Review- The Talisman Ring

Once more, I read deep (deep, deep) into the night and the wee sma's to finish a book by morning, and a review by evening.

I think the bags are starting to show. Full night of sleep, tonight.


The Talisman Ring is (you guessed it) another Georgette Heyer. Sorry. I love her writing and I found a huge stash at my secondhand bookshop, so I intend to read and review them all.


This Heyer is not just a straight romance! It's a murder mystery, and a crashing good one, too. We fall straight into a marriage-of-convenience-betrothal to satisfy the rich-lord-and-crotchety-family-head-on-his-deathbed (which is the closest thing to Oh The Cliche I will accuse Heyer of) and from this improvident start improves rapidly. There's smuggling, shooting, kissing, hiding-from-policemen and- best of all- a murder pinned on an innocent man.

There's no shocking twist- the Real Killer is fairly obvious from about three chapters in, but pinning it on him, ah, therein lies the rub. It's hugely entertaining watching the characters twisting themselves into the most unusual situations, hoping for a clue, a sign, anything to prove that the Real Killer is who they think he is.


Once more (or even, as per usual) there are multiple couples pairing off, although quite honestly I was wondering if the second (or even first? Hrm...) couple were ever going to get their act together and 'fess up. The first (second?) couple you see from, oh, the first meeting. Bam. Love-at-first-shadowy-glance, captured by her smile, you know the stuff. Nevertheless, they're adorable. Ludovic could double for Man-Creature (in my head). Never mind that Man-Creature has a distinctly swarthy complexion and waist length black hair and Ludovic has a blonde crop. This is my imagination, and my blog! If you change the colouring, Heyer describes Ludo much the same way as I'd describe Man-Creature. So ner.

I've tagged this under "Really Odd Names" but I think it really should be under "Really Awesome Names" as we have a Tristram, Ludovic, Basil, Sylvester and a Eustacie. In fact, the only Really Normal Names are Joseph, Sarah and Hugh.
Five R.A.N's in one book! Whoo! I love a good interesting name. Sod all the John's and Charles's. Meh. Give me a Sir Tristram Shield in his battered, old fashioned tricorne any day.


The who-dunnit climax is simply thrilling. I read it with bated breath, and little regard for the sleeping toddler with her feet in my back, letting my light illuminate the room and not just the page. I'm not going to tell you what happens though. I've said it before, I want you to read the bloody book, not act like you have.


This brings me quickly to three more very salient points.
1) I write 98% of this blog on my ipad. This curtails the length of my posts because typing on it is something of a penance I perform for the sin of dropping a stein of coffee on my old laptop. I can steal Man-Creature's Lenovo from time to time, but he has a "thing" about cups of liquid being anywhere near it. Can't think why. (Obviously I've borrowed it for this novella.)

2) I know. I don't write proper "reviews" with a synopsis and in-depth analysis. I do this for fun, not to re-enact high school. So sorry. If you don't like it, move along.

3) If you want me to read anything in particular, comment. If you're from Russia, comment (that's about 80% of my readership) and if you're from Australia, comment too. You're about 15% of readers.

Review- Devil's Cub

Here I am, back again, having read another wonderful novel. 

This time it's another Georgette Heyer, Devil's Cub. 
The storyline has everything I love; mistaken identity, unprincipled and wild men, upstanding women and lots and lots of love. 
One of my favourite things about this book would have to be the different personalities, each with their own significant strengths and flaws that add to the texture and feel of the book and often add to the plot. It's Mary's strong morals that cause her to originally go with Lord Vidal, and likewise Vidal's determination to have his own way that causes her to flee. 
Juliana's need to be chased chases Mr. Comyn away, and Mr. Comyn's refusal to play games that brings on a rift. 

Speaking of Mr. Comyn, I think I'm in love. His manner of speaking is truly a work of art- if I could cultivate it without sounding like a windbag, you'd better believe I would! He's just so wonderfully correct, and cooler than ice blocks in the face of a crisis. Only anger makes him lose his polish, and even then it's after great provocation. A lesser man would have snapped, oh, pages before he. 

Oddly enough, this isn't a book where I liked the hero much. I spent a lot of time wanting to punch him. He's just so very domineering, which is not a trait I find remotely attractive. If he wants something to happen he threatens and uses force, and sneers at people he considers beneath him which I find very hard to respect. I enjoy his father, the Duke of Avon so, so much more as he uses much subtler methods than threats and brute strength to get 
his way. 

The history is accurate to my best knowledge, nothing sticks out. I wouldn't expect it of Heyer any way. 

Devil's Cub isn't set in my favourite era, being set in the time of panniers, patches and velvet suits for men but as it doesn't affect the story, I may have imagined more buckskins and less hair powder. 

It's a Heyer. The writing is excellent, the dialogue fits the time, dress is right, and the description is spot on, every time. Read it with tissues and a whole pot of piping hot tea. 

It's my birthday!

Wheeee!
I'm not really excited about my birthday as such- but what my lovely mummy gave me. 

In hardback, too.


Bit spoiled, I am.

Review- The Great Gatsby

It's taken me a surprisingly long while to read Gatsby- it lay in the bottom of my handbag, looking forlornly at me until today, where I took Baby to daycare, drove home and then lay in my weed collection lawn reading from cover to cover. 

Don't tell man-creature. He thinks I do the housework on Mondays. 

I'm not sure how I feel about The Great Gatsby. It's wonderfully written, the words fly off the page, swirl in front of you in their glitter, their shrieking, wild jazz and then vanish in a puff of smoke. It's a heyday book, a coming-of-age book, a study on marriage and fidelity. 

I say coming-of-age, but it can't really be considered that, in the strictest sense. Nick Carraway, after all, turns thirty and the rest of the characters range from late twenties to mid forties. Carraway does however, do a lot of maturing, mainly in cynicism. He slowly changes from a fresh, positive man into a darker, more sceptical sort. 
There's love and there's loss- whirling in freakish circles until the two come together in a hideous, ironic moment which consequently...well. That'd be a spoiler and honestly I'd rather you went and read the book, not just a review and then act like you have. Not the same!

F. Scott Fitzgerald's authorship takes this tale from something ordinary to something wonderful. The writing stays with you- even through the ephemeral qualities which see the story fly away on the wind as you read it. It somehow feels unreal. I'm sure there's been times in your lives where you've felt like something can't really be happening, it's just too fantastic for words. The Great Gatsby embodies this feeling- in the closing scenes you get the sense that this has all just been the strangest, most unreal thing that has ever or will ever occur in Nick Carraway's life. 

I enjoyed it. I really did. 
Read it in the grass, in the sun, with your cat sunning herself close by. You'll not regret it. 

People who've ended up here

Most of them are from Russia, according to the little stats thing.
Odd. I don't speak Russian. But you're welcome anyway!

Almost none of them are from Australia, where I am.

I confess myself at a loss. 

No matter!
"On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined!"

Review- The Nonesuch

I read too damn much. Four hours sleep, because I couldn't stop reading. You'd think I'd learn! 

  Ms Heyer clearly got inventive when naming characters in The Nonesuch - Waldo, Ancilla and Theophania. Theophania somehow ends up as Tiffany, I don't know. I definitely found it slightly harder to fall in love with a man named Waldo. Just doesn't inspire much confidence in me- perhaps it's the Where's Wally/Waldo thing.

Having churned over my thoughts on the fascinating names in the book, we come to the plot. It's a decent plot. No gaping plot holes, no tenuous plot devices. Lord Lindeth can be a little pale but when you consider he's supposed to be a catalyst for Tiffany/Theophania to realise what a sodding turd she is he does a good job. 

Dialogue isn't stilted, no totally random modernisms, speech patterns blend. Nothing to make me cringe and want to put my head in a mangle.

The romance is exactly what you'd expect from Heyer- innocent, appropriate, inoffensive and sealed with a bit of a kiss and a cuddle, and everyone happily ever after. I do love being able to open a book knowing there's a happy ending for those who deserve it, and sometimes even a sticky end for those who deserve that!

If you're the kind who enjoys a well written, inexplicit (is that even a word? Sod it, it is now) romance, with accurate references and all the rest, and can get past a hero named Waldo, you should read it. If you're my brother, don't bother. 

Anyway, having said all that, I'm not an expert on literature, I just read too much. 

Look what was in my letterbox!

Books! Glorious books! Well, the top three were in my letterbox. The bottom two I found in my excellent local second hand book shop. I love it in there- I never quite know what I'm going to come across. It's exciting!

I think I'm going to can The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It's not that it's a bad book or anything, quite the opposite in fact, but I just haven't been into it like I usually am. I'll hunt down a hard copy and give it another shot in a few weeks or so. Hard copy sometimes makes a difference, I find. Frankly, I prefer it but when it's the difference between book and no book, free download wins. 


Now, if you'll excuse me, I have reading to do and laundry to ignore. It's tipping down out there anyway, it's not like anything would dry. Honest!