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A review by rhodered
Doing No Harm by Carla Kelly
3.0
Like many in our times at least, Carla Kelly is appalled by the land clearances of the 19th century when landowners forcibly removed most of the Highlanders from their traditional lands in Scotland. In particular, she's upset by the actions of the incredibly wealthy Dutchess of Sutherland who knew that her agents conducted terrible, nearly genocidal, acts in her name.
Kelly is also passionate about medical men of the 19th century, particularly those attached to the military, in this case the British Fleet that helped stop Napoleon.
Lastly, she cares about human charity, in which one person steps forward to help or save others without thought of compensation. They simply do what is right to do, despite cost to themselves, because they have to.
She brings all three strands of this passion together in this book. No doubt the historic details are as truthful as possible for fiction. The town of Edgar is based on an actual lowland, seaside town Kelly's ancestors once lived in, and it's depicted truthfully from the pretty pastel houses to the awful smell at low tide.
So, why only three stars? I really like Kelly, she's usually an auto four star for me. In this case it's because the center of the story - which is a love story - simply did not have the author's full passion behind it. She wrote it beautifully, the characters are detailed, the plot advances... And yet. It's all too perfect, too glib in a way, empty of the author's passion in its core. She cares about the Highlanders more than the couple who try to help them. I almost felt like the couple were there as plot devices because it's a romance so you must have a couple.
Also, at one point, she has a character scold the Dutchess of Sutherland to her face, a set up that felt transparently to me to be the author yearning to do so herself, rather than something grown from the character's own reality.
I must say that this is all subtle. I may have only noticed it because I've been a fan of Kelly's for years. If this were my first, I may well have been much more satisfied by the story.
If you are interested in any of the three passions I mentioned above, you will definitely get something from this book.
Kelly is also passionate about medical men of the 19th century, particularly those attached to the military, in this case the British Fleet that helped stop Napoleon.
Lastly, she cares about human charity, in which one person steps forward to help or save others without thought of compensation. They simply do what is right to do, despite cost to themselves, because they have to.
She brings all three strands of this passion together in this book. No doubt the historic details are as truthful as possible for fiction. The town of Edgar is based on an actual lowland, seaside town Kelly's ancestors once lived in, and it's depicted truthfully from the pretty pastel houses to the awful smell at low tide.
So, why only three stars? I really like Kelly, she's usually an auto four star for me. In this case it's because the center of the story - which is a love story - simply did not have the author's full passion behind it. She wrote it beautifully, the characters are detailed, the plot advances... And yet. It's all too perfect, too glib in a way, empty of the author's passion in its core. She cares about the Highlanders more than the couple who try to help them. I almost felt like the couple were there as plot devices because it's a romance so you must have a couple.
Also, at one point, she has a character scold the Dutchess of Sutherland to her face, a set up that felt transparently to me to be the author yearning to do so herself, rather than something grown from the character's own reality.
I must say that this is all subtle. I may have only noticed it because I've been a fan of Kelly's for years. If this were my first, I may well have been much more satisfied by the story.
If you are interested in any of the three passions I mentioned above, you will definitely get something from this book.