Where the Dowager Countess Takes a Chance

Remember When: Clarissa's Story by Mary Balogh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Here's another book I'm not exactly the audience for, but I enjoyed reading it. Quite a bit, actually. It was an entertaining story with some genuinely touching scenes.

Romance is not really my genre, though Jane Austen led me to Georgette Heyer novels (on the recommendation of some other Austen fans), and the fact that I liked those let me take a chance on this. Similar setting; similar social milieu. I bought the book on a whim because I made myself a deal--anytime I had to go in a drug store (not a frequent thing) I would try a book off the shelf. Last book was a Jack Reacher novel. I liked that too. In any case, I probably still won't read any modern-day romances soon, but I dig a good Regency story.

Clarissa, a well behaved rich girl, and Matthew, a bit of a misfit from a good family, were well-born neighbors, close friends as kids and teenagers, and though they might have been more than friends, Clarissa accepted an offer from the young Earl of Stratton that separated them and set the course of both their lives. Matthew wandered Europe and South Asia for a decade before returning to England to take up woodworking out of a rented room; Clarissa and her husband raised a family. Thirty years after they parted, with Matthew making tables and cribs and carving on the side, he's more working class than gentry, quietly content with his life, and she's a well-off widow with grown kids. But they take a chance on reconnecting, seeing if there's still some friendship to be had, and seeing how they both have changed.

With an understated conflict--there is one, but it's not that stressful--and fairly low stakes overall, it's a cozy romance (if I can use that term). However, there's still lots of interest, and a big part of the conflict is between Matthew and his estranged family. It becomes clear he has to sort that out before he can pursue a real romance. The scenes with his older brother and his family are very sweet, very touching, with a surprising emotional payoff. Nicely done.

It's romance. There is a happily ever after. It's not gonna fail you there. But it's a nice story getting to that point. Now I'm curious about this author's giant back catalog. Sheesh! I thought the prose was effective and appealing, usually signs of a thoughtful, careful writer, but she clearly writes at a freakish pace... Anyway, it works, so I'll try another.

This one is recommended.

View all my reviews