Recent reading

[luzula]

Incredibly, I've only read one whole book in January! I've just had a lot to do, and I was determined to read Yuletide properly, which indeed I did, though I usually put everything longer than 5K on my ereader for later and I haven't read all those yet. Anyway, here is the one (short) book I did read:

White Cockades: an episode of the Forty-Five by Edward Prime-Stevenson (1887)
I ignored the somewhat dubious 18th century history and geography in favor of the gay romance—the author was himself gay, so one can be fairly sure it was meant that way. It's not as good as Flight of the Heron, but it is a sweet story! Unlike regshoe, I did not see the plot twist coming at all. Awww.

Examples of the dubious history: I'm pretty sure a random Englishman would not have had the opportunity to buy a substantial estate by Loch Arkaig in the early 18th century—the Camerons probably held tightly to that land. Why did the main character have to be English anyway? Also, why does Captain Jermain (an English Whig officer) swear by the sword of Claverhouse (a Scottish Jacobite commander in 1689)?

I also read parts of Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner (2018) for book club, a historical fantasy with shapeshifters, set among Jewish people in Russia. I wanted to like it, but the writing felt kind of flat and just did not grip me (which several others in book club also agreed with). The chapters alternate between the sisters, one of which narrates in prose in present tense, and the other in poetry in past tense. This did not work for me at all. Why the tense switching? And the poetry, if you remove the line breaks, could read like prose—I didn't feel that it contributed anything.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

In my experience books we don’t like make for lively discussions. Did Sisters deliver?

[luzula]

Yes, I agree! If everyone liked and enjoyed a book, there's sometimes not a lot to say. But yes, this one did make for a good discussion.

ETA: Also, the dog icon may not have been directly relevant to the post, but I do have a dog beside me turning his belly up. : )

Neighbor dogs are *always* a good thing

[jesse_the_k]

...even if it does mean dealing with several cats' worth of hair, daily.

[chestnut_pod]

I thought Sisters had such a good concept (I mean, shapeshifting Hasidic dynastic princesses?? sign me up!) but, as you say, it didn't deliver quite what I wanted.

I also found it incredibly stressful to read, as a Jew, particularly regarding the swan sister -- there's only so much suspension of disbelief I can handle re: "ignoring the absolute knowledge that her life is at stake in every interaction with a goy and pogroms are possible and frequent."

[luzula]

Yeah, it's sad when a book with a good concept doesn't have the writing to match it.

Several of the people in book club had that sort of thing in their family history (not shapeshifters obviously, but pogroms). In fact, we realized that of the six book club members, everyone except me is Jewish... : )

[regshoe]

Hey, I'm glad you enjoyed White Cockades :D It is certainly strong on the slash and not so strong on the history and geography, haha... I agree that the contrived lengths taken to make the main character English are slightly bizarre—it's not as though heroic Highlanders couldn't be popular, as plenty of other books about the '45 had already demonstrated.

[luzula]

I agree that the contrived lengths taken to make the main character English are slightly bizarre—it's not as though heroic Highlanders couldn't be popular, as plenty of other books about the '45 had already demonstrated.

Right? And the author is American anyway, not English.

I wonder if there are more slashy Jacobite novels to discover? Older ones, I mean--I guess books like Outlander also have slashy components.

[regshoe]

I wonder if there are more slashy Jacobite novels to discover?

I hope so :D Waverley, the quintessential Jacobite novel, is kind of slashy, although not on the level of this or FotH (when the English protagonist first meets the main Highland Jacobite character, he's 'struck with the peculiar grace and dignity of the Chieftain's figure. Above the middle size and finely proportioned, the Highland dress, which he wore in its simplest mode, set off his person to great advantage., which description is pleasingly familiar!) Or femslashy ones, with the opportunity of the interesting variety of roles women played in the Jacobite cause—I'd enjoy that.

[luzula]

Yes, I suppose I should read Waverley at some point...

And yes, would definitely enjoy some femslash as well.

[starshipfox]

White Cockades sounds really interesting! Surprising that something published in 1887 manages to be even more queer than the Flight of the Heron.

[luzula]

It's a much less ambitious book than Flight of the Heron, and shorter and not as well written! On the whole they are about on the same level of queerness, but White Cockades has a slightly more queer ending, I would say.