Recent reading

[luzula]

Mr Rowl, by D K Broster (1924)
About a French parole prisoner in Britain during the Napoleonic wars. This was quite enjoyable! Though I didn't fall in love with it like Flight of the Heron. D K Broster knows what she likes, and what she likes is: slash, hurt-comfort, situations where one character mistakenly thinks they are betrayed by the other, and complicated dilemmas involving personal honour. All these elements occur in both books. Otherwise, this was quite different, mainly in that the inevitable het romance (because of course Broster can't end it with the m/m romance her heart obviously desires) gets a lot more space and is better than in FotH. On the whole, I would say that this book is definitely less slashy, because the slash relationship is not central to the premise of the entire book, like in FotH.

The first half of the book is on track for being a het romance, and I actually quite like it. There's no love at first sight (which I usually am not that into), and Juliana Forrest has much more personality and agency than Alison Grant in FotH. In fact, about half of the misunderstandings and dilemmas over honour occur in the het relationship in this book.

And then, after half the book, our regularly scheduled het romance is interrupted for some slash. Captain Hervey Barrington is very obviously Not Interested in women--he's a bachelor who, on seeing the cross-dressed main character: a girl to whom his attention had subsequently been drawn--indifferent though he was to the sex--mainly because she seemed so desirous of attracting none. Ha. There are a couple of more remarks like that, too. And then we get seeming betrayal, rescue, hurt-comfort, feeelings, etc. It's quite slashy, but I read it as mostly one-sided on Captain Barrington's part, and then it ends with the het couple getting together at the end.

So anyway, I enjoyed it! It's a bit Heyer-esque, but slashier. And I wish I had Broster's talent for plotting characters in and out of trouble like that, because I will surely need it in my further fic-writing.

Comments

[garonne]

I read this in one sitting this weekend. DK Broster writes a great adventure story! I wish she had written even more of them.

Yeah, it's certainly less slashy than FotH overall, in the sense that Barrington and Raoul's rather one-sided relationship is not the only or even the main relationship. But I did think it was queerer. I mean in the sense that you can easily read Ewen and Keith as having a very strong platonic friendship, if you want, but I find it hard to read Barrington as anything other than queer.

I mean, not that there's necessarily a strict dividing line between queer and non-queer, obviously, but anyway, I did think Mr Rowl was a bit different in that sense.

That lieutenant who brought the prisoners to the hulks was also pretty smitten with Raoul, for whatever definition of smitten :D He was quite sweet, I was sorry not to see him turn up again later!

[luzula]

Hmmm. Yes, I too find it hard to read Barrington as anything other than queer, but then I also find it hard to read Keith as anything other than being hugely attracted to Ewen, including physical attraction. You could definitely read Ewen as only platonically into Keith, though, if you wanted. But maybe you're right that it's a little more explicitly text with Barrington, since we get told right out that he isn't into women.

That lieutenant who brought the prisoners to the hulks was also pretty smitten with Raoul, for whatever definition of smitten :D

Yes! That's very true. : )