hunt about for his belongings in Lady's C's attics?  3) What happened to change the characters of Mr Collins and FitzWilliam? Mr Collins appears only briefly and has remarkably little to say.  Had FitzWilliam not been identified by name, he would not have been recognizable as the cheerful, witty, but self-deprecating gentleman Austen told us about.  4) Are we so lacking in choices of names that Charlotte's midwife had to be named Mrs Hurst? Or maybe we are not supposed to remember that Charles Bingley's sister was a Mrs Hurst.

In the end, I felt the story was inept in resolving any of the conflicts that it presented, and the conclusion was abrupt and disappointing.  Half the cast simply disappears as we turn the page to the last chapter, and we get brief descriptions of where they've gone and why only as Lady Catherine's brother tells her where they've all run off to. And apparently, she has little reaction to any of it, as shocking as the news is.  In other words, nothing is really resolved, the reader simply comes to the last page in the book with most of the characters having disappeared. I didn't love the other book by Joan Aiken that I read (Jane Fairfax) and considered this one rather a waste of my time, so I will not be likely to read her work again.

By the same author:  Jane Fairfax

Recent Reads {Pemberley Ranch}

Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell - Let me start out by saying that this ranks fairly high on my personal list of Pride and Prejudice spin-offs.  I was expecting a simple retelling of P&P in a post-Civil War setting, but this is definitely an American Western with a nod to P&P. Caldwell's characters are clearly intended to be based on Austen's, and the general outline of the story is very similar.  But he hasn't just dropped Darcy and Elizabeth and their retinue into the American south, he has given the entire story a uniquely American and western feel.  Beth Bennet and her family are Ohio Yankees who move to Texas after the Civil War for a fresh start.  Beth is particularly devastated by the loss of her brother, who died as a Union soldier, and while she makes new friends in her new home, she is still unwilling to forgive Confederate soldiers.  Will Darcy is the wealthiest rancher in the community, and also a returning Confederate officer.  Eventually their paths cross, and the familiar love story follows its course.  Causing trouble along the way is carpetbagger George Whitehead, who makes his inspiration, George Wickham, look like a pretty decent guy.  And Will's haughty and conniving cousin, Cate Burroughs, makes Lady Catherine seem charming.

Austen fans will also find some other familiar names among the town's inhabitants, including the parson, Rev. Tilney, and most of the characters from P&P. Some of the characterizations are different, so that only the names are similar.  Caldwell treats us to some background to the loyal friendship between Will and Charles Bingley. Some readers may be happy to find out that Charlotte Lucas makes a much more fulfilling relationship; and that cousin Anne and little sister Gaby (Georgiana) have more personality of their own.  Gaby even takes a hand in trying to help her brother win Beth's affection.  Since Whitehead and other 'bad guys' in this story are thoroughly reprehensible villains, they meet a suitable Western justice.  In the final shoot-out scene, the dialogue between the villains is laced with profanity, but <shrug> it was in keeping with their characters.

I did have a couple of disappointments, however.  Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley become a married couple without the reader knowing anything about how they met.  I was left a little confused at the beginning, because it seemed that the Bennets had been in Texas for long enough for Charles to court and marry Jane, and yet they hadn't met Will until the wedding.  We also didn't get a lot of reason to understand why the youngest Bennet daughter even considers running off with Whitehead, but it does provide the plot device for Will to do everything in his power to restore Lily to her family.  More troubling than those minor complaints was the episode near the beginning where Will accidentally happens upon Beth skinny-dipping.  He can't resist taking a good look, and a chapter or so later the reader is given a glimpse into the fantasies he's indulged in as a result.  Those two descriptions worried me, as I thought the story might wind up getting trashy, but thankfully there was no more of that sort of thing.  It seemed out of place, frankly, and I wondered at the necessity of including it.  Will does behave as a gentleman throughout, however.

Overall, an enjoyable read for Austen fans who are willing to see some of their beloved characters portrayed differently in this very new setting.

Recent Reads {Georgiana Darcy's Diary}

Georgiana Darcy's Diary by Anna Elliott - This continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is, just as the title suggests, the observations of Georgiana Darcy shared in her diary.  Darcy and Elizabeth have been married for about a year, and while Georgiana is completely content living with them at Pemberley, she also longs to find true love of her own.  Indeed, she believes she knows who she could care for just as deeply, but fears he will never feel the same affection for her.  Lady Catherine de Bourgh has decided it is time she take a hand in finding a husband for her niece, and descends upon Pemberley with the goal of introducing eligible bachelors to Georgiana and making a match.  Georgiana's diary reveals her thoughts about these potential suitors and whether any awaken her interest.  Other characters from Pride and Prejudice that make an appearance are Anne de Bourgh, Caroline Bingley, George Wickham, and Colonel Edward Fitzwilliam.  Edward is the object of Georgiana's affection, but she has heard news that he has become engaged, and in any case, she believes that he will always see her as a child for whom he must act as guardian.

Georgiana and Anne de Bourgh are two characters that figure in Austen's original work as supporting cast, but have little or nothing to say.  In this work, Elliott develops the personalities of both of these ladies that is very believable, and gives them the starring roles.  Georgiana finds the courage to confront her formidable Aunt de Bourgh, the compassion and patience to befriend the colorless Anne, and the determination to take a risk in following her own heart. As a romance, it's predictable in that as soon as Georgiana mentions her affection for Edward in the diary, the reader can tell that they will wind up together, but many of the other plot developments along the way are very interesting. The episode with Wickham's return to make trouble was rather incomplete, in my opinion.  The ending felt a little abrupt; however, it does set up a sequel in which Georgiana and Edward's relationship continues as they move towards marriage.  I enjoyed this charming book and can recommend it to all Austen fans.

By the same author: Twilight of Avalon, Dark Moon of Avalon, Sunrise of Avalon (I didn't realize until I was writing this review that it was the same Anna Elliott!)