Recent reading

[luzula]

Ships in the Bay! by D K Broster (1931)
This is my least favorite Broster so far: there is no slashiness and no memorable female characters like Raymonde or Valentine. I don't object to Martin and Nest, but they're just not particularly vivid characters. I think one reason it isn't as gripping is that Broster's typical dilemma or misunderstanding is not between two characters, that is, there's no one being torn between various combinations of love/honour/duty. Instead the misunderstanding is between Martin and the British state, and the main characters are soon brought to understand Martin's problems and are on his side.

Also, I have to say that if there's going to be a character who is in trouble for being involved with revolutionary France in the 1790's, I had far better that he actually was so, rather than falsely suspected of being so for convoluted reasons, and actually perfectly patriotic! But, um, it's a Broster book, so that's not going to happen, is it. Although there are some Irish rebels who are fairly sympathetically treated. I liked La Vireville making an appearance again, though he is flamboyant enough to make Martin pale by comparison. And, like regshoe, I lament the tragic lack of Raymonde... : ( But the writing is still lovely, and it's not like I regret reading it.

Comments

[luzula]

You've put your finger on just what was lacking in this book's take on the honourable misunderstanding—it's all so impersonal, and as a result there are no conflicts of loyalty and duty for characters we care about. It is disappointing.

Yes! I mean, there's Nest's dilemma of whether to disobey her father and hide her association with Martin from him, but we never get invested in her father as a character, so it's not much of a dilemma to the reader.

I felt like this book had an awful lot of potential to be more politically complicated than it was, but it never really went anywhere definite.

Yes. I also felt like the French invaders at the end had no redeeming features--they were coarse and incompetent both. It would not have hurt to have given us a glimpse of their motivations.

[regshoe]

Yes, that's true about the French as well! And it's quite a contrast to the Jacobite books, especially.

[luzula]

Yes, very true--the sympathy shown to Ewen's and Keith's loyalties both is part of what makes the book so good.