Recent reading

[luzula]

I am now on the train north, to do a botanical survey and then a forest survey, for two weeks.

The Pastor's Fire-side, Vol. 2 by Jane Porter (1817)
In the last volume, Louis was called to Vienna by his father (a minister in the Spanish court). My speculation that he was not in fact called there by his father turned out false, but there's still some deception in that his stern guardian in Vienna who puts Louis to the test turns out to be his actual father, not just his associate as he first claims! They are involved in scheming surrounding the Pragmatic Sanction (which eventually made it possible for Maria Theresa to be Empress of Austria). Maria Theresa is thus betrothed to a Spanish prince, and since I know she didn't marry one IRL, this must either be an AU or there will be some future political change of fortune. Glad I have some basic grounding in 18th century politics here. Duke Wharton is their political enemy, and Louis, who is there in secret, meets him by chance, allowing for some agonized dilemmas. Further on, Wharton saves Louis's life by warning him of an assassination attempt, so Louis is convinced Duke Wharton is his bosom friend even as Louis avoids him since it is his father's wish. A female love interest is introduced; Louis falls for the fair Otteline, but the omniscient narrator tells us she is only interested in his title, and eventually he knows her to lack the virtue he wants in a wife because (gasp!) she opened a sealed letter addressed to a political adversary! (I do kind of like that this is a gender-neutral fault.) Louis's thoughts on this occasion: Oh, what had I to do with love? with women's smiles and sorceries? Why should I give up my soul to lie in the lap of effeminate sensibilities, when I had such a friend as this [Duke Wharton], to occupy my whole heart with noble sympathies? with manly aspirations?

The volume ends with Louis saving his political enemy the widowed Electress of Bavaria from a burning opera building, she having been there in secret and appealing to him that he never reveal her presence, which would shock all of Vienna since she is still in her year of mourning. Louis says his lips are sealed, but as he clandestinely leaves the building, he is seen by Duke Wharton and two others! Duke Wharton tells the others that no, it's only Louis's lookalike. Further reports to come.

Sword Dance by A J Demas (2019)
This was delightful! It is an m/m romance set in fake!ancient Greece (or in fact one of the characters is probably non-binary). The prose style is nothing special, but it's warm-hearted and engaging. The plot is similar to K J Charles Think of England: a disabled former soldier comes to a house party, where he falls for a gender-nonconforming spy that he's not sure he can trust, and then they have to work together to defeat the shady dealings going on at the house party. But hey, it's a great plot! Glad to see that this is the first of a trilogy.

Comments

[landofnowhere]

Ooooh, thank you for the report on The Pastor's Fire-side! Exciting plot developments indeed, and glad it keeps on being slashy.

[luzula]

Glad you're enjoying it! The book is getting quite page-turney now despite the overwrought prose--I'm curious how it will end.

[regshoe]

Manly aspirations! I am enjoying being reminded of the best bits of this book. :D I was also very glad of having some knowledge of eighteenth-century political history while reading, although in my case I don't think it was really enough to avoid getting a bit lost in all the intrigue.

(Speaking of history, you are aware that Duke Wharton is a real person?)

[luzula]

Oh hey, I did not know Duke Wharton was a real person! I was assuming Porter (like Scott did later) was writing about fictitious people since it was still so close to her time. Also I thought surely I would've heard of him in my various reading. And I see that the Baron de Ripperda was also a real person...but Louis and his mother appear to be made up.

[regshoe]

She has heavily fictionalised Wharton's life, and it seems he was a pretty minor Jacobite figure and not involved in any of the risings. It's interesting to think how much historical research must have gone into this book, at a time when the historical novel was not at all an established thing yet.

Also, have a good time doing the surveys! :)

[sylvanwitch]

ENJOY YOUR TRIP!

Also, I enjoy Demas very much and am so glad you liked Sword Dance.

[luzula]

Thanks! And it's so nice to know there are two further books in that Demas trilogy that I can save up for when I need comfort reading. : )

[mildred_of_midgard]

Maria Theresa is thus betrothed to a Spanish prince, and since I know she didn't marry one IRL, this must either be an AU or there will be some future political change of fortune.

What year is this? In the 1720s, she was briefly not-quite-betrothed to Don Carlos/future Carlos III of Spain, son of Philip V of Spain and Isabella Farnese. "Not quite" in the sense that Philip and Charles VI kept making treaties in which Philip V kept insisting that "My son marries your daughter" was one of the provisions, and Charles VI kept going "Suuure!" while crossing his fingers behind his back.

Relevant Rheinsberg posts:
Carlos III of Spain
1715-1730 foreign policy

[luzula]

Ah, thanks for providing the background! It's 1726. So it might be following actual historical events, then, at least in the larger outline if not in the details. Definitely not in the details--the main character Louis is made up, but his father the Baron de Ripperda is not.

[mildred_of_midgard]

1726 is exactly the year I would expect her to be "betrothed" to a Spanish prince. And yes, Ripperda is very real and is a major reason why MT/Don Carlos was a 1720s ship (and a NOTP for many European policy makers).

[luzula]

Late comment, but I am as always amused at imagining the political strife of 18th century Europe in terms of fannish shipping wars. *g*

[garonne]

Pastor's Fire-side quotes continue to be fun! :D

I also recently read and loved Sword Dance (and also Book 2 of the trilogy, though I haven't got around to Book 3 yet). "Warm-hearted and engaging" is the perfect description. I completely did not notice the similarity to Think of England until you mentioned it, though that's possibly explained by the gap of almost a decade between when I read the two books.

[luzula]

It's getting quite page-turney now, even as the prose is still overwrought! Curious to see where the plot will go.

Did you read Something Human too? It's also very charming. I'll probably dole out the author's other works when I need comfort reading...

[chestnut_pod]

Manly aspirations, is it?

I liked the first two Demas books! All the descriptions of the food really stuck with me; I want a fig with honey and pepper now.

[luzula]

There are a lot of manly aspirations in this book.

Not much food description in this Demas, but I see that there's a character who's a cook in another of them!

[seascribble]

Oh I'm surprised you haven't read Sword Dance for some reason! I really liked it and the trilogy. It felt a little...juvenile, the way it was written and the way some of the relationships/plot are constructed across the trilogy, but overall, very fun.

[luzula]

It makes for good comfort reading! It didn't strike me as juvenile, but sort of...fundamentally good-hearted, perhaps, where in another book there might be sharper edges in the relationships? Like, in Something Human, which is nominally enemies-to-lovers, they're only enemies for a hot second. But there's still plot and relationship development, so it's not like it's just fluff.

[seascribble]

Mmm, yes, I would agree with that. It's a bit candyflossy but it was interesting and fun.

[cathexys]

Have a great trip and, yes, Dumas is a sweet little surprise. I think i've read everything by them at this point, and they're all small sweet slightly out there fantasy narratives.

[luzula]

Hee, Demas and not Dumas. : ) Yes, they're sweet, but the ones I've read have still had plot and relationship development, so it's not just fluff. It's nice to have some comfort reading stocked up.

[osprey_archer]

Thank you for the update on The Pastor's Fire-side! Comforts himself during his despair over his female love interest by thinking of his dearest bosom friend, mhmmmm.

Love the cliffhanger, too. Does Duke Wharton spot him leaving the burning opera house with the Electress, or did he spot Louis leaving the Electress's home, thus perhaps suggesting a clandestine affair with a political enemy?? When clearly the Duke is the ONLY political enemy he should be having a clandestine affair with!

[luzula]

Does Duke Wharton spot him leaving the burning opera house with the Electress, or did he spot Louis leaving the Electress's home
The latter! The omniscient narrator lets us know that Wharton is burning to talk to the Electress (his political ally) to find out why Louis was there.

[osprey_archer]

The plot thickens!!!