The Book Dump and Romantic Suspense
Jan. 24th, 2009 04:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zalenaSo, I find that in January I tend to glut myself with books. I think it's a combination of poor weather (though January has been unseasonably warm in CO this year) and holiday letdown. The social season is over, no one has any money, the nights are dark and long. This means I usually get buried in either: s/f epics (preferably something of the deep space depressing variety), or romantic suspense.
I once summed up the genre for my brother with the phrase, "Does he love me, or is he trying to kill me?" And that pretty much sums it up. These novels are the heirs to Jane Eyre. They usually involve women with a sudden change of circumstance, often suddenly rich, and with enough experience (widowed, divorced, recently engaged) to make the subsequent suggestive situations acceptable for prudish readers. My favorite author in the genre is probably Mary Stewart. Her novels often involve international espionage, and each was based on some great subject in culture or art. Lost Greek temples. The Lipizzaner Stallions. Etc.
But I went on to read the complete works of Barbara Michaels, who often adds a touch of the supernatural. Abused women from the past haunt present women in dire circumstances through 'women's' objects. A bit of old lace. A quilt (one of the best featured a quilt that had grave earth quilted into it), an old dress. A lost manuscript. The implicit suggestion is that women's lives matter, and that to continue the abuses of the past is a crime; not to mention that we continue learning from the past, even as we are haunted by it.
I don't always find books I like in the genre. I can't tolerate women who are too spineless or too clueless. The power balance in the relationship can't be too egregious. And the endings make a big difference.
In anycase, all this is a prelude to what I'm reading this January... I picked up a bunch of romantic suspense in our libraries 'book dump' where they put donated volumes they can't use or sell, and library discards no one will buy. The book dump is refurbished probably about once a week. You can find old recipe books there, and volumes and pop-psychology from the 70s, not to mention tons of outdated programming books. You also tend to find estate books there. I would place 'romantic suspense' in this category.
So, I picked up a box full last month, thinking I could sell some. Alas, most of them aren't worth a dime. So, I decided to read them, instead:
Victoria Holt
The Seven Virgins - Poor cottage girl raises herself to being mistress of the manor. A legend about an errant-nun walled into the abbey (now manor) ties themes of bondage through out the text. While no one is trying to capture the heroine, she manages to figuratively wall herself into the house with a combination of deception and lies. A true gothic, complete with ambiguous ending. This isn't quite the kind of book I'm looking for, but is fairly typical of Victoria Holt.
The Devil on Horseback - I picked this one up because it had a hilariously lurid cover. The story is about the daughter of a school mistress who fails to catch the attention of the local squire, but finds herself swept up in the French Revolution, instead. Accompanying a school mate into France she is drawn to the demonic energy of a French count. This book did not go where I thought it would. The ending is surprisingly happy despite the threatening beginnings. Weird, but perfect to read in the bath.
The Judas Kiss - orphaned sisters are sent to live with their forbidding grandfather. The elder sister elopes with the heir to a minor principality and is later discovered murdered. The younger sister sets out to discover what happened and clear the family name. She ends up involved with another member of German nobility, intrigue ensues. The most impressive aspect of this novel is rescuing one of the main characters from suspicions of villainy. I spent the whole novel hating this character, but have to turn around and like this character by the end. An impressive challenge for the author, and one they can't always pull off. Pathetically, what I liked best about this book was the escape from the manor to some Germanic alpine setting.
Last year I read Madensky Square, by Eva Ibbotson, whose works are more sweet than gothic. Her romances usually feature innocent girls whose goodness can't fail to be recognized by everyone they meet. Against all odds they fall in love and marry well, often in exotic settings. I love her books because they involve large casts of supporting characters who help bring the lovers together. Madensky Square is a little bit of an anomaly because it is about a lady shop owner who is the mistress of a field marshall in some major city (Vienna?) in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There are no weddings. Everyone is quite happy with the arrangement, and the book acts as a sort of record of the woman's life and times. It is utterly refreshing after all those dewy-eyed virgins, or repressed-governesses to find an independent business woman who has made a life for herself. This book keeps getting better the further I get from it. I keep wishing I could find another one like it, but then the reason I liked it was because its differences.
Phyllis A. Whitney - I thought I had tried Ms. Whitney before and found her boring. However, I liked very much the books I pulled from the book dump...
Domino - women with amnesia returns to the scene of her forgetfulness: an abandoned mining town in the Colorado rockies. This was also a book that went unexpected places. There were several turns in the plot, ending, of course, with attempted murder by an illegitimate son. Legitimacy is a primary concern in these novels. Blood will out. Antique firearms play an important role.
Poinciana - orphaned girl marries older man only to discover that he is interested in her merely because he wishes to possess something belonging to her (dead) celebrity mother. The setting is a Florida mansion. I kept picturing Miss Havisham's place in Alphonso Curon's adaptation of Great Expectations, but of course, this is in much better repair. Secrets come to light. The Japanese art of netsuke play a prominent role.
Dorothy Eden
Winterwood - I really enjoyed reading this novel about the nobly-born, but orphaned sister of a convict. But upon looking back on it, the plot seems almost too ridiculous to enjoy. She is governess to an impossibly willful, hysterically crippled, little girl and in love with the (still married) father. Circumstances will come about that will bring them together, but I find the already married love interest to be a particularly creepy aspect of the genre, (see Devil on Horseback) because it means someone will have die to bring our lovers together.
The Storrington Papers - a nice blend of the gothic/governess novel, and the present day mystery, with a supernatural touch. Recently divorced woman takes job as a ghost writer for the heir to a munitions fortune. She discovers a nasty family secret involving a former governess and the death of an emotionally deranged and illegitimate child. This secret seems to be impacting the current family, including a very creepy imaginary friend for the heirs son. Nice resolution, great portrayal of obsession, repression, and rage.
In anycase, I can't read romantic suspense all the time (Joan Aiken is mistress of the genre, and my introduction to it... hers tend towards the gothic side and also tend to be very weird). But the book dump has come as something of a blessing as I've tried to cope with everything that's occurred over the past few months.
Today in the book dump an older lady started talking to me. She told me her husband had recently died and she loves to read. After the sun goes down it's how she gets by in the evenings. She has great-grandchildren living in town and likes to read to them, too.
Then she told me this strange story about how a mature evergreen had blown down in a recent storm. She said it was lucky it hadn't fallen on her house or the neighbors. The roots had gotten exposed in all the dryness, and had rotted away out from under it. The whole tree came down, leaving no stump.
"My son and grandson came to clear it out," she told me.
"Now you can plant a new tree," I said, thinking I'd always wanted to plant a living Christmas tree, but have never had a good place to put it.
"My daughter-in-law bought me a trio of plantings," she said, "but I still haven't put them in. They're on the back porch---it's glassed in---sprouting out the bottom of their planters. They've been their six or seven months now," she said. (Odd, I thought, as she'd said the tree had blown down in a recent storm. Odd, I added, since that's how long she said her husband has been dead.)
"They'll grow wherever you put them," I said, thinking about how isn't it just like nature/life to have things keep growing even when we might wish them to wither.
But as I talked to her and then made my way up the stairs to the library, I kept thinking it was like a poem. Her husband has died, a great tree fallen. And she can't bring to plant anything in its place. Nevertheless, these poor, pot-bound, treelings, can't help but put out shoots.
I also wondered if we were both looking for the same thing in the book dump. Especially as we both tend to spend our evenings in the same way.
I once summed up the genre for my brother with the phrase, "Does he love me, or is he trying to kill me?" And that pretty much sums it up. These novels are the heirs to Jane Eyre. They usually involve women with a sudden change of circumstance, often suddenly rich, and with enough experience (widowed, divorced, recently engaged) to make the subsequent suggestive situations acceptable for prudish readers. My favorite author in the genre is probably Mary Stewart. Her novels often involve international espionage, and each was based on some great subject in culture or art. Lost Greek temples. The Lipizzaner Stallions. Etc.
But I went on to read the complete works of Barbara Michaels, who often adds a touch of the supernatural. Abused women from the past haunt present women in dire circumstances through 'women's' objects. A bit of old lace. A quilt (one of the best featured a quilt that had grave earth quilted into it), an old dress. A lost manuscript. The implicit suggestion is that women's lives matter, and that to continue the abuses of the past is a crime; not to mention that we continue learning from the past, even as we are haunted by it.
I don't always find books I like in the genre. I can't tolerate women who are too spineless or too clueless. The power balance in the relationship can't be too egregious. And the endings make a big difference.
In anycase, all this is a prelude to what I'm reading this January... I picked up a bunch of romantic suspense in our libraries 'book dump' where they put donated volumes they can't use or sell, and library discards no one will buy. The book dump is refurbished probably about once a week. You can find old recipe books there, and volumes and pop-psychology from the 70s, not to mention tons of outdated programming books. You also tend to find estate books there. I would place 'romantic suspense' in this category.
So, I picked up a box full last month, thinking I could sell some. Alas, most of them aren't worth a dime. So, I decided to read them, instead:
Victoria Holt
The Seven Virgins - Poor cottage girl raises herself to being mistress of the manor. A legend about an errant-nun walled into the abbey (now manor) ties themes of bondage through out the text. While no one is trying to capture the heroine, she manages to figuratively wall herself into the house with a combination of deception and lies. A true gothic, complete with ambiguous ending. This isn't quite the kind of book I'm looking for, but is fairly typical of Victoria Holt.
The Devil on Horseback - I picked this one up because it had a hilariously lurid cover. The story is about the daughter of a school mistress who fails to catch the attention of the local squire, but finds herself swept up in the French Revolution, instead. Accompanying a school mate into France she is drawn to the demonic energy of a French count. This book did not go where I thought it would. The ending is surprisingly happy despite the threatening beginnings. Weird, but perfect to read in the bath.
The Judas Kiss - orphaned sisters are sent to live with their forbidding grandfather. The elder sister elopes with the heir to a minor principality and is later discovered murdered. The younger sister sets out to discover what happened and clear the family name. She ends up involved with another member of German nobility, intrigue ensues. The most impressive aspect of this novel is rescuing one of the main characters from suspicions of villainy. I spent the whole novel hating this character, but have to turn around and like this character by the end. An impressive challenge for the author, and one they can't always pull off. Pathetically, what I liked best about this book was the escape from the manor to some Germanic alpine setting.
Last year I read Madensky Square, by Eva Ibbotson, whose works are more sweet than gothic. Her romances usually feature innocent girls whose goodness can't fail to be recognized by everyone they meet. Against all odds they fall in love and marry well, often in exotic settings. I love her books because they involve large casts of supporting characters who help bring the lovers together. Madensky Square is a little bit of an anomaly because it is about a lady shop owner who is the mistress of a field marshall in some major city (Vienna?) in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There are no weddings. Everyone is quite happy with the arrangement, and the book acts as a sort of record of the woman's life and times. It is utterly refreshing after all those dewy-eyed virgins, or repressed-governesses to find an independent business woman who has made a life for herself. This book keeps getting better the further I get from it. I keep wishing I could find another one like it, but then the reason I liked it was because its differences.
Phyllis A. Whitney - I thought I had tried Ms. Whitney before and found her boring. However, I liked very much the books I pulled from the book dump...
Domino - women with amnesia returns to the scene of her forgetfulness: an abandoned mining town in the Colorado rockies. This was also a book that went unexpected places. There were several turns in the plot, ending, of course, with attempted murder by an illegitimate son. Legitimacy is a primary concern in these novels. Blood will out. Antique firearms play an important role.
Poinciana - orphaned girl marries older man only to discover that he is interested in her merely because he wishes to possess something belonging to her (dead) celebrity mother. The setting is a Florida mansion. I kept picturing Miss Havisham's place in Alphonso Curon's adaptation of Great Expectations, but of course, this is in much better repair. Secrets come to light. The Japanese art of netsuke play a prominent role.
Dorothy Eden
Winterwood - I really enjoyed reading this novel about the nobly-born, but orphaned sister of a convict. But upon looking back on it, the plot seems almost too ridiculous to enjoy. She is governess to an impossibly willful, hysterically crippled, little girl and in love with the (still married) father. Circumstances will come about that will bring them together, but I find the already married love interest to be a particularly creepy aspect of the genre, (see Devil on Horseback) because it means someone will have die to bring our lovers together.
The Storrington Papers - a nice blend of the gothic/governess novel, and the present day mystery, with a supernatural touch. Recently divorced woman takes job as a ghost writer for the heir to a munitions fortune. She discovers a nasty family secret involving a former governess and the death of an emotionally deranged and illegitimate child. This secret seems to be impacting the current family, including a very creepy imaginary friend for the heirs son. Nice resolution, great portrayal of obsession, repression, and rage.
In anycase, I can't read romantic suspense all the time (Joan Aiken is mistress of the genre, and my introduction to it... hers tend towards the gothic side and also tend to be very weird). But the book dump has come as something of a blessing as I've tried to cope with everything that's occurred over the past few months.
Today in the book dump an older lady started talking to me. She told me her husband had recently died and she loves to read. After the sun goes down it's how she gets by in the evenings. She has great-grandchildren living in town and likes to read to them, too.
Then she told me this strange story about how a mature evergreen had blown down in a recent storm. She said it was lucky it hadn't fallen on her house or the neighbors. The roots had gotten exposed in all the dryness, and had rotted away out from under it. The whole tree came down, leaving no stump.
"My son and grandson came to clear it out," she told me.
"Now you can plant a new tree," I said, thinking I'd always wanted to plant a living Christmas tree, but have never had a good place to put it.
"My daughter-in-law bought me a trio of plantings," she said, "but I still haven't put them in. They're on the back porch---it's glassed in---sprouting out the bottom of their planters. They've been their six or seven months now," she said. (Odd, I thought, as she'd said the tree had blown down in a recent storm. Odd, I added, since that's how long she said her husband has been dead.)
"They'll grow wherever you put them," I said, thinking about how isn't it just like nature/life to have things keep growing even when we might wish them to wither.
But as I talked to her and then made my way up the stairs to the library, I kept thinking it was like a poem. Her husband has died, a great tree fallen. And she can't bring to plant anything in its place. Nevertheless, these poor, pot-bound, treelings, can't help but put out shoots.
I also wondered if we were both looking for the same thing in the book dump. Especially as we both tend to spend our evenings in the same way.
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no subject
Date: 2009-06-27 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-27 10:19 pm (UTC)The Whitney comes with the the two titles mentioned and with two I didn't, Daughter of the Stars and Rainbow in the Mist. Let me if there's some reason you DON'T want those titles, otherwise I will ship the rest via media mail to your office address early next week.