Glamour in Glass

 Glamour in Glass is the second book in the Glamorist Histories books by Mary Robinette Kowal. 

"In the tumultuous months after Napoleon abdicates his throne, Jane and Vincent go to Belgium for their honeymoon. While there, the deposed emperor escapes his exile in Elba, throwing the continent into turmoil. With no easy way back to England, Jane and Vincent's concerns turn from enjoying their honeymoon...to escaping it. Left with no outward salvation, Jane must persevere over her trying personal circumstances and use her glamour to rescue her husband from prison... and hopefully prevent her newly built marriage from getting stranded on the shoals of another country's war." 

I read this back in May of 2023, a year and a half ago, and boy do I remember being upset by it. 

Plot and Theme: I got half way through it and skimmed the rest to see if it got better. It got worse. Jane's "trying circumstances" were that she was pregnant and while pregnant she isn't supposed to use glamour otherwise she could lose the baby. So her fight over her own independence and freedoms vs the... scariness of soon becoming a mom and not being able to do something she loved doing for nine months. I get it. Putting things down for a time because of children can be hard, but that amount of selfishness and practically intentionally aborting her baby did not set well with me. To have this be the major plot point of the book made me put this down. It wasn't a "she will persevere or think of another way around the problem of her husband being in prison and needing to help him escape." You aren't all Glamour girl! Use your brain and come up with another plan. Don't have the major plot be, kill the baby to save the husband. And the fact that she felt so relieved to be rid of this burden made me sick.

Setting and Writing Style: It has been a minute since I read the book, but from what I recall it's setting and the way it was written was pretty good. I enjoyed the set up of Napoleon breaking out and the French country side being up in arms one way or another. I don't remember being upset by the way Mary Robinette Kowal wrote it, just the themes and plot. 

Spice: The fact that Jane gets pregnant means that there was something going on behind the curtains, but that is where it stayed. Which is perfectly fine with me. When it comes to Jane and Vincent's relationship, I remember there being problems with the fact that he was away all the time. That's not how you spend a honeymoon, dearies. Yes, they've both got to work, but besides one scene where "the curtains fall" that is all the romantic encounters I remember. The rest of the time they seemed extremely mad at each other. Such a happy marriage. 

Characters: From what I recall the characters were actually decently developed. They had differing opinions and backgrounds. Even the side characters had thoughts about Napoleon and how the previous war went with England which was kind of refreshing. I don't recall any Mary-Sue's which is great. Jane was having some major growing pains and she chose extremely poorly in my opinion. She ended up being a character that I couldn't get along with and wasn't someone I cared to read about anymore. 

Overall: Never again. I'm done with Mary Robinette Kowal. Miscarriage is something I've dealt with more often than I would like to and abortion is not something I support. It was her relief at the end that killed it all for me. Apparently she gets pregnant in another book and is all happy hunky dory, but that seemed like it was even more of a reason why I wouldn't want to pick up anything else Kowal wrote. 

A Spy's Devotion

If you're looking for a light reading and okay with a dose of cheese amongst the pages, then this one's for you.

A Spy's Devotion is about Julia, her extended family, and a recently returned and injured army Captain. Julia is an orphan that has been taken in by her pompous aunt, aggressive and angry uncle, and spoiled cousin. She has always done her best to stay back and support her cousin in every avenue she decides, and right now that is to help her gain the affections of Mr. Nicholas Langdon, the talk of the Town. Throughout the course of balls and dinners Julia and Nicholas find out, rather early on, that her uncle is a nefarious man who intends to assassinate important generals in the war with France. Julia is now tied between helping King and Country and not hurting her family and their interests--both of love and of money.

In my opinion, it was okay. There were parts that were extremely cheesy and, for those who've done the research into the Regency Time period, somewhat technically unbelievable. Small things, but they kind of irked me. The ending was also much longer than it needed to be. They could have wrapped things up a good seven chapters earlier without needing the trip to the Athertons or past loves coming into the story needlessly. It elongated it and didn't seem to be needed except for her to write her letter to him to tell how she truly felt. Yes, we get that being a governess is not the most amazing job and that there are many trials that come from it, but we got that with Sarah's "adventures" and letters. I feel we didn't necessarily need first hand accounts.

I think the characters were different enough to be distinct, but some of them I felt were simply stereotypical. Some of them had the same exact interests as similar characters from Jane Austen's books. Udolpho which is a rather scandalous novel from the time period. Even Julia is an orphan with no money to her name and is forced to live with angry/obnoxious relatives who are beyond wealthy (everyone is beyond wealthy here, making triple of what Mr. Darcy makes in Jane Austen's books and Pemberly is huge!). Ms. Dickerson pulled a lot, probably too much from Jane Austen and Jane Eyre.

If you want a regency book with a simple thrill of spy-ness, go for it. I wouldn't recommend this one very highly though.

The Watson's

I have learned now that it is important to read through all the introductions first in a book. They can be very helpful.

When I came across The Watsons at the end of my Northanger Abbey book, I started reading it just as I did Lady Susan not realizing that The Watsons was an unfinished work, almost along the lines of a blip from one of her other stories.

Our main character is Emma Watson who is invited to go to a Ball by a neighbor. She is set apart by her family as she looks over her invalid Uncle and doesn't get out much. She is given a diagnosis of the people going to the Ball and told whom to look out for. She is given offers to dance, seen by many, and gets the basic notions of those around her. There are visits after the Ball along with her family coming into town and trying to get her to come back home instead of enjoying the solitude and pleasant companionship of her Uncle.

It is only about forty pages and doesn't have much in the way of extended plot, but, as I said earlier, it's not finished. I think someone described it as a scribble. There is definite possibility for this story, and it resembles a bit of Pride and Prejudice in some aspects, but it is it's own story.

I found it very funny that the main character's name is Emma Watson, though I'm sure the actresses parents didn't know about this story. It made me happy. As for the other characters, there were so many in such a short period of time that it was hard to keep some of them straight. Few had solid characteristics in my mind that it was hard to keep many of them separated. I would have liked to read more about this particular story, but, alas, no such luck.

I did really enjoy one part of the story where the gentleman who would, if the story went on long enough, and Emma sat somewhat awkwardly in silence and talked some. It seems to be that that particular part might have been the founding part of this short story. It fit well and made me smile. Jane Austen has it well written, all of the story, but this part had that extra bit of "umph" to it that made me rather like the story and want more.

One other thing that I did struggle with, and it might just be that I have an "older" copy of the text is that there are sometimes four to five pages of text without a paragraph break. Pages full of conversation that has no breaks for the mind. This, I believe is only on my Oxford World Classics edition (that had awesome footnotes and explanations about the times) that had it that way. If I were to read it again, I'd go for a different edition, one that made it easier to read.

Miss. Jane, you need to "have an affair with the tab key." ~Mr. Bradley

Lady Susan

Jane Austen is a well known name for many of her works. Mainly Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, &c. but there are some of her works that people don't know. Lady Susan is one of those, though it has risen in popularity though people may not know it.

Lady Susan is a story written in letters between the different characters about the flirtatious whims of Lady Susan. After making a quick leave from friendly relations, she imposes herself on her brother and his family for a time. She is an expert in the ways of speech and a ridiculous flirt. Mrs. Vernon--Lady Susan's sister-in-law--after being invaded by this woman with a sour reputation, has a full house when her brother, also a lover of flirtation, comes to meet her and have lively conversation. But then Lady Susan starts captivating the young Mr. De Courcy. She has snatched away his sense and has him completely wrapped around her finger. Other characters are introduced that shed light on Lady Susan's character, or lack there of, which characters include her daughter and a certain Mr. Manwaring and Mr. James. People all around her can see her intentions and falsehoods, yet are still bewitched by her words.


This story has recently been retold in the movie adaptation "Love and Friendship" (Not to be confused with Jane Austen's satirical story "Love & Freindship," which is also funny, but different). I think Kate Beckinsale did an amazing job at this proud, rather obnoxious character.

I think Jane Austen did an expert job with the letter writing between characters. It gave enough information to not lead the reader astray, but also make it feel like they were letters to friends or family. There was even voice change, even slight at parts, between the different writers, which (as a writer) was fascinating.

I really like the characters. I like they they are a family that has to work through a family problem and that this story doesn't have a "we fixed her and she's not who she was." There is no way to fix Lady Susan because she doesn't think she needs fixing. She is insufferable, but she doesn't think so.

I like how this also shows Jane Austen's humor. Honestly, how many people were writing books like this where the title character is willingly being a lover to a married man and thinks its the wife's fault, and writing this story at the turn of the 19th Century? I mean this two decades before the Victorian Era where they were the most prude and proper society. Twenty years, that's not a lot. (Yes, I know Shakespeare made fart jokes, let us move on.) That is not what we think of when we think Regency, not initially any way.

It is a great read. A short read comparatively, though it comes from a different age. Therefore, writing style and wordage's are different. (Similar to the Hardy Boys, The Belgariad, and Shakespeare.) That change in age can take some getting used to, but once you do it flows so quickly. I love it.

Enjoy the book. Watch the movie and enjoy that too.

Blackmoore

Blackmoore is the second book Julianne Donaldson wrote and it was very well presented.

Kate comes from a very scandle-infused family where all she wants is to be free. Blackmoore is supposed to be her way to escape all of the ever past and move toward India with her aunt Charlotte, who--like Kate herself--has promised she'll never marry. But after making a deal with her mother so then she can actually get to her friend's estate, she finds herself still caged with sour memories filling her mind. Henry, is there. Blackmoore is his home. He has always been and will always be there to help her get out of the sticky situations she gets herself into, and her time at Blackmoore seems to breed these.

This story was far more lively than her previous book Edenbrooke and there seems more at stake here. There are many more thematic elements as well, which carry the book along and wrap it up neatly. Black birds and cages and the freedom of flight... they were well put together.

I tried to read this book with a book in my hand and found Kate at the beginning to be very annoying. More snobbish than I was wanting to spend my time with for the moment. But when I got the audio CD with Cassandra Campbell reading, I found I enjoyed it a lot more. It just took time to get there. Development of the character, depth to Kate grew the farther we went into the book. Cassandra Campbell did a great job with the many voices and tones throughout the story, which livened it up very much.

I do wish there was more character description. There was little to none in the book of the actual characters. There wasn't as much scenery either, which saddens me a little. We get the basics of the place and people, but nothing that paints a full picture as the story goes on. For the life of me I can't remember what Kate or Henry look like aside from Henry's "granite colored eyes." I would want more of them and the settings around them to give depth the story.

The characters themselves were well done. They all had their own personalities and traits which set them apart from each other and made it so none of them were mistaken for another. Even many of the party guests had their own distinct tones, voices, and personalities which set them apart as different. Which was fantastic! Way to go Julianne!

I would recommend this to anyone really who loves the regency era in British history who is looking for a sweet romance. My biggest  pro here is that it's clean which is often hard to find in the romance section of any library or bookstore.

Enjoy!

Edenbrooke

Edenbrooke is a proper romance by Junianne Donaldson.

Marianne is the forgotten twin. Whatever her sister did and her sister won so Marianne decides to run her own races. Thus has been left to her own un-elegant-lady-like endeavors. But then she is invited to go to Edenbrooke, a glorious estate in the country where her grandmother has given her instruction to learn how to be an elegant lady.

All goes array when her carriage is attacked by highwaymen. After a crazy night making a slight fool of herself, she makes it to Edenbrooke and finds a familiar face.

It was a cute book. A really quick read. A book that made you go "ahh." It's a romance novel, though a clean one which makes me happy. It fills that hopeless romantic side of me and makes me feel content.

I felt like there were a lot of stereotypes played in here and cliches galore in dialog and internal thoughts--and there were a lot of Marianne's internal thoughts. Many blushes and a few faints, dances and twirling, flirtations and quiet moments, then the ever needed control of ones reputation. It was cute, don't get me wrong. I finished and enjoyed the book. But it is not a hard book to read.

The characters were lighthearted and fun, though some seemed like cliches and it wasn't hard to tell where it was going to go.

It was a good book for me to take a break with for other "heavier" books. This is a lighthearted read that was well told even if it was predictable with a few twists and turns. It was a cute romance.