Digging through my TBR pile, I pulled out Lydia Joyce's debut gothic novel from April 2005....Yep, I'm well behind in my reading !! LOL
Lady Victoria Wakefield is not entirely sure why she answers Lord Raeburn's summons to his home, Raeburn Court. Yes, her brother Jack owes him money, but she is almost past caring about that. His summons is rude and arrogant, and Raeburn has a wild and strange reputation. When she arrives, Raeburn makes an insulting offer: he will temporarily forgive debt (until Jack inherits the family fortune). In return, he wants Victoria to live with him for a week, and serve his every need. Victoria surprises them both by accepting the offer.
She is a 32-year-old spinster with little to lose. She holds herself apart from society, wears unflattering clothing, and aspires to little more than the running of her family estate.
Byron didn't really expect Victoria to accept the offer, but after she does, he looks at her with new eyes - and can't help finding her oddly attractive. He plans to spend the week figuring out what makes Victoria tick. Why isn't she married? Why does she dress in such an odd fashion? Though his own life is shrouded in mystery, he plans to reveal little of it in return.
After their first explosive sexual encounter, Victoria and Raeburn find themselves even more drawn to each other. They enter a pattern of awkwardness by day, hot sex by night. Though Victoria finds herself revealing her past and her feelings to Raeburn, he finds himself unable to reciprocate when she continually asks him why he avoids the light. Tragedy strikes during a picnic on a cloudy day, and both are injured. This separates them for a time, and eats into their cherished week together - but it also shows them how dependent they are upon each other. Will Victoria be able to leave when her week is over? Will Raeburn ever be able to be honest about his unusual affliction?
This plot is one that I have read many times before: the gothic atmosphere of darkness and mystery, the aging spinster, the reclusive nobleman. A man seeking revenge against her brother blackmails a woman into having a sexual affair. Of course, they'll fall in love, after fighting to quell their growing vulnerability to each other. The suspense is in how they find their way from sex to love. Secrets are revealed, emotional barriers are breached, and layers of character are peeled away in a long, slow, emotional striptease.
Victoria is a beautifully complicated version of a staple romance character: a wanton in old maid clothing, hiding her true nature to protect her heart. She plays along with the role of indignant blackmail victim, but it's not as if she'd be left destitute if she refused Byron's shocking proposal. She enters in to the bargain willingly, sacrificing pride for the chance to explore her sexuality after years of self-imposed repression.
Byron’s secret was what I thought it would be, and the lengths that he goes to hide it seem extreme at times, but I could also see why he was afraid to tell her.
He witnessed what his secret did to his friendship with his best friend, and he also had many disappointments in his life that made him afraid to share his secret with her. He is afraid of the pain of rejection.
There is a lot that is original and fresh here. Victoria and Byron are ‘typical’ certainly - but their characterization is vivid, detailed, and believable. Victoria’s behavior makes sense when her past is revealed and the revelation is handled in a pitch-perfect way.
The does an excellent job of capturing the dichotomy of their sexual attraction and interpersonal awkwardness. They are strangers thrust into an intimate situation, and it makes for interesting reading.
The main reason that most of the book works so well for me is the writing itself, which is beautiful and far above the norm - particularly for a first-time author. The prose is lyrical, and the thoughts of the characters are expressed in a mature and insightful way. Often there is more thought than dialogue, and it works well here because the characters both have thoughts worth listening to.
I enjoyed this read, the big problem I had with this book was the use of ‘thoo’ for ‘you’…or ‘thy’ for ‘your’…“thoo must..” “thoo are..” The servants of the hero use these words—this pronunciation may be part of Yorkshire speech patterns but it was annoying in print.
Publisher: Signet
Authors page
No comments:
Post a Comment