A review by lightfoxing
The Game of Hope by Sandra Gulland
Sandra Gulland's The Game of Hope is her YA debut, featuring Hortense Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte, and stepdaughter/future sister-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte. Gulland cut her teeth writing her best-selling trilogy for adults about Josephine, so it seems fitting that her foray into YA should feature her daughter. She clearly has done incredible amounts of research, and she seems to remain as faithful as possible to history while identifying clearly in the end notes where she's deviated - I really respect that (and look for it!) in historical fiction.
The Game of Hope is pretty stellar. Hortense is likeable (maybe too perfect, sometimes, but sweet and easy to picture yourself as friends with), and so are most of the other characters. Even the unlikeable characters (like Caroline Bonaparte) are written in a way that you feel attached to them. That, in my opinion, is the mark of a good writer. I was HERE for sassy Caroline, let me tell you. I loved the cameos of historical figures like Mme Lenormand, which added a lot of colour and depth to the novel and provided interesting "Oh, I need to research that!" tangents. Also, I loved Mouse. LOVED Mouse. Really, all of the characters were written in an interesting and engaging way, although it had a pretty big cast Gulland infuses them all with quirks and personality, so it felt realistic.
The writing itself moved along quickly, mostly because of the very short chapters. Frequently, historical fiction is extremely slow and ponderous, and even though there's a bit of a skint plot, a lot still FEELS like it happens. However, regarding the plot, I do wish more had happened - and that it felt less like things simply happened to Hortense. I felt like she could have used more agency. While I understand that this can be difficult while writing historical fiction about women, especially young women in wealthy families, Hortense's musical ambitions, which we know come to fruition, felt as though they could have been spotlit more. Instead, Gulland chooses to focus on her romantic aspirations. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the object of Hortense's affections is so rarely in the same room as her, it occasionally felt a bit tired. I would have really liked to see Hortense strive more and engage more with the world outside her Institute in some way. I did feel I learned a lot, though, and I DID enjoy the book even though there seemed to be little in the way of plot or character development.
The Game of Hope is pretty stellar. Hortense is likeable (maybe too perfect, sometimes, but sweet and easy to picture yourself as friends with), and so are most of the other characters. Even the unlikeable characters (like Caroline Bonaparte) are written in a way that you feel attached to them. That, in my opinion, is the mark of a good writer. I was HERE for sassy Caroline, let me tell you. I loved the cameos of historical figures like Mme Lenormand, which added a lot of colour and depth to the novel and provided interesting "Oh, I need to research that!" tangents. Also, I loved Mouse. LOVED Mouse. Really, all of the characters were written in an interesting and engaging way, although it had a pretty big cast Gulland infuses them all with quirks and personality, so it felt realistic.
The writing itself moved along quickly, mostly because of the very short chapters. Frequently, historical fiction is extremely slow and ponderous, and even though there's a bit of a skint plot, a lot still FEELS like it happens. However, regarding the plot, I do wish more had happened - and that it felt less like things simply happened to Hortense. I felt like she could have used more agency. While I understand that this can be difficult while writing historical fiction about women, especially young women in wealthy families, Hortense's musical ambitions, which we know come to fruition, felt as though they could have been spotlit more. Instead, Gulland chooses to focus on her romantic aspirations. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the object of Hortense's affections is so rarely in the same room as her, it occasionally felt a bit tired. I would have really liked to see Hortense strive more and engage more with the world outside her Institute in some way. I did feel I learned a lot, though, and I DID enjoy the book even though there seemed to be little in the way of plot or character development.