I did enjoy this long short story/novella. It is a pretty typical Milly Johnson novel only instead of 3 women sharing the spotlight, we have just one. I had just finished a reread of one of her older novels and went right into this one. So yes, although some of her characters do get on my last nerve, I am still a fan. In fact some of my disenchantment with some of Milly’s “ways” stem from the fact that I have re-read many of her books multiple times because I am such a fan. As with most of her books, it’s light on the romance, but a romance is included to provide our heroine a hopeful happy future.
Tamantha has been denigrated all of her life by her awful family and we see an example of this as she goes to the family dinner every Sunday. She is about to get married, and no surprise, she has picked a guy that is cut out of the same cloth. He has managed to influence her to change almost everything about herself to make her fit into his personal mold of how he wants a wife to be. Why she has put up with this treatment by her family and her fiancé is not very well established so I ceased having a lot of sympathy for her long before the novella/short story was finished. His sister is a bully and has taken over Tam’s wedding to the point that she is not allowed to even invite her best friend to her own reception. This initial weakness and oppression of her protagonists is a pattern with Milly that I am increasingly losing patience with. She makes her victimized characters so blind and self-deluded that it is positively painful. They all finally see the light and successfully rebel against the tide of abuse, but often it is too late to retain my good will and concern for their well being. And there is even less justification for this heroine to put up with the disrespect and contempt in her personal life. She is a successful business woman and who was once a vibrant unconventional woman despite her black sheep status in her family.
On the professional side, Tam is on her way to a big meeting with the board of directors where she assumes she is going to be fired. She gets stuck on the elevator with the wunderkind that the board brought in to head the company instead of promoting her. She is bitter about that and makes a lot of false assumptions, but it turns out that Jack, who is the love interest, thinks the world of her and what she has accomplished for the company. Though he is still the boss, she gets full credit for her work and a big promotion. This part was good. However, despite more red flags than a Chinese parade, Tam persists in going through with her wedding until she is standing with her fiancé in front of the altar and he says something mean to her (!). She was like a lemming jumping off a cliff, or a turkey drowning itself in the rain. It is strongly implied that she would still have married the dirtbag despite everything (including her growing love for Jack), if he had just kept his mouth shut. I would have been much better with the story had Tam come to her senses on her own steam with her very own brain. Despite Jack showing her everyday how she should be treated, and the concern expressed by others, her fiancé and family have to cross the line of agreed standards of decency before she’s had enough. The story happily comes full circle, ending, as it began, in an elevator, but I would have wished for more closure with her oppressors. There could have been more balance there even though, yes, I know I know this wasn’t a full length novel. No free passes on that front from me, because Milly is usually brilliant with comeuppances.
I’m not warm, I’m not especially kind. But I can be strong.
I believe this is the first book of Sally Hepworth’s that really made it big. It’s the one that brought her to my attention. Despite great reviews, I avoided it for a couple of years, reading instead 2 later books by her which I thoroughly enjoyed. I assumed that if the book was about a Mother-in-Law she had to be Evil. That’s what the synopsis seemed to suggest as well. And if the Mother-in-law was evil, that meant the husband had to be either complicit, stupid, or weak. Now that’s fine in romantic woman’s fiction as our heroine will suffer or be deceived by said hubby but dump him on the way to a better life with another man who is worthy of her.
But this wasn’t so simple or predictable. First and foremost it is a study of characters. Not just one. In the first chapter we learn that Diana, the Mother-in-Law, is dead. At first it looks like suicide, and then it looks like murder. There are many confusing things about it which will not be answered until the last pages. The past is told in flashbacks by Diana and Lucy, the Daughter-in-law, in first person. They are joint protagonists even though Lucy is the only one still alive in the present and dealing with what turns out to be a murder mystery and investigation. At about a quarter in, I liked both of the two women who didn’t understand each other because they didn’t know what I, the reader, was learning. And as I learned more and more, I felt saddened by their adversarial relationship when they could have been allies and even friends. Such waste! Diana, Lucy’s mother-in-law, is not warm or kind, but she is a good woman who wants the best for those close to her. She just goes at it in a way that most people would disagree with. She adores her husband Tom and he adores her. She has founded a charity, and works very hard at it, to help down-on-their-luck pregnant immigrant women get the supplies and care they need. I interpreted Diana as having a borderline personality disorder perhaps partially caused by her difficult past. She seems to have developed an inability to feel or show empathy for those close to her. She is very complicated, confusing and mysterious. Lucy has married Ollie, Diana’s son. Lucy is also a good person: a bit of a free spirit, very nice, and with a strong moral center. She and Ollie love each other very much. Lucy’s wonderful mother died when she was only 13 and she meets her fiancé’s mother hoping that she and Diana will become close friends or even have a loving mother-daughter relationship. That hope does not last long. Their first meeting sets the pattern which is repeated over and over until near the end. Diana is very reserved and formal at their first meeting. Ollie asks his mother what she thinks about Lucy, and Lucy overhears Diana say “I think she’s fine.” She is very hurt by this “damning with faint praise” assessment. When Diana’s society friends explain that “Nothing good ever started from fine”, she doesn’t get it. To Diana,
“fine is an appropriate seal of approval for the son’s new girlfriend. Love is obviously too strong a word, and even like would be overstating after a mere evening together-Heaven forbid I be one of those overbearing women that fawned all over the new girlfriend begging to be best friends…. As far as I am concerned, If Lucy loved my son and he loved her she was fine by me. Absolutely fine“.
And of course she doesn’t know that Lucy overheard her comment. Not that she would really try to explain herself. Diana’s first impression of Lucy is that she has been spoiled and adored her whole life and so is rather weak. But Lucy is actually very strong, as Diana learns. And Lucy is not faultless in the rocky relationship. Diana makes such an unpleasant scene over the price of the wedding gown Lucy loves at the bridal shop, that she walks out embarrassed and hurt. But later, she realizes later that Diana did her a huge favor. Lucy never talks to Diana about it. Diana never tells Lucy that she didn’t like the dress not only because of the price, but because the dress did not reflect Lucy’s off beat fashion style and made her look “generic.” There were so many times a heart to heart between the two would have healed the breach. But Diana does not do heart to hearts. Only the reader is allowed to see Diana’s side of things, and even then she does things that are really inexcusable. Even when she becomes aware of her mis-steps she never goes back to set things straight. “She’s a good mother, I have to admit. It occurs to me that I’ve never told her that.” And she never does.
As the story goes on, Lucy and Ollie have children, and the breach between them grows very wide. Even, we are told, to the point of physical violence though we do not know the circumstances right away. So when Diana’s death looks like murder, all eyes turn to Lucy. Our suspicions turn to Ollie. Because though Ollie is a good person, he is weak and not all that bright. Diana recalls an incident involving Ollie and his sister Nettie in their pool when Nettie almost drowns trying to save her little brother:
That’s when I realized. Some people jumped in and tried to save someone who was in trouble; others did anything they could to save themselves. Ollie hadn’t meant to drown Nettie, he was simply following his instincts, just as she was following hers. My children had just shown me who they were.
By the end, I was desperate for Diana to see the light and for the two women to come to an understanding. I was intrigued by the mystery of Diana’s death and the fates of everyone in the family. I won’t say anymore but I found the ending more satisfying and hopeful than it had any right to be.
This was just a terrific book with an indomitable heroine who should be as famous and celebrated as…well, I can’t think of a universally famous one who is comparable to Bettina Vanderpoel. Not that there aren’t plenty of brave, cool-headed, perspicacious, kind-hearted, and public spirited heroines in literature, you understand. But I just can’t think of one that embodies all of those qualities at once. I reckon Hermione Granger comes closest. Except Bettina (Betty) is also beautiful, charming, charismatic and a gabillionaire. I could compare her with Philippa Somerville of the Lymond Chronicles but Philippa is as unfamous as Betty. Neither would make an official top 10 list of most admirable fictional female characters how ever much they deserve to. If Betty sounds like a heroine who is flawless and therefore not your cup of tea, I wouldn’t blame you. But let me assure you that she is up against a villain so repulsive and dastardly and is fighting for causes so righteous, that you will root for her every step of the way. Not to mention she has to live in a world (late Victorian England) in which the deck was stacked against women who dared to not suffer in silence. I did not begrudge her one ounce of her power whether it came from her beauty, character, or wealth. Because she needed it all. And even then all of her gifts may not have been enough to save a woman of substance’s most precious commodity of that or almost any era: her reputation.
It’s been 12 years since Bettina had seen her older sister, Rosalie, after her marriage to an English Lord, Nigel Anstruthers. Bettina was 9 years old when Rosalie left New York City and went to live in England on his estate and virtually vanished from her and her loving parents’ lives. The first 4 chapters of the book are Rosalie’s. Thank God it wasn’t more, because reading of her life with Nigel was painful indeed. Debt-ridden Lord Anstruthers of course married naive and sweet Rosalie not for love, but for her considerable fortune. He starts to manipulate and gaslight the poor girl on the ship over as soon as she leaves her family’s protection. By the time we mercifully leave her and start to focus on Bettina, Rosalie, systematically crushed and isolated for years, is lying on the floor, a victim of a violent attack, fearing for her unborn baby, and about to lose control of her money to her scheming and merciless husband and his malignant mother.
Bettina never liked or trusted Nigel and had long planned, when she was old enough, to find Rosalie and make sure she was OK. Unlike her parents, Betty never believed that Rosalie had turned her back on her family after she became a grand titled English lady. We get a recounting of Betty’s maturation from a formidable child to a beautiful young woman and her formal and informal education. In addition to being educated at elite academies all over Europe, her father, seeing her intelligence and good sense, had her accompany him all over the United States while looking over his business concerns. She gained an invaluable education from him and he in turn came to trust her judgement and even seek out her advice. So when Betty finally feels she is in a position to rescue Rosy (if she even needs rescuing) she not only has her own gifts at her command but the respect and trust of her father, one of the most powerful and wealthiest men in America.
When Bettina gets to Stornham Court, Nigel’s estate, things are even worse for Rosalie and her disabled son than she imagined. Nigel has taken over control of Rosalie’s money and is living it up in the fleshpots of Europe. Both Rosalie and his estate are in shambles. During Nigel’s lengthy absence, Bettina sets about putting things in order on the estate and in the community at large. Under Bettina’s tender care Rosalie starts to recover her former bloom and what little spirit she had before her marriage. Her sister makes friends with both the high born and low born in the county, and prepares for Nigel’s inevitable return, which I began every chapter dreading. It happens in Chapter 33 (of 50). Now one would assume that Nigel would slither away without a peep in the face of Bettina’s powers. But he is clever, arrogant, entitled and kind of insane. Also he holds some powerful cards in his hands. Not the least of which is his position as a man and a titled one. And Bettina is secretly in love with the poor but proud owner of the neighboring estate, which makes her vulnerable. To extricate Rosie and her son Ughtred (why, Frances, why???) while preserving their reputations and futures as well as those of various innocent bystanders, the battle between Bettina and Nigel must be conducted with subtlety and finesse. A war of attrition rather than a no holds barred onslaught.
In its unabridged form this book is over 500 pages. In addition to the chess game between Nigel and Betty, we go into the background and character of Lord Mount Dunstan, the love interest, their beautiful romance, various country people on the estate or in the village, an American typewriter salesman, society balls and parties, and an outbreak of typhoid fever. Everything ties together and ends in a rousing climax, resolution, and fates well earned. I’ve focused on the plot in this review, but we also are treated to FHB’s descriptive passages and reflections, insights into the Gilded age and dollar princesses, and the qualities of America v. England. America wins. Great movies have been made of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved children’s books A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. I even enjoyed the film based on one of her other adult novels, The Making of a Marchioness. Why not this one? This book has everything. Is it the title? I listened to this book on Audible read by Katherine Brooks who was very good.
Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous’, Einstein said. Freud disregarded such nonsense: everything could be explained was his mantra; whereas Jung believed coincidences were a manifestation of a deeper order in the universe. Certainly, after Clifford’s ‘experience’ he was more inclined to believe in the magic of them. ‘Accept the mystery, Jane,’ he’d say. ‘I am a happier man for doing so.’
One of Milly’s specialties is telling the stories of women (and sometimes men) who are victimized and dominated by their (usually narcissistic) partners who finally see the light and find the strength to stand up for themselves and escape. Usually into the loving arms of another man (or woman) who is kind, strong, and worthy of them. Although I love Milly Johnson’s writing and eagerly anticipate these characters’ final victories and the comeuppances in store for their abusers, it’s all starting to get a little old. Let me put this feeling about this aspect of Milly’s books in context. I have read every Milly Johnson book at least twice and some several times. Even when I first started reading Milly some of her female characters (usually self-inflicted) plights were way too much for me. But sometimes as much as the designated doormat in her cast of characters frustrated and sometimes even infuriated me, the situation was usually balanced out in some way. For example, an epic take down of the abuser( The Yorkshire Pudding Club), or the woman (or man) having the epiphany fairly early on, and determined and committed to her escape route (The Queen of Wishful Thinking.) What I can’t abide is what happened in this one.
We follow a diverse group of English men and women who are struggling in their lives in some way and are traveling for Christmas. Due to a rather mysterious storm, they end up snowbound together on a luxurious private train. This is very similar in structure to Milly’s 2020 Christmas themed novel, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. We first meet Tom, the attractive owner of a Taxi service who is chauffeuring a beautiful and posh young woman, Elizabeth, to a Manor on the outskirts of Durham where she is meeting her fiancé and their two sets of parents for their annual celebration. It is apparent immediately that her relationship with her fiancé is not only unhappy but toxic. Jane is an elderly woman who has been recently widowed and missing her wonderful professor husband and happy marriage. Wherever she is going she is not looking forward to it. It is clear that those who remain in her life do not appreciate her. Grace and Frank are a married couple and we learn that something happened in their lives that turned Grace from a lovely woman to a cold, snappish, and sour killjoy who holds something against her very nice and warmhearted husband. “Roo”, or Ruby, is a lively young woman who seems a bit eccentric but nice. She is not a fan of Christmas and has suffered a recent setback. Tim is a middle-aged man who is grumpy and standoffish. He is a big guy with a white beard who ironically works at playing Santa Claus at Christmas. As they make themselves at home on the train, they are surprised and delighted that every luxury they could wish for, from accommodations, to food, to drink is theirs for the asking. As they get to know each other and each other’s stories even the least sociable and closed down among them start to open up. With the others’ help and advice they start to understand and come to terms with truths about what has damaged them and their lives. Paths forward to healing slowly reveal themselves to each of them. As the 7 castaways become friends they start to notice strange things going on in some of the train cars. They are not alone.
This was a likable and enjoyable book in many ways, and of course happy endings abound at the end in true Milly Johnson fashion. There were some twists and turns I saw coming a mile away, but a few I didn’t. Unfortunately, Two of the main women characters, Elizabeth and Grace, got me so frustrated and angry that I almost wished they had been left with the unhappy endings they deserved! Almost. The story is told, as in most ensemble type books and movies, by visiting each character as they contribute to the present day plot while their backstory is unwoven. Most if not all of Milly’s stories involve (heavenly?) enchantment to some degree, but this one, like her other previously mentioned holiday tale, is all about the Christmas magic.
As usual Milly weaves good stories around each of the engaging characters. They deal with grief, estrangement from loved ones, disappointment in love, unrealized potential, or greedy or rotten families. All written with plenty of Yorkshire dialect, humor, and a light touch. My first problem was that every single time we came to Elizabeth’s turn in the spotlight, it was one horror after another showing how badly she was treated by her horrible family, her horrible fiancé, and his horrible family. She reflects on their horribleness, clearly sees how she is being gaslighted and bullied, but still never wavers from going back to her toxic environment. Even as a clear path to living her dream in life and love unfolds before her! She acts like a lifetime of misery is preferable to rocking her boat. She comes to her senses at the last second but even then has to be driven away by the nice guy. We never see her stand up to confront her rotten family and fiancé. I imagine they were all kinds of gobsmacked and irate over her rebellion, but we never have the pleasure of reveling in their downfall. All we get is a glimpse of them in the rear view mirror as they are sprayed with the gravel of her getaway taxi. Not even an engagement ring-toss out the window.
I’m not going to dwell on Grace, but she was a stone cold b***ch to her kind, popular, and patient husband. Yes, they experienced a horrible tragedy together, but to Grace it was all about her. She blamed her husband for something completely out of any human control. Both women held on to their painful circumstances much too stubbornly for me. They continued on their roads to disaster despite almost miraculous escape routes being provided right in front of them. To add to my exasperation, I even started to despise poor Frank for putting up with Grace so patiently for so long. I have never given any of Milly’s novels less than 4 stars, but sadly, I couldn’t give this one more than 3 in the end. It was Dawn in Summer Fling, my least favorite character in my least favorite novel by the author, all over again. Kind of a bummer, actually.
At the moment, I am tired of journeys. It is time I arrived somewhere.
He wondered why his lordship had claimed to be unable to identify the boy on the bridge. Then he recalled something he had heard rumoured. Once, Lymond had questioned a child and lived to regret it.
“You may give me a brooch. A sapphire one.” “Ah,” he said. “But will you take care of it?”
It’s been about 3 weeks since I finished this last book in The Lymond Chronicles. And this review has been hanging over my head. Between finishing the book and seriously tackling this review I have had a ball reading other peoples thoughts and insights into the series which I was unable to do while I was reading it because of fear of running into spoilers. More on that later. In short, I have been, off and on, just immersing myself even further in the series.. I have a lot more exploring yet to do down the Lymond/Dorothy Dunnett rabbit hole.
As I look back on this book, Checkmate, I am amazed at how much happened action-wise, the character arcs, and the seamless involvement of our fictional characters with the military actions, politics, and religion of the time. In the course of the series, Dorothy Dunnett has shown herself to be ready, willing, and able to kill off important characters as well as animals. So while I was happy at the return of those whom we kind of left by the wayside during Pawn in Frankincense and/orThe Ringed Castle, I feared for them. These included Kate, Philippa’s mother, Jerrott “I don’t understand” Blythe, Marthe, his difficult and troubled wife, and Archie Abernathy, the rock. Of course Lymond’s mother, Sybilla, so beloved and admired by me in previous books was certainly under threat of ye old chopping block given her advanced age (at least for those times) alone. And what of his estranged brother Richard? It would be just like DD to kill him off before he and Lymond could be reconciled. Though frankly, Richard was such a dumbass throughout most of this one, I can’t say I cared much about his ultimate fate.
What we went through in this book, along with Lymond and Philippa, our daring duo! We begin the book, right where The Ringed Castle left off, picking up with Lymond shortly after he has landed back in France after being kidnapped by Philippa and his friends, for his own good. They successfully conspired to prevent him from returning to what he saw as his mission in Russia where he would face certain death. Which was OK with him, but not with anyone else. I know I sure didn’t want him to go back there. Although at the end of TRC, he loves Philippa “in every way known to man” he is determined to divorce her for her own protection and because of his own self-loathing. Philippa is as yet unaware of the nature of her attachment to “Mr. Crawford.” He enters into an agreement to serve embattled France in his capacity as a military leader without peer. In return, the powers that be will see that the divorce is granted. Along with placing Lymond in the middle of real historical military battles and political machinations, we experience all manner of…stuff. High spirited swashbuckling adventure, a love story for the ages (which for me, had its earliest beginnings in The Disorderly Knights), deep dark mystery, family drama, mental and physical anguish of all sorts, sacrifice, evil, goodness, triumph and…well, just name it. And that’s just Philippa. Kidding. But Philippa and Lymond are equal or almost equal partners in all that transpires in this book.
Before I bought the books many moons ago, I vetted the series enough to know it ended in a rewarding and satisfying way. But as the books went on, I didn’t see how the ending could possibly be completely happy due to Lymond’s physical and mental health challenges. But Dorothy accomplished it. At least I chose to buy it. As much as I loved the book, it wasn’t perfect. I struggled with getting my head around the motivations, mindsets, and decisions of Philippa, Lymond, and Sybilla. So much harm and suffering for, what I felt, were weak and not very well supported reasons. I asked the DD in my head, at too many points, “Because why now?” “Huh? But.…” Also, I feel like the title of the book is a little misleading and I felt a bit cheated by part of the conclusion. Because the book is called “Checkmate” I expected a battle of the titans between Lymond and his nemesis throughout most of the series, Margaret Lennox. With, of course, Lymond outmaneuvering, tricking, and finally conquering the wily Margaret in an exciting showdown for the ages. Of course it would exceed in guile and excitement the climaxes we were treated to in 4 of the 5 preceding volumes. The word “Checkmate” comes with certain expectations. The confrontation between the two had its rewards, but in the end that part was anticlimactic. But, thanks to the gorgeous and fulfilling conclusion to Francis’ and Philippa’s love story, It is a fairly minor quibble. In the end there is peace and joy at long last, and that is enough. But still so many questions! I learned from reading this series that sometimes that’s not a bad thing.
So many lovers of this series have read it many times. They comment how much they missed the first time. I had a different experience, thanks to helpful websites and Youtube chapter by chapter discussions posted years ago which leant valuable insights, and conscientiously avoided spoilers. They added historical political and religious context, explained obscure literary allusions, translated foreign language passages, and a whole lot more. Many personal opinions and speculations over countless plot and character points were offered and explored. Not to mention, “What did Dorothy Dunnett really mean by that?” Some hearty souls read this massive work while it was still being written and had to wait years between books. I can’t pretend to imagine what that experience was like. Many forged ahead while up in the air as to whether all would end tragically with Lymond’s death (or worse!). Given his death wish, it seemed more than likely. I had the advantage of knowing the end would be a happy one, though I took great care to avoid any other spoilers. But a funny thing happened. I went through Checkmate and part of The Ringed Castle, under a misapprehension. In looking up an innocuous factoid, I ran across what I thought was a huge spoiler. I caught a glimpse of the answer to one of the big running mysteries we had been teased with throughout the series: Lymond’s true parentage. But since I shut down what I was reading immediately, I got it wrong. It would have been quite juicy, had it been true, so I was a little disappointed when I finally realized that all of the clues that pointed in another direction were not, as I thought, red herrings. Also I read that one very important character died, and he/she didn’t. Where that came from I’ll probably never know. But I was sure happy about it.
So there you have it: A small part of my experience with this scholarly, flamboyant, and, yes, sometimes preposterous series which is influencing writers to this day. But I am certainly not done with Dunnett. I now have the audio books in my library and another series to look forward to: Niccolo Rising. Which from what I gather should be almost as profound a reading experience as was The Lymond Chronicles. We’ll see.
To the men exposed to his rule Lymond never appeared ill: he was never tired; he was never worried, or pained, or disappointed, or passionately angry. If he rested, he did so alone; if he slept, he took good care to sleep apart. “—I sometimes doubt if he’s human,” said Will, speaking his thought aloud. “It’s probably all done with wheels.
This series first came to my attention probably over 30 years ago. I bought the beautiful Vintage Paperback editions around 25 years ago when a local book seller was having a sale. And there they sat. Looking very pretty and impressive, giving my library a certain intellectual credibility. The series would tap me on the shoulder every so often, but I never seriously considered starting them until recently. I read a recent review from one of my Goodreads friends https://www.goodreads.com/review/show… and I thought “people are still reading these?” Then I read some more reviews, and then I read a few scholarly type blog posts and essays. I started to get excited, but very very intimidated at the prospect of reading the first one, The Game of Kings. But then I thought, “Becky if you’re going to read these before you lose your faculties, you better get a move on. You can do hard things!” So I did.
And it was daunting. It is a deep dive into 16th century history, arts, culture, warfare, and politics that our formidable author assumes you are already familiar with. She also assumes you are fluent in multiple languages. There are no translations or footnotes-those are in a whole separate 400 page book. And a lot of the actual English isn’t that comprehensible either. Here’s an example:
“Johnnie Bullo! Man, I wish you’d take to wearing clappers on your breeches; you’re desperate sore on the arteries. And that last damned powder you gave me would have done Jimmie of Fynnart a twelve- month and pointed up the whole of Linlithgow if you laid it on with a trowel. Will ye bring to mind it’s my inner workings you’re repairing, not the Toll Brig o’ Dumfries.”
The book is peopled with real historical figures both obscure and famous. And Lymond of Crawford, our main character, mostly talks in poetry, double entendres, quotations from sources no modern reader has any business even hearing of, let alone being passing familiar with. “ I wish to God,” said Gideon with mild exasperation, “that you’d talk–just once– in prose like other people.” If Gideon Somerville was not a favorite character before, he certainly was one after that comment to our hero. I almost gave up several times. But I did some more research, trying to take good care to avoid spoilers (though didn’t always succeed), and found out that virtually everyone felt the same way I did at the beginning. But to a man and woman, I was assured that it would get easier and I would be rewarded. I quote from a blog entry called “The Game of Kings in 15 minutes”. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/… Highly recommend if you’ve already read the novel
RANDOM SCOTTISH PEOPLE: Lymond is back. READERS: And we’ll have to wait hundreds of pages to find out why. LYMOND: *is incomprehensible* PIG: *is drunk* READERS WHO ARE NEW TO THE SERIES: wtf? READERS WHO HAVE READ THE WHOLE SERIES: You’ll learn.
Two things in particular helped me. One, someone wrote that The Game of Kings could be read as a stand alone (I have commitment issues with series books and tv shows) and I discovered a wonderful website improbably named “Now You Have Dunnett” https://nowyouhavedunnett.blogspot.co… for which I am eternally grateful. It took me through each chapter and scene almost paragraph by paragraph, translating the more important foreign language quotes, explaining the context when it was important, giving historical background, and pointing out little things that I might have missed that would become important later on. I would read a chapter, sometimes two and then go back to the website on those chapters to check for understanding. Eventually, I could go for longer and longer periods with confidence before having to check back to make sure I understood what was going on. At about the 25% mark, I not only started to comprehend without help (forgetting the foreign language quotes and esoterica which I just skipped over) but started to see the appeal and actually enjoy what I was reading. I started to get The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Count of Monte Cristo, and unabridged Les Miserables vibes. The first two being youthful favorites re-read many times, and the last reminding me of the feeling of pride and accomplishment as I waded through it without skipping.
So what about the actual book, you may ask? Enough already about your personal relationship with it! Well, as I said, the first sentence of the book is “Lymond is Back”. Back Where? From Where? The setting is Scotland in 1547, a time of war with England and great unrest politically, religiously, and every other way. King Henry the VIII has just died and the English powers that be want his young son Edward, (A.K.A. The Prince of The Prince and The Pauper) to be betrothed to Mary, the 5-year-old Scottish Queen. Loyal Scots do not want that.
We first meet our hero robbing and pillaging a friend of the family’s castle, to insure ultimate chaos, introducing the victim’s pet pig to the joys of adult beverages. Then he moves to his own family’s castle where, drunk, he breaks in with his gang of mercenaries, flirts with his new sister-in-law, robs his mother’s guests, threatens their lives, exchanges barbs with the mother he hasn’t seen for over 5 years, and stabs her best friend. He finishes off his busy day by locking them inside the castle and setting it on fire. Lymond is indeed living down to his reputation as obnoxious, amoral, ruthless, and other synonyms too numerous to list including brilliant and funny. He is a notorious proven traitor to Scotland and an outlaw also wanted for a crime so horrible and shocking that I won’t say what it is. And if possible, the English hate him almost as much as the Scots. But all is not what it seems. No, indeed. Because Lymond is back to *spoiler alert* prove his innocence, restore his reputation as a loyal Scotsman, serve his country, and protect his family. Not an auspicious start, Lymond.
And that is the most detailed I am going to get about the plot. Because if I went on, it would take me a long long time and I wouldn’t know where to stop. There are whole books written about this novel alone, only the first book in the series, as well as on the whole series. But we have many adventures and meet many people both very very good, very very bad, and very in between. Also very clever, wise, and cunning, and very and very obnoxiously thick-headed (I’m looking at you, Richard.) There is espionage, betrayal, revenge, romance, secrets, alchemy, reconciliation, tragedy, comedy, a duel considered one of the best ever written for the page, and a courtroom trial/very welcome info dump to rule them all.
This was Dorothy Dunnett’s first novel. As she says in the forward, she grew in wisdom as she wrote. And I think she meant that she saw the need to make the subsequent books a little more accessible to the other 99% of the population of potential readers. Either that, or a wise editor firmly took her in hand. From all accounts the best are yet to come, so now that I have conquered, that is, managed to survive, this first in the series…Onward
Despite many frustrations with the male half of the couple who are the two narrators of their story, I really enjoyed this folk horror/thriller. A young couple leave their urban lives behind and fulfill their dream of buying a large property in the country at the foot of the Teton mountains. With them, is their dog, Dash, who I have to count as the third main character in the novel. Their nearest neighbors are an older couple, Dan and Lucy, and Joe, the rather mysterious Native American patriarch of the family who has owned the largest ranch in the area for generations. Soon after moving in, Harry and Sasha are visited by the older couple who shock them by telling them that their valley is haunted by a malevolent spirit that manifests itself 3 different ways depending on the season. Winter is a reprieve when the spirit is at rest. They talk to them about the rules they must follow to keep themselves safe and the spirit at bay. And though the whole process is disturbing, it is not that hard. At first, though they like and value Dan and Lucy, how can they believe such craziness? Harry especially is resistant to anything dealing with the supernatural, while Sasha, as things begin to transpire exactly as Dan and Lucy foretold, understands that she must believe the evidence of her own senses.
Harry and Sasha’s love and support for each other throughout the ordeals which are to come is never in doubt. It is established early on that Sasha is wise and strong, while Harry, though a former marine and tough and strong on the surface, is ruled by his emotions. This leads to bouts of rage and actions that not only fly in the face of logic and sense, but put the safety of himself and his beloved Sasha (and Dash) at risk. This happens over and over despite his recognition of his own foolhardiness and the remorse which follows. Harry’s frustrating behavior is caused to some degree by his injuries and experiences in Afghanistan. Until near the end of the book when Joe, often talked about but never seen, finally makes his entrance, I counted Harry’s weaknesses as a flaw in the book. I was driven to distraction by him and his mess when I felt the rest of the story was so strong that it was an unnecessary distraction. After a disastrous encounter with the Autumn manifestations of the spirit, Joe finally comes to the rescue and his encounter with Harry is so satisfying that it almost made all of my distress and disgust with the essentially good man and co-hero of the book worth it. I saw what the authors did there.
I was engaged and engrossed throughout. The concept and source of the horror and terror were fascinating and unusual. Secrets are revealed that increase the threat and danger to Harry and Sasha. Sasha’s focus changes to living with the spirit by following the rules to vanquishing it permanently. When winter comes, the season in which the spirit is supposed to hibernate, we learn that it only hibernates for those who have not killed another human. And of course, Harry, a war veteran, has killed as many as 5 people in Afghanistan. It is with the Winter manifestations that the story breaks down. The main problem is voiced by Harry himself:
I dunno…a divine omnipotence that’s damn near indiscernible from how most monotheists describe God. All that power over the souls of the dead just to play ventriloquist for a few weeks a year? All that power just to put on some spooky theater for a nobody asshole like me in this little mountain valley? Nah. Even applying the bizarre, fucked-up metrics that exist in this strange place, that’s just too much of a stretch.
Exactly. At the end of the book we are left with the hope that this infinity-year-old omnipotent spirit has perhaps been permanently put to rest by Harry and Sasha. But how they did that when generations of Native Americans could not crack the code is very unclear. And smacks of white saviorism. The secret was too simplistic bordering on inane. So much so that I thought I missed something. There were plot holes and questionable aspects throughout the book which I could and did overlook, the story was so compelling. I loved all of the characters except for Harry. But since Sasha and Dash the dog (and Dan and Lucy) loved him despite his flaws, I didn’t want any permanent harm to come to him. It was a good read but the epilogue was facile with an attempt to bolster it by a tangle of meaningless gobbledygook. Also, unanswered questions! A bête noire of mine. No pun intended.
Jolene recalls the time she brought juice and milk instead of coffee and soda to an office potluck and they think it’s funny:
After that, I decided that limiting my interactions was the best way to keep people from hating me. But over time, embarrassment became resentment. I was annoyed that Rhonda had me buy drinks if coffee and the watercooler would’ve done it. That was the first step down a road. The thing about annoyance is that once there’s a spark, you can find more things to stoke it. It grew and amplified between me and them. And eventually the abyss stared back.
This was an entertaining and funny read with serious overtones. The darkness mostly stems from having to do with a heroine who has social anxiety and other damage due to a childhood tragedy that she was wrongly blamed for. She suffers from guilt that her family had to move to another city to escape the gossip and blame. Her mental state is not helped by an overbearing mother whose ill-judged parenting skills create stress and expectations she can not hope to meet. Therefore she lies about her career success and her romantic life, creating more stress. She is a bitter and very unhappy person.
She works in an office and to say that Jolene does not fit in is an understatement. Her office mates try to ignore her weird ways but are also hostile and hateful. They speculate on the chances of her going postal with a deadly weapon at some point, and they are half serious. And I’m not sure that I wouldn’t feel the same way about her (though I hope I wouldn’t be hostile and mean).
Her personal life is not any better. Her apartment is filthy and she is a borderline alcoholic. But since we are privy to her interior life and funnily sarcastic and incisive if black takes on the world and the people around her, I couldn’t help but like her while shaking my head at her self-sabotage. And I knew from the get-go that the book would be about Jolene’s journey out of the depths to happiness and health. So I was willing to put up with quite a bit from her.
The crux of the novel is how Jolene, due to some kind of computer foul up, is suddenly able to secretly read all of the private emails of her work mates and bosses. She finds out that massive layoffs are coming, and she will probably be first on the chopping block due to her, well, everything about her. She starts to play the social and political game to save her job. In the process, she finally gets to know the people she works with and everything that is going on beneath the surface. Needless to say, some people confirm her low opinion of them, and some do not. She gets to know Cliff, the new HR guy with whom she has to meet regularly for Sensitivity Training. He is a wonderful guy, and she starts to fall for him, and for some reason, he for her. With him, she is quick witted, funny, and nice with a refreshingly rebellious yet well-founded cynicism that he relates to.
There are many aspects of this book that are 5 star worthy. By itself, the premise of Jolene’s access to the secret thoughts and professional and personal lives of everyone in her office was a rich trove of humor and horror. There are revelations galore which made for quite the page turner. Eventually we know there will be hell to pay on many fronts when the truth comes out. We fear for Jolene while recognizing that justice is not on her side. But to me, Jolene’s growth came too late and then, too quickly in the book. I didn’t feel her journey was well managed. I was impatient with her constant negative attitude towards the good people in her life, especially Cliff. She always assumes the worst. I hoped that her relationship with Miley, a neglected little girl who lives in her apartment building would be the making of both her and Miley but the connection never really delivers on its promise.
The ending was satisfying and happy, just the way I like it. But I can’t give it 5 stars. Jolene disappointed me too often, until she didn’t.
“Hold it right there. The only agreement we ever had was that you intended to make me as miserable as possible, and I intended to courageously make the best of an intolerable situation like valiant Southern women have always done.”-Sugar Beth Carey
“They’re all mad, everyone of ’em” Said Rupert with conviction. Georgette Heyer-The Devil’s Cub.
I have read this 2004 book by the great Susan Elizabeth Phillips a few times, and listened to it once before. The book is great. One of her best. It’s a stand alone, but mention of the Daphne the Bunny books from her Chicago Stars series tie it to that universe. Ultimate Chick Lit, it has all the ingredients I look for in that lightly regarded genre and with a delicious southern twang: Funny dialog, plenty of drama, suspense and anticipation, quintessential enemies to lovers, slow burn, true love, redemption, and justice for all. You name it. In Sugar Beth Carey, SEP has created one of her strongest and funniest heroines. And Colin Byrne, apparently inspired by Georgette Heyer’s The Duke of Avon is more than a match for her. But Sugar Beth is no worshipful Leonie sitting at the feet of Heyer’s Justin Alistair.
Sugar Beth is a one of a kind heroine who was truly a pampered mean girl and bully in her youth. In truth, she deserved every bad thing that came (and will come) to her in this book, and she knows it. The reader, however, soon learns she has reaped the consequences of her past foolish and bad acts and come through the flames a changed and better person. But her former friends and the townspeople, when she returns to her small home town of Parrish Mississippi, only know her as the spoiled rich girl who cruelly bullied and humiliated her shy illegitimate step sister. She’s the girl who dumped the popular hometown high school hero for a big time college athlete and left her provincial small town in the dust. She is still the beautiful and flirtatious teen who falsely accused a young teacher of sexual harassment and got him fired and sent home in disgrace. And who didn’t even have the decency to come back for her father’s funeral. I told you she was bad. But while life has not been kind to Sugar Beth, the nerdy step-sister from the wrong side of the tracks is now the heir of all their late father’s wealth and married to Sugar Beth’s former boyfriend. They are the power-couple of the small town and its social leaders. And the young teacher Sugar Beth ruined? He is now a wealthy and famous author who has returned from England to live in Parrish and who has brought it a certain fame and prosperity. And now Sugar Beth is back in town to find a valuable legacy that will hopefully turn her life around and save the future of a vulnerable dependant. And then get back out of the town which holds so many painful memories as soon as possible. Not gonna happen. Let the games begin.
As backstories unfold, and and secrets are revealed, we love and cheer for the very entertaining Sugar Beth while cringing at the person she used to be. But we also sympathize with and admire her sister and nemesis, Winnie Davis. This is a book with no “bad guys.” A really good romance has great side characters and every character in this one is a finely honed gem, and it is funny as heck.
With this listen on Audible, however, I regret to say that the narration by Kate Fleming got on my last nerve. It tainted large chunks of the book for me, including, unforgivably, the romance part. On paper, Colin Byrne is eccentric and affected but ultimately romantic and intriguing. An original in the 21st century, he is apparently based on an archetypal Regency or Georgian aristocratic romantic hero. In the hands of Ms. Fleming, he becomes a pompous and ridiculous ass. She does OK with Sugar Beth and the rest of characters most of the time, but she rarely lets up on the acid sardonic tone, even when it is not called for by the words or the story. Her southern accent is way over the top. I’m a southerner and when a southerner hears a southern accent that is way too southern, it is. Susan Elizabeth Phillips had the good taste and discernment to preface each of her chapters with an appropriate quote from a Georgette Heyer novel. What Kate Fleming did to those quotes was a train wreck of clown cars. She obviously has no knowledge of the characters that spoke the words of the iconic Georgette. Her reading added insult to the injury she inflicted to one of SEP’s best books. I have listened to other books by this author narrated by Kate Fleming aka Anna Fields and her interpretations have been spot on and wonderful. What the Heck happened, and why did no one stop her? The Book is 5 stars. The narration is unforgivable. But I’m not going to punish the book for that.
Having not read a novel I really really liked in forever unless by one of my core favorite authors, which are few and far between, I thought I’d branch out a little. This had won several awards, received a lot of hype, and going by the reviews and the description of the plot, it seemed like it would fit the bill. It’s described as heartwarming literary fiction with dark humor, wisdom, wit, hope, and maybe a bit of romance. And it was all of those things.
We meet our main character, Phoebe Stone, as she arrives alone at the grand Cornwall Inn in Newport RI. Curiously, after reading the reviews and the first pages of this book, I had the idea that Phoebe was in her 50s or 60s. But she is only maybe 42. We also learn she is an adjunct English professor at a small college in St. Louis, Missouri. She is still haunted by her divorce and we learn that she has also wrestled with fertility problems. She has been isolated and lonely, her only companion being her cat, Harry, who has just died of cancer. Fed up with herself and her life, and armed with a bottle of Harry’s pain pills, her plan is to commit suicide. But the hotel, which she has longed dream of visiting, has been taken over by a lively wedding party which has the whole place exclusively booked for 6 days. Phoebe, as usual, is an outsider. But what does she care? After a nice dinner in the best room in the place, she plans to do the deed that night anyway. She meets the Lila bride in the elevator, and, since Phoebe really has nothing left to lose, frankly tells her, when questioned, why she is there. Lila is upset about that, not out of compassion or empathy, but because she does not want a dead body to ruin her perfect wedding. She follows Phoebe to her room to try to get her to change her mind. Or at least wait until after her wedding is over. Phoebe has always led a controlled, careful, and small life, never wanting to rock any boats. But now that she just doesn’t care anymore, for the first time ever, she is honest and fearless in her interaction with the spoiled bride. And she likes it. We find out that Lila, brash and not afraid to show her true self to Phoebe, is an entirely different person with her friends and family. Lila’s confidences spark Phoebe’s curiosity. After Lila finally leaves Phoebe to join her party beneath Phoebe’s balcony, she finds she doesn’t want to die just yet.
The crowd laughs, and Phoebe wonders if Lila is laughing…. But Phoebe will never know what happens—by the time Lila’s mother is finished talking, Phoebe will be dead. Phoebe will not get to know how the speech ends—or how anything ends. And Phoebe does not like this. Phoebe always finishes a book or a movie, even a bad one.
Energized by the freedom of being herself with Lila, she decides to hang around a while. (The feline pain pills proving to be ineffective.) She is drawn into Lila’s world and gets to know many of the wedding party, eventually agreeing to be Lila’s maid of honor. She is liked and respected by all for her common sense and wit. Lila is not the only one who seems to want to seek her out and confide in her.
Phoebe has nothing to lose here. She is not part of this family. She is not part of anything anymore. She is free in a way none of them are, so she kneels down and looks directly at the girl, as if it’s her from many years ago. “We do ask that you keep all your belongings inside the boat,” the captain says softly. Juice looks at Phoebe as if she is making a choice about who to be, and Phoebe makes a choice, too. “Go ahead,” Phoebe says, because fuck it. If she is going to live, she’s going to live differently this time. “Let’s have our funeral.”
I really (really) liked this. Phoebe and Lila’s backstories added to their portrayal, and there were some twists and surprises which are always welcome. I loved the gossip and the peeks behind the curtain of the rich and privileged. Although not a very admirable character, I learned to care for the outrageous and unpredictable Lila as well as Phoebe. We are introduced to the important characters and fraught relationships in Lila’s life through her eyes, and, no surprise, learn there is a lot more to them than we may have thought. Phoebe’s inner observations are smart and funny, and there is plenty of situational comedy as well. As the actual wedding day approached, I found myself fervently hoping for certain outcomes and I was not disappointed.
Unfortunately, the book did lag in the middle, largely due to Phoebe’s unending learning curve. Her constant introspection and little insights into her life and why she acted the way she did were repetitious. It seems like nothing would do, when the author made a point, but for her to make it another dozen times in another dozen ways. Some entertainingly, yes, but some just overkill.
But her excellent writing carried the way past these patches and even though a little tiresome, I was always entertained.
