Pamela H. (avidreader30) reviewed on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is the second book in the trilogy and apparently I am late in coming to discover this wonderful series. The story involves a lurid romance between the rare landowning woman from this era - not even sure which era it as meant to be - falling in love with her land steward. Like many good romances, this one began with a trauma bringing the two together - a carriage accident leaving them stranded and forcing them to spend the night huddled in an old run down cottage. At the time of the accident, the two of them were on their way from London to Georgina's country estate, bequeathed to her by an aunt. George, as she is known, had been called home by her sister, due to a bunch of sheep killings that had been effecting the farmers living off the land. The hero, George's recently hired steward, Harry Pye, is the prime suspect.
There are many aspects of this story that were exciting and engaging. First, there was a well-developed and believable villain, a landowning man with no real influence beyond his corner of the world, who wielded what little power he had to terrorize the local people. There was also a subplot involving George's sister and her reasons for having fled to the countryside, which she finally confesses to George. The mystery of who was killing the sheep kept the story moving at a good pace, and introduced us to several more interesting characters, including two half brothers of the hero, a local barkeep and his mentally disabled sister, and the heir of the villain, a young man who worshipped his father despite the continuous rejection he had always received from him.
All of that was great, but what really made me love this story was the way that the characters had to deal, in a very real way, with the differences in their social class. It is much easier, it seems, for a man to marry "down" than for a woman. For George to fall in love with her land steward was scandalous and nearly unheard of, as unusual as a woman owning her own estates independently. The issues that this caused were not simply brushed under the rug, and with the happy ending, it was clear that they would continue to struggle with the challenges wrought from being not being social equals or equals in wealth.
My biggest criticsm was probably use of the fairy tale about the leopard prince. Listening to George tell it was boring - despite her professed love of collecting stories, the retelling was boring. I nearly skipped those parts. As to the symbolism intended, about Harry's fears of being caged and used by a more powerful person for their own ends, it was unnecessary and a rather cheap device, perhaps intended for a less sophisticated reader.
There are many aspects of this story that were exciting and engaging. First, there was a well-developed and believable villain, a landowning man with no real influence beyond his corner of the world, who wielded what little power he had to terrorize the local people. There was also a subplot involving George's sister and her reasons for having fled to the countryside, which she finally confesses to George. The mystery of who was killing the sheep kept the story moving at a good pace, and introduced us to several more interesting characters, including two half brothers of the hero, a local barkeep and his mentally disabled sister, and the heir of the villain, a young man who worshipped his father despite the continuous rejection he had always received from him.
All of that was great, but what really made me love this story was the way that the characters had to deal, in a very real way, with the differences in their social class. It is much easier, it seems, for a man to marry "down" than for a woman. For George to fall in love with her land steward was scandalous and nearly unheard of, as unusual as a woman owning her own estates independently. The issues that this caused were not simply brushed under the rug, and with the happy ending, it was clear that they would continue to struggle with the challenges wrought from being not being social equals or equals in wealth.
My biggest criticsm was probably use of the fairy tale about the leopard prince. Listening to George tell it was boring - despite her professed love of collecting stories, the retelling was boring. I nearly skipped those parts. As to the symbolism intended, about Harry's fears of being caged and used by a more powerful person for their own ends, it was unnecessary and a rather cheap device, perhaps intended for a less sophisticated reader.
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