This book is a finalist in historical long and also for best first book. I have a lot of complicated feelings about this book.
Our heroine is Clara MaThis book is a finalist in historical long and also for best first book. I have a lot of complicated feelings about this book.
Our heroine is Clara Mayfield. In the prologue, Clara helps her sister run away with a man below their station. And although they come from a wealthy family and have kind parents, there's no wiggle room on this. But the scandal means Clara is ignored all season. At the last ball, a reprehensible predator of a man, a baron, makes an offer for Clara knowing her parents have no choice but to accept. The night before their wedding, Clara runs away and pretends to be a maid on the country estate of William, Earl of Ashworth.
William and most of his close family--his parents, brother, and others--were in a carriage accident. He was the lone survivor and inherits the Earldom. But he's suffering from PTSD and avoids society. But he does feel this undeniable attraction to the new maid.
Pluses: I think is is powerful when romance shows the way women are trapped by circumstances, and how few resources they have at their disposal for escape. The writing is strong.
Wishes: It's complicated. Yes, I believe in judging a book by what it's trying to achieve, but I also want us to think carefully about the messaging in a story where the entire plot revolves around a rich woman pretending to do low-class work, but the HEA is her returning to her original life without learning anything meaningful about class.
One particular incident where Clara saves William's niece CLEARLY shows that the better judgment of servants is crushed because they fear losing their jobs. But neither Clara or William thinks,"Hmm maybe it would be beneficial to trust the servants to be more creative problem solvers." But I don't actually think the author intended us to think this, I think we're just supposed to admire Clara for being different and BETTER.
Verdict: I respect the writing and even that Marie Tremayne tried to tackle a pretty big topic--how women can be and are victimized by predatory men. But for me, the unexamined class issues made me uncomfortable.
To be fair, capitalism has embedded into every fabric of our society the idea that rich people are simply more capable, brave, and hard-working. This is bigger than romance. I don't blame Marie Tremayne for that, but I did notice it and it was troubling. There are so many ways in which romance attempts to subvert the patriarchy but is happy to gobble up capitalism with a big, shiny spoon. And I get why, I do, but if you're going to put class differences this stark on page and not deal with them? idk.
Copied & Pasted from Twitter as part of a project where I'm reviewing the 2019 RITA finalists.
Merged review:
This book is a finalist in historical long and also for best first book. I have a lot of complicated feelings about this book.
Our heroine is Clara Mayfield. In the prologue, Clara helps her sister run away with a man below their station. And although they come from a wealthy family and have kind parents, there's no wiggle room on this. But the scandal means Clara is ignored all season. At the last ball, a reprehensible predator of a man, a baron, makes an offer for Clara knowing her parents have no choice but to accept. The night before their wedding, Clara runs away and pretends to be a maid on the country estate of William, Earl of Ashworth.
William and most of his close family--his parents, brother, and others--were in a carriage accident. He was the lone survivor and inherits the Earldom. But he's suffering from PTSD and avoids society. But he does feel this undeniable attraction to the new maid.
Pluses: I think is is powerful when romance shows the way women are trapped by circumstances, and how few resources they have at their disposal for escape. The writing is strong.
Wishes: It's complicated. Yes, I believe in judging a book by what it's trying to achieve, but I also want us to think carefully about the messaging in a story where the entire plot revolves around a rich woman pretending to do low-class work, but the HEA is her returning to her original life without learning anything meaningful about class.
One particular incident where Clara saves William's niece CLEARLY shows that the better judgment of servants is crushed because they fear losing their jobs. But neither Clara or William thinks,"Hmm maybe it would be beneficial to trust the servants to be more creative problem solvers." But I don't actually think the author intended us to think this, I think we're just supposed to admire Clara for being different and BETTER.
Verdict: I respect the writing and even that Marie Tremayne tried to tackle a pretty big topic--how women can be and are victimized by predatory men. But for me, the unexamined class issues made me uncomfortable.
To be fair, capitalism has embedded into every fabric of our society the idea that rich people are simply more capable, brave, and hard-working. This is bigger than romance. I don't blame Marie Tremayne for that, but I did notice it and it was troubling. There are so many ways in which romance attempts to subvert the patriarchy but is happy to gobble up capitalism with a big, shiny spoon. And I get why, I do, but if you're going to put class differences this stark on page and not deal with them? idk.
Copied & Pasted from Twitter as part of a project where I'm reviewing the 2019 RITA finalists....more
I had to read this for my book club, which I did by listening to the audio bc mistakes were made by me not noticing that it was in third prelol, mess.
I had to read this for my book club, which I did by listening to the audio bc mistakes were made by me not noticing that it was in third present. And then I just fucking listened to it, and I kept upping the speed to make it go faster. And then I got to 94% at the end of my drive today and was like.... I DON'T EVEN FUCKING CARE HOW THIS ENDS, JUST MAKE IT STOP.
DNF at 94% because I just couldn't take it anymore. ...more
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