hrjones's review against another edition
2.0
I’ve been looking for something light and fun to put on my iPad for reading at the gym, and having seen a mention of Shadows of the Heart on a facebook group, I figured a lesbian regency gothic might fit the bill. (I also learned the lesson that, although Nook e-book files, in theory, use epub format, you aren’t actually buying an epub file. So I couldn’t add it to my iBooks collection but had to download a Nook app. This was annoying. I won’t make that mistake again.)
The story’s set-up is classic gothic romance -- I could easily imagine it having one of those old Mary Stewart gothic covers with the castle and the girl running down the steep path. We have the girl of good family now reduced to serving as a lady’s companion; the near-invalid young wife left in obscurity in the lonely and vaguely sinister castle; the bullying and indifferent lord of the manor; the transgressively dashing and lascivious sister; the old family servant of questionable loyalties. All the building blocks are present.
Annalee Stewart (who has a surprisingly modern self-awareness of her lesbian identity) has been hired as companion to the Earl of Blackstone’s young wife Lenore, who is sickly following a miscarriage that has left her unable to give him heirs. The Earl spends his time off pursuing other pleasures, but for neighbors we have his domineering mother and madcap amazon of a sister. Annalee works quickly: within 24 hours of arriving at her new position, she has conceived both a tender and protective passion for Lady Lenore Blackstone and a rather more tempestuous desire for Victoria Blackstone, her employer’s sister. Fortunately for her, both these passions will be reciprocated enthusiastically. We are also given enough clues to guess at the darker plot arc: someone wants to do away with the sickly Lady Lenore in order to make room for a new bride who can give the Earl an heir. As Annalee is caught up in the uncertain currents of the castle and the rural social circle of the Blackstones, she finds herself torn between the urgent need to identify the nature of the danger in which Lenore stands (while being badly distracted by the sexual relationship they plunge into at the first available opportunity) and the temptation of Victoria’s bold advances.
The story has all the elements of an entertaining thriller--unfortunately, it doesn’t stick the landing. The details of the historic setting, the rules of society, and the language of the era are all a bit “off”, as if the author learned all her Regency history by reading Regency novels written by people who had learned all their Regency history by reading Regency novels. (Note: the preceding is not a cut-and-paste error.) The book is written in the first person but I never really got a handle on the narrative voice. The protagonist explains things to the reader that would need no explanation in context, yet there is no sense of framing the story as a tale told to a cultural outsider. (The epilogue -- which goes on long enough to constitute an outline for an entire second book -- has a slight air of being a framing text such as a personal journal, but ambiguously so and there is no such feel to the main text of the novel itself.)
The plot proceeds at breakneck speed. Not only (as previously mentioned) does the protagonist fall in love with two different women in the space of her first day on the job, but similarly unconvincing is the speed at which we advance from initial attraction to energetic sex. (Even setting aside the delicate negotiations that would be expected in this historic setting.) There isn’t much chance for enough chemistry to develop to support Lenore’s sudden switch from child-like invalid to assertive lover. The narrator explains her own feelings in repetitive detail, but fails to convince me of them in her actions. (Though, to be fair, her passivity when the object of her desire most needs rescuing rings true on a historic basis more than her other reactions. At the crux, she is forced to confront just how little power she has to affect her own fate or the fates of the women she loves.)
The climax and resolution gallop down upon the reader as swiftly as the introductory scenes did. It would involve spoilers to note just how the romantic triangle is resolved. The formulaic tropes that were set up in the opening scenes fail to twist in any surprising ways. Our protagonist lives happily ever after but relatively few of the other characters succeed in doing so. And then, as if to make up for the hurried pace, a leisurely epilogue lays out pretty much the entire remainder of her life, complete with what seems to be an entirely unnecessary move to America.
I can forgive many flaws in a story if there is beautiful writing. And I can forgive pedestrian writing if the story is well constructed. Unfortunately, Shadows of the Heart didn’t manage to hit my sweet spot on either of these points. The author has a solid grasp of the elements of a thrilling gothic romance, and with greater attention to craft and pacing those elements could have been woven into the book this seemed to promise to be.
The story’s set-up is classic gothic romance -- I could easily imagine it having one of those old Mary Stewart gothic covers with the castle and the girl running down the steep path. We have the girl of good family now reduced to serving as a lady’s companion; the near-invalid young wife left in obscurity in the lonely and vaguely sinister castle; the bullying and indifferent lord of the manor; the transgressively dashing and lascivious sister; the old family servant of questionable loyalties. All the building blocks are present.
Annalee Stewart (who has a surprisingly modern self-awareness of her lesbian identity) has been hired as companion to the Earl of Blackstone’s young wife Lenore, who is sickly following a miscarriage that has left her unable to give him heirs. The Earl spends his time off pursuing other pleasures, but for neighbors we have his domineering mother and madcap amazon of a sister. Annalee works quickly: within 24 hours of arriving at her new position, she has conceived both a tender and protective passion for Lady Lenore Blackstone and a rather more tempestuous desire for Victoria Blackstone, her employer’s sister. Fortunately for her, both these passions will be reciprocated enthusiastically. We are also given enough clues to guess at the darker plot arc: someone wants to do away with the sickly Lady Lenore in order to make room for a new bride who can give the Earl an heir. As Annalee is caught up in the uncertain currents of the castle and the rural social circle of the Blackstones, she finds herself torn between the urgent need to identify the nature of the danger in which Lenore stands (while being badly distracted by the sexual relationship they plunge into at the first available opportunity) and the temptation of Victoria’s bold advances.
The story has all the elements of an entertaining thriller--unfortunately, it doesn’t stick the landing. The details of the historic setting, the rules of society, and the language of the era are all a bit “off”, as if the author learned all her Regency history by reading Regency novels written by people who had learned all their Regency history by reading Regency novels. (Note: the preceding is not a cut-and-paste error.) The book is written in the first person but I never really got a handle on the narrative voice. The protagonist explains things to the reader that would need no explanation in context, yet there is no sense of framing the story as a tale told to a cultural outsider. (The epilogue -- which goes on long enough to constitute an outline for an entire second book -- has a slight air of being a framing text such as a personal journal, but ambiguously so and there is no such feel to the main text of the novel itself.)
The plot proceeds at breakneck speed. Not only (as previously mentioned) does the protagonist fall in love with two different women in the space of her first day on the job, but similarly unconvincing is the speed at which we advance from initial attraction to energetic sex. (Even setting aside the delicate negotiations that would be expected in this historic setting.) There isn’t much chance for enough chemistry to develop to support Lenore’s sudden switch from child-like invalid to assertive lover. The narrator explains her own feelings in repetitive detail, but fails to convince me of them in her actions. (Though, to be fair, her passivity when the object of her desire most needs rescuing rings true on a historic basis more than her other reactions. At the crux, she is forced to confront just how little power she has to affect her own fate or the fates of the women she loves.)
The climax and resolution gallop down upon the reader as swiftly as the introductory scenes did. It would involve spoilers to note just how the romantic triangle is resolved. The formulaic tropes that were set up in the opening scenes fail to twist in any surprising ways. Our protagonist lives happily ever after but relatively few of the other characters succeed in doing so. And then, as if to make up for the hurried pace, a leisurely epilogue lays out pretty much the entire remainder of her life, complete with what seems to be an entirely unnecessary move to America.
I can forgive many flaws in a story if there is beautiful writing. And I can forgive pedestrian writing if the story is well constructed. Unfortunately, Shadows of the Heart didn’t manage to hit my sweet spot on either of these points. The author has a solid grasp of the elements of a thrilling gothic romance, and with greater attention to craft and pacing those elements could have been woven into the book this seemed to promise to be.
vixdag's review
3.0
***No Synopsis***
This was a very interesting historical romance set in the 1820's. I liked the fact that it seemed that one of the women was able to live her life in relative freedom to express her more masculine presentation. It also was a very good example of class divisions at this time.
It was a bit odd that the main character, Annalee, falls for the sickly Lenore and as soon as she dies, falls equally as fast and hard for Victoria.
It was good fun and a quick read.
This was a very interesting historical romance set in the 1820's. I liked the fact that it seemed that one of the women was able to live her life in relative freedom to express her more masculine presentation. It also was a very good example of class divisions at this time.
It was a bit odd that the main character, Annalee, falls for the sickly Lenore and as soon as she dies, falls equally as fast and hard for Victoria.
It was good fun and a quick read.
More...