Where the Rules Must Be Followed

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very pleasant little book.

It's not an adventure. Very few elements of a love story. Not a lot of snappy dialogue. But I would call it charming book and an enjoyable read.

Most of the characters here are older ladies in a quiet little town that somehow has very few men attached to it. The women are particular in their habits and expectations. They do not break the rules very often. And they don't associate with those who do. They're crotchety at times, but most of them, especially Miss Matty, who is really the MC, are quite thoughtful and kind. This tells how these ladies get by while living, most of them, on a reduced income, but still trying to maintain appearances and never be vulgar.

As an American, it is so eye-opening to read this, speaking in terms of class and rank and gender. It's so horrible to see how every life here was stunted by being required to fit in narrowly defined roles. Miss Matty might have married and been happy, but was talked out of it because he wasn't the right type. Lady Glenmire, the highest ranking woman in the story, is looked down on for marrying a man of lower rank. Young domestics are discouraged from having "followers," and when Martha is allowed to see a man once a week, it's a huge liberty. And Miss Matty's brother leaves England as a young man after he's beaten for a silly prank that would mean nothing to anyone I knew but embarrassed his father to the point of rage. It's only as an old man that he is reunited with his sister--the one who never married.

So often, Matty tries to guess what her severe sister would have said about this or that, wondering if it is allowed, as if going to see a magician could be wrong, or calling someone by a nickname, or visiting too openly with tradespeople. Behavior that would be considered so arrogant and rude that it would be unthinkable is considered proper here and is applauded. Kissing up to one's "betters" is also expected. It's so strange.

But in context, it's just how their lives were managed. I wish they had felt freer to make different choices, and maybe the author did too, but they still had pretty happy lives. The book is sad in places, and there are disappointments, but overall the story is hopeful and sweet.

The TV miniseries of this seems very faithful to the overall contours of the story, though it elaborates a bit on the book in places. But all of the events in the book are in the show, or so it seemed to me as I read.

Recommended for those who think they like Elizabeth Gaskell. You will likely enjoy this.

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Where Mordaunt Faces the Pirate

The Works Of Sir Walter Scott, Bart: The Pirate by Walter Scott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't really give half-stars, but this was right between a 4 and a 5 for me. I'd rather give it 4.5.

I liked it quite a bit, and found it hugely informative. I expected it to be more tropical, with a lot more time on ship, and was disappointed at first that almost the whole novel takes place on the main island in Shetland, but that ended up being a really cool setting for the novel. (I think it's meant to be set in the 1700s, probably 1720s, but it could be later.) I've never read anything set there, or in the neighboring islands of the Orkneys, and it was an education. Now I can picture them as they were--their stark beauty, the independent inhabitants, their way of life, the history of the people (both Norse and Scots), and more of that sort. I liked how the setting was a kind of character in the novel.

It's also an interesting and entertaining story. Scott often tells excellent adventure stories, and this is partly in that mold, but it's also about half "novel of manners," taking place largely in a few upper-class homes. Much of it takes place during a long celebration at the home of the wealthiest landowner, the father of the two most sought-after young women, and it has the feel of something you might find in Austen or Eliot.

As you often see in a Scott work, the most striking feature of the novel is its characters: the blunt but generous nobleman, Magnus Troil; the witch-like Norna; the reclusive stranger, Mr. Mertoun; his athletic and well-liked son, Mordaunt; the shipwrecked stranger Mordaunt saved from drowning, Cleveland, who is the eponymous pirate; the beautiful and romantic Minna and her practical sister Brenda; the tiresome poet, Claud Halcro; the Scottish reformer, Triptolemus; and many more memorable characters. Though the style is ornate and the tone is romantic and adventurous, I found these characters surprisingly round and dynamic, especially for the time. Even when the mood turns Gothic, there was plenty of realism shining through, and the characters continued to seem largely plausible and real.

We do, by the end, find real pirates on a real ship, with actual cannons getting run out, and townsmen gathering their weapons to defend themselves, and there's some excellent pirate action. But despite this, and despite the name, it's more about eerie Norna's machinations and the strange way fate works itself out. And I was actually surprised at the ending, though it was very satisfying.

There is a plot, btw. Mordaunt loves one of the young women, and he was well received in her father's home, but Cleveland spreads lies that Magnus Troil is too ready to believe, putting him on the outs. Mordaunt and Cleveland become rivals and then enemies, even though they each saved the other from drowning at different times. Romantic Minna dreams of Viking times and loves Cleveland despite (and partly because of) his violent past, though many around her want to save her from a rogue like him. And Mordaunt actually loves the younger sister, though Norna insists it's his fate to marry the elder.

It's good.

Recommended for readers of 19th century adventure novels. This is one of Scott's better books, too, IMO.

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Where Wilde Hits a Few Targets

A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a pretty entertaining play with a couple nuggets of truth well worth finding out, and it's filled with sayings that amuse but probably distract from what's at the heart of the play more than they add to it. IMO. But the play is more successful than not, especially if one is inclined to like Wilde, as I am, and would like to see it performed.

But it seems like Wilde let loose with the aphorisms that look like they mean something but probably don't. I got tired of that. Lots of "women do this and men do that," including the famous bit about women becoming like their mothers being their tragedy and men not becoming like their fathers being theirs. That's the best one. Among the rest, some draw blood; others are too by-the-numbers to feel like they truly say anything. Probably got laughs, I suppose.

It takes a while to figure out who the play is about and what's happening with them. The story of Mrs. Arbuthnot and her adult son, who's being offered an amazing position with Lord Illingworth, emerges from a lot of random dialogue in the first act, where a number of guests at Hunstanton Chase are talking about nothing in particular. Much of it tends toward the behavior of men and women, but all with a jaded, insincere, ironic tone. Lady Hunstanton, explaining why a particular young lady didn't receive an offer of marriage from Lord Illingworth: "But I believe he said her family was too large. Or was it her feet? I forget which." That's funny, and shows how ridiculous marriage had become among the upper classes of England, but it's also pointless conversation. Later: "Poor Lord Belton died three days [after eloping] of joy or gout. I forget which."

It's all just fodder for endless, pointless conversations, where the details hardly mattered. That's a critique of the institution, but the reader also begins to feel that nothing means anything; nothing they say is worth attending to. When asked about uneducated people voting, Lord Illingworth says he thinks they are the only people who should. Then he cautions against taking sides, because that "is the beginning of sincerity, and earnestness follows shortly afterwards, and the human being becomes a bore." Later he says that he adores simple pleasures, adding "they are the last refuge of the complex." Maybe that means something. I can imagine something deep there, but I got the feeling that even Wilde was just tossing out jokes, hoping they sounded significant. The whole conversation seems to be just setups for clever bon mots that don't really mean much, and I started to wonder if anything would happen in the story.

But we find out that there are secrets and connections and a history between people, and the story does get interesting. It's all about how women get squashed by society for sexual impropriety, but men never have any consequences. It's disappointing that religion and strict morality are taken for granted here, and the prevailing perspective, as a result, is that men should suffer as much as women do, not that women should not. That feels like a missed opportunity, even considering the time of publication. However, you can read the ending as supporting that notion, of treating "sinners" (if you must) charitably, with forgiveness, especially since the least judgmental person in the play is the religious American woman who is often referred to as "the Puritan," and she refuses at the end of the story to hold a woman's past against her.

So maybe I should let that perspective get the final word on the topic.

For too long, I thought we were supposed to see Illingworth as the lovable cad, like Rupert Everett's Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband. (I haven't read that play yet--it's just the movie for me so far.) Turns out--spoiler--Illingworth's just a cad. His wordplay is self-serving, not self-deprecating, and his apparent immorality is who he actually is. TBH, it all makes a lot more sense when you read the beginning the second time, supplied with backstories and true natures. I wonder if people went multiple times to the play back in the day...

My favorite character, in the end, is the earnest and mocked young American woman. I don't know how she would have been received by Wilde's contemporaries, but she's just alright with me. Direct. Sincere. Forgiving. Good stuff.

Lots of it is funny, and I like the story. Wilde can absolutely do "clever." Just a bit more heart early on and it would have really worked for me. Still, 4 stars--it comes close.

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Where Tom Loves the Ladies

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I liked this a lot more than I did when I was 20 and reading it in a study room at college with a thousand other people working on every side. Though I actually liked it *okay* then, I know I didn't understand a lot of the context, so it didn't work as well for me.

Also, this time I thought it was funny. The narrator is hilarious, in fact. I don't think I got that at all 40 years ago.

Tom Jones is usually called a romp or a bawdy tale, and it's that, for sure. But I love how it treats this young man, who sleeps with a number of ladies in not that many pages, as still a good guy who maybe just needs to do a bit less. A generation later, my beloved Jane Austen would call him a blackguard or an unrepentant rake at best and have him end up in a loveless marriage or something. Fielding doesn't see him that way; he sees kindness (Tom helps a ton of people) and exuberance (like a golden retriever). Nor does he judge the ladies who break the same rules, like Mrs. Waters or Mrs. Fitzpatrick or Lady Bellaston. They might be judged for some other stuff, but he doesn't care and doesn't think we should care about their affairs.

That's refreshing.

He's also very explicitly critical of the unfair marriage dynamic which prevailed at that time, where women had so few choices and so little power; the unfortunate Mrs. Fitzpatrick is an exemplar of the powerless woman being hurt by her own husband, while Lady Bellaston represents the somewhat liberated widow who can do almost as she pleases as long as she doesn't remarry. Allworthy, a slightly enlightened man, argues with his neighbor Mr. Western to not press is daughter, to not force her to accept his choice of a marriage partner. Throughout, we get a glimpse of a fairer society and less-restricted love, less-judged, and I only wish that movement toward greater equality and less coercion had caught on a lot sooner.

There are a lot of characters to enjoy here, like Tom and Sophia, some that are fun to laugh at, like Partridge, and a good assortment to hate, like Blifil and Thwackum and Square. That's pretty fun right there. With the ironic narrator and the low-key tension of the conflicts (not quite cozy, but not too far off), I found this a lot of fun this time around.

Recommended. Get a cheap hardcover off the interwebs. That's how to read it.

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Cozy Fantasy of Manners on the Continent

The Grand Tour by Patricia C. Wrede
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the first book, and I think I liked this one a bit more.

Like the first, this is told through letters, but also through diary entries and some other writings. It works quite well; a few scenes are told through multiple points of view, and I liked seeing the action that way.

I like Cece and Kate, but I have to admit that, two books in, I still mix up their husbands. I almost need to draw myself some pictures or get action figures to help me differentiate the guys. They might almost be Man 1 and Man 2. But that's not too central to my enjoyment in reading this, as it's the female characters who are most interesting and narrate the story.

I like the mix of manners and action. The mystery and even violence have a gentler feel, more of a cozy mystery sensibility. There are real stakes (as there are in cozy mysteries), but I don't get too agitated. It's chill, a pleasant read, and suitable for just before bedtime. (Am I the only one who won't read some genres other than horror before going to sleep? Also, I don't want to work so hard...) I like the way characters sit down to breakfast to have toast and talk about the day and then go do magic and fight off highwaymen.

Jane Austen meets Sir Walter Scott, sorta.

Which is perfect for me.

Recommended if you like your action with ☕ and antiquities.

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Mary Bennet's Story--The Austening

The Unexpected Miss Bennet by Patrice Sarath
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I recall with fondness the time one of my ESL students--now an English teacher herself!--smiled through her tears at the end of a rather romantic teen movie I showed in class. "That was a pretty movie, Mister," she told me as she exited, still wiping her eyes. :) It was a pretty movie. (Mary Stuart Masterson and Eric Stoltz in Some Kind of Wonderful? "You look good wearing my future." Anyone? C'mon! Classic.)

Well, this is a pretty book, and I hope the author will forgive me for saying so. There is some badassery here, but for the most part the novel is low-key and sweet, and I thought it was great.

It is the quiet story of Elizabeth Bennet's younger sister. No, not the one that ran away. Not the other one that was too much like her, either. And no, not Jane--she's older. Right, the other one. The one at the piano. Mary. There you go!

Lydia and Kitty are here. And Jane, sort of. And quite a bit of Lizzy and Darcy and Georgiana. And Lady frickin' Catherine de Bourgh with her wan and unfortunate and over-protected daughter. And Mr. Collins, paying his elegant little compliments and warning young ladies that they must be humble and they won't go far wrong. And Mrs. Bennet with her nerves.

It is all nicely done, beautifully following up on the characters and character dynamics as they existed at the end of Pride and Prejudice. The author has allowed the characters to grow and to show more than they did in the original Jane Austen novel, but she has not fundamentally altered anyone. Time has passed; the characters are living new lives; they have new preoccupations. And in this new present, everyone wonders what to do with artless, somewhat embarrassing Mary, a young woman who is too serious, too fond of quoting aphorisms, too plain, too poor, and too socially awkward to have much of a future.

The author allows Mary to learn a little from her mistakes and embarrassments as well as from her reading and reflection. She lets her put her foot down, a little, and learn to show a little spirit and wit. Not jarring developments; this is growth, and it is reasonable. Throughout the course of her story, I found Mary easy to root for, to care about, to see as a hero in her own light. It is something of a revelation to discover that the mousy, nerdy girl has thoughts and feelings and hopes that matter as much as anyone else's. When, because of circumstances, she starts attracting the attention of men, you feel both her pleasure and her apprehension, and when she (spoiler? maybe a little...) puts her foot down some, you want to high five her. Or something.

This novel is a lot like an Austen novel, obviously, but it isn't trying to be a copy. The story is an original, and comparatively scaled down. The plot is (intentionally) narrower, more to the point, with a smaller cast of characters inhabiting fewer scenes. I like how that scale works. The tone and diction also only approximate Austen's prose, incorporating enough of that period's cadences and peculiarities to put the reader in the Regency mindset without, in my opinion, drawing too much attention away from Mary's story. The characters are the point, along with their growth and change and development, and the language is just part of what gets you there.

Without summarizing the plot, I'll just say I enjoyed it, and I liked the ending. I liked Mary, too, and I'm glad to discover that. Well done.

So, yes, it's a pretty book. :) And any Austen-type people who haven't read it already should get on it.

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If Robert Louis Stevenson Wrote Sense and Sensibility

The Sisters Mederos by Patrice Sarath
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

[Since I wrote this review, I looked at other reviews, and found that many clever people think like I do, but not everyone. I was shocked to learn that some elements of the novel that I considered highlights were things that other reviewers didn't like. Clearly, they are bastards. Or it may be that different people like different things. I guess it is what it is, caveat emptor, YMMV, IMO, etc., world without end.]

[Back to the raving. TL;DR: I liked this book a lot!]

I love finding a book like this. In addition to this series starter, I see the author already has a completed series and a stand-alone novel. All of it sounds great. I'm sold.

I knew I liked this book and the author in the first 40 pages. In an alternate world that is well-developed but not over-explained, with a pair of main characters that read like determined and adventurous Jane Austen characters (which made sense when I saw that the author's stand-alone novel was a sequel of sorts to Pride and Prejudice), with a mystery adventure plot on the knife's edge between Austen and Robert Louis Stevenson, I couldn't have been more engaged. The author's clear language, matching a proper tone to lively narration, is a nice compromise between regency language and modern sensibilities. It is a strength of the novel, being well suited to the story, and is what sold me the most.

Tesara and Yvienne Mederos are both engaging and enterprising characters, sympathetic and round, who use every tool they have to fight back against the Merchant Guild and the system which destroyed their family and took them from the heights of society to the depths of near poverty and humiliation. In a city that reads like a sort of early modern Bruges-meets-London, where merchant families are like nobility, with a rigid class system, there is little either can do to improve their lot through normal means. So they both become rogues of a sort (nicely foreshadowed by the beautiful cover), acting outside of approved gender or class roles--but they do so believably. The "believable" part includes Tesara's uncertain power which might or might not control winds and waves, the only overtly fantasy-type element of the story. (The alternate-world setting is the other significant fantastic element.) I liked both characters, and though Yvienne was probably a bit more daring, I found myself more partial to Tesara. I'd like to see what happens with both, of course, as both have promise.

The conclusion is satisfying and works well, IMO, but also leaves a lot of room for (planned, it seems) sequels. That's good, because I feel like the author has barely scratched the surface with this setting and these characters. I'd like very much to see what happens after this.

Meanwhile, I'm investigating the author's back catalog. :)

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Not what I expected, but I liked it, so that's good

Tremontaine: The Complete Season One by Ellen Kushner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It didn't end up being quite what I thought it would be, but I liked it.

I expected it to be almost entirely a novel of manners fantasy, something between Austen and Moorcock. Maybe a little Gormenghast. There was some of that, particularly whenever we were in Duchess Tremontaine's POV, but that happened much less than I expected, and the society aspect was muted outside of a single fancy dinner. Kaab and the traders, with their Mesoamerican-style culture, were interesting and refreshing, but the clash of cultures and POV characters from many different levels of society made it more like a traditional fantasy than I expected.

All good. I like traditional fantasy, too.

A key feature of this novel (multi-part, multi-author) is its inclusiveness. Its characters are LGBTQ-friendly and sex-positive, which works very well without becoming heavy-handed or overwhelming the rest of the plot. Also, my favorite character, Micah, is clearly autistic or somewhere near that on the spectrum, and the author(s) do a good job of making her realistic and sympathetic and an integral part of the plot.

This is an enjoyable read, and I am looking forward to finding the second in the series, and looking for other things by the main author.

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