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Arabella - Georgette Heyer
by Mephit
'Arabella' is one of Georgette Heyer's Regency romances. Heyer was a prolific author and had an avid interest in history - her own favourite period was the Medieval, but her most popular works seem to be the Regency romances she wrote. She put a lot of research in and created a believable if rose-tinted vision of the lives of the ... privileged class.
*** The storyline ***
In 'Arabella', our eponymous heroine is the hope of the house: she is sent off to have a season in London by her mother, who is trying to give her the opportunity to find a well-to-do husband. Once comfortably established, the idea is that she can give her younger brothers a leg-up in the world and her sisters a launching pad into society: for although her family have social standing, cash is in shorter supply. This could be viewed as a cynical gold-digging motive, but such is the elegance and likeability of Heyer's characterisations, that it is easy to sympathise with both Arabella and her mother.
On the way to London, an unfortunate accident befalls her carriage and Arabella is forced to seek assistance at a hunting lodge. This introduces Mr Beaumaris.
Mr Beaumaris, a much-adored Corinthian & very eligible bachelor, suspects Arabella of having engineered this meeting to throw herself at him. When Arabella overhears his exasperated comments to a friend, her pride leads her into pretending she is an incognito heiress, little realising that such is Mr Beaumaris' status that he can make or break a person's popularity and success in London society. In turn, he is piqued by her posturing and apparent indifference, and soon sets himself to captivate her.
Arabella's lie gets away from her, and before she knows it, she is sought after as an heiress all over London. But how can she ever accept any offer of marriage, when her real circumstances would be exposed and she would be shamed? The knot grows ever tighter when her brother comes to the city, looking for excitement.
Is Mr Beaumaris really interested in Arabella, or just toying with her? How will this mess ever be sorted out?
*** My opinion ***
I love to read and re-read Heyer's books when I just want to unwind - they are the equivalent to a box of chocolates to my mind, only less fattening! They do tend to be formulaic and have similar recognisable types of character, novel to novel, but that suits me perfectly in a comfort read.
This story follows Heyer's regular plot-line of an innocent but feisty young woman softening a cynical man's heart and taking him out of his comfort zone. Heyer does it so well that I don't mind - there might not be many surprises but it's absorbing. She has a light touch and draws the reader into the story, creating the atmosphere of the Regency society lifestyle expertly. It's not a challenging read, by any means, but very satisfying.
The characters she creates are just very likeable and appealing, and the situations she establishes interesting enough to keep me tuned in. She builds lovely casts: big bickering families, irascible benefactors, difficult older people and rambunctious children. There's also a lot of humour in what she writes: the relationship the beset Mr Beaumaris develops with Ulysses (the mongrel that Arabella rescues and foists upon him) a case in point. It's all very gentle and although there are glimpses of the less salubrious lives of the poor, so you know Heyer wasn't unaware of the harsh realities of the period, the books are not about that.
For elegance and lightness of touch with the historical romance genre, Heyer can't be beaten, and 'Arabella' is a good example of her work. It's not my favourite one of hers, but it's right up there. Arabella is a loveable protagonist and her slightly stunned suitor Beaumaris soon loses his starch. It's a book that made me smile a lot.
'Arabella' is available from Amazon on Kindle for just under a fiver, and new in paperback for £5.91. You should be able to find it cheaper second-hand.
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The Shop on Blossom Street - Debbie Macomber
by noodlesandwich
'Carol smiled at the dreamy look on Jacqueline's face. "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven the first time Doug kissed me," she recalled.'
This is not the kind of book I would usually read, it was a promotional copy, shoved unasked for in my carrier by a BHS cashier. No, I didn't have to read it, but I did, whilst ... tutting, during ad breaks and mundane conversations. While I wouldn't have bought it, I don't mind the odd bit of low brow fiction and will read in any genre provided the writing reaches a basic level of credibility, which this didn't.
The main characters are; Lydia - spunky cancer survivor, scared of relationships; Jacqueline - wealthy, image conscious snob; Alix with an I - young, punky and tough, but vulnerable underneath; Carol - desperate for a baby. They all come together in a knitting class where their problems are shared and solved in a formulaic, predictable bumwipe of a novel.
Four more stereotypical women could surely not be imagined; each facing their own cliched issues, each in need of a romantic fix to achieve fulfilment. Let's take Alix as an example. At the start of the book she has purple spiked hair, wears a dog collar, works in a video shop and owes community service hours for a drugs charge, (to avoid being too controversial the author makes it her flat mate's cannabis, don't forget Alix is good underneath so therefore must hate drugs). It turns out she had a rough childhood, although we are spared too many details other than that she spent a lot of time hiding in a closet, this must explain her fashion sense. There's something compelling about the fact that you just know she is going to have to have a make over, because of course no-one with purple spikes could really be well adjusted. Then there's the childhood sweetheart who visits her shop, (he rents out Dumb and Dumber, which made me howl), and has grown up to be a Christian minister. Romance could never be on the cards for this mismatched pair, could it?
To say the storyline is unimaginative is letting the author off too lightly, the pages drip lazy writing, cliche and trite moralisation. But who am I to criticise? After all this is the first book in a best selling series, so obviously it has a wide appeal, even if it makes me despair. Surely there's no harm in it for readers who desire a little light escapism, even if it is oh so cosy, as well as being completely removed from reality. Well, actually it sends out some truly objectionable messages such as; women - pleasing the man in your life will bring you happiness, hard work will always bring great reward, we make our own luck and even if something nasty like cancer comes along you can beat it by being a nice positive person. Everyone knows that if you are sick, poor, disabled, unemployed or just unhappy you've brought it on yourself and should just get a job and a haircut or go for a bike ride. Simple.
I'm not entirely sure why I read this to the end. Maybe the sheer dreadfulness made me persevere just to see if it really would turn out to be as dire as I thought, a bit like the times I watched Neighbours. But no surprises here, (the minister didn't turn to crack, nor did Carol realise that a baby isn't the only way a woman can find fulfilment, and Jacqueline and her husband never discovered the joys of dogging). It reminded me of 'My Guy'. I used to read a cousins stash of the teen magazine that I was told were too old for me but I thought they were great, when I was about eight. Whether Blossom Street reaches quite the same standard in terms of plot and character development is open to question, but it is, undisputably, tired outdated dross and an insult to anyone who can read.
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Me Before You - Jojo Moyes
by Silvertwig242
more mojo than you could throw at lou's tights...more jojo than you could push the most reluctant of readers to open their eyes, turn the pages and read.
so go on, indulge yourself..get a little lost in the plot of the will he wont he..
this book from beginning to end is a soulful read. its lightness belies the ... seriousness of the dilemma faced by its participants. the story (for them at least) is a life changing one and for the reader it is indeed very compelling.. tearful...humouress..an all encompassing throw that hits you square in the stomach and will not allow you to breathe until you reach the end.. quite a book then i hear you say?.. one nods and admits that although it isn't the mayor of casterbridge, the subject matter is just as challenging and the characters are just as real and flawed but who, although challenged, ultimately win the day.
it brings up 'the' most daring of topics..what does a man do when he is stuck in a wheelchair as a quadraplegic with no hope of recovery? How does a family, faced with the strains of a marriage already doomed to fail, cope with the knowledge of their sons impending mortality?... enter lou... a vibrant, dress fussed, stressed out delightful scatterbrain who tries to hold it all together for them..
at first they all hate each other and lou wants to pack it in but circumstances pull her into this families life and will's in particular until she can't pull away.. at times she runs the risk of jeopardising her own happiness but then while searching to fulfil another's happiness finds her own.
Me Before You made me laugh, made me cry but its ultimate message is to listen and to try and understand what another person might need from life. the challenge ultimately is to be brave enough to accept them, even when they are totally against your own wishes and in looking at another's life - to be brave enough to have and want a life of your own.
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