Recent reading

[luzula]

The Sea Without a Haven by D K Broster (1941)
I enjoy Broster’s writing style as always, but this is another data point in favor of the theory that her later books contain no slash but do contain obnoxious heterosexual tropes. One is probably not supposed to be growling 'arrrgh' out loud when the couple in a romance is getting together. This book is about Charlotte, an upper-class young woman who is a refugee from the French Revolution. She drifts around trying to find employment or some sort of protection, is threatened sexually by men and saved by men (and to be fair also treated badly by women and saved by women, or at least one woman). I did like the storyline of a woman who had lived an idle life now having to make her own way in the world. I also enjoyed Broster at one point making fun of tropes she often takes seriously, as with the elderly French royalist officer unnecessarily and melodramatically breaking his own sword, and an observer noting that he didn't do it with his best sword ('Well, after all, the substitution was good economy.') The book sadly has not a trace of slashiness, though.

I disliked the conclusion of the romance, where Charlotte has to be saved from a situation in which she has stupidly put herself in danger, and the hero then tells her that they are going to get married, and she submits and enjoys his commanding ways. Arrrgh! (One character enjoying the other’s commanding ways can certainly be written in a good way, but this just made me go arrrgh.)

Broster actually had interesting het romances in her earlier books, besides all the iddy slash! There's Juliana working to save Raoul from prison in Mr Rowl, the middle-aged couple who didn’t love each other when they first got married, but who meet again after being separated by war and win each other’s love and respect in The Yellow Poppy, and the enemies-to-lovers het couple in Sir Isumbras at the Ford. I wonder why she changed so? Was it her own tastes changing, or was it a change in what sort of books she could sell?

Comments

[sovay]

the middle-aged couple who didn’t love each other when they first got married, but who meet again after being separated by war and win each other’s love and respect in The Yellow Poppy

That sounds like a great reason for me to read that book.

I am so sorry her later work became so obnoxiously heternormative.

[luzula]

Oops, late reply. I do like The Yellow Poppy! As long as you have some tolerance for French Royalists...and also, a caveat that the female main character gets to do more interesting things before she is reunited with her husband, and is a little sidelined by the plot afterwards.

[sovay]

Oops, late reply.

I am indifferent to the timing of replies! I shall consider myself forewarned and check it out.

[regshoe]

Oh, what a shame that this is another of the arrrgh-worthy het romances! It is an odd thing—I'd certainly like to think it had more to do with what would sell than with her own tastes, but tbh there's enough of that sort of thing even in the earlier and better books that I don't think it can all be blamed on the publishers.

The rest of the book sounds pretty good, though! I especially like the breaking of the second-best sword—that sounds a little like some of the trope subversion in the short stories, and it's fun to see Broster being self-aware and satirical like that. I shall look forward to reading this one. :)

[luzula]

Late reply, sorry! Anyway, during most of the book the (slowly developing) romance is unobjectionable, it's really just that ending moment which made me go arrrgh. I do wonder whether changing cultural norms has something do with why she stopped publishing slashy books? I mean, there's the whole romantic friends thing which had definitely gone out of favour in 1941, and which her early books are maybe on the tail end of? Maybe she had drawer fic lying around which was super slashy...I'd like to think so, anyway. : )

I do think there are things you'll enjoy in this book! I think it is probably the most female-centric of all her books I've read so far, since the male main character has much less page time. No femslash potential though, alas. Also, there's apparently a sequel.

[regshoe]

That is an interesting question, and very true that romantic friendships of that sort were going out of fashion at that time. (Although Flight of the Heron seems to have been quite enduringly popular for some time after it was published—maybe there's a difference between what people enjoyed in old books and what they'd permit in new books?)

Maybe she had drawer fic lying around which was super slashy...I'd like to think so, anyway. : )

Hehe, I hope so :D

I do think there are things you'll enjoy in this book! I think it is probably the most female-centric of all her books I've read so far

That does sound good!