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A little while ago, I wrote a bit about how disappointed I was in P.D. James' DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLY, which was flat, boring, confusing, and not engaging enough for me to even realize or care that it was confusing.
But at Boskone, Lis found out about, and bought, an Austenian novel that was everything James' book wasn't. It moves, has characters, gets the Austen-like voice right, and is fun. It's a fantasy take on the genre, and it's called SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY, by Mary Robinette Kowal.
It's got the tropes I was looking for -- the intelligent, plain-looking, but very talented and kind, daughter; her younger, more frivolous, but gorgeous sister; a flighty and fretful mother; a loving and well-read father who really likes his intelligent daughter; various handsome men of various states of eligibility, propriety, and wealth; and so forth.
Also, there's magic. Glamour is primarily illusion, but it is used for some small physical matters as well -- conjuring cooling breezes, helping to bring down fevers, and the like. A well-bred lady may well be proud of her achievements in music, embroidery, glamour, and painting, and, indeed, Jane Ellsworth is not only skilled at these, but is even talented at blending them -- enhancing a painting with just a dappling of moving light, or choosing just the right melody to complement the decoration of a room -- the sorts of talents that make a house into a truly comfortable and elegant home. But she's nearly 28, and doesn't have a face that attracts attention, and is more-or-less resigned to being a spinster.
It's a lovely, sweet book. If you like Austen, and you like domestic fantasy, you'll like this. If you don't like Austen or domestic fantasy, you might want to see if the library's got a copy, anyway, just to see if you change your mind. No promises, of course -- if it's not your thing, it's not your thing.
But it is MY thing, and it's a very good example of it.
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/fiction-collectio/shades-of-milk-and-honey/
But at Boskone, Lis found out about, and bought, an Austenian novel that was everything James' book wasn't. It moves, has characters, gets the Austen-like voice right, and is fun. It's a fantasy take on the genre, and it's called SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY, by Mary Robinette Kowal.
It's got the tropes I was looking for -- the intelligent, plain-looking, but very talented and kind, daughter; her younger, more frivolous, but gorgeous sister; a flighty and fretful mother; a loving and well-read father who really likes his intelligent daughter; various handsome men of various states of eligibility, propriety, and wealth; and so forth.
Also, there's magic. Glamour is primarily illusion, but it is used for some small physical matters as well -- conjuring cooling breezes, helping to bring down fevers, and the like. A well-bred lady may well be proud of her achievements in music, embroidery, glamour, and painting, and, indeed, Jane Ellsworth is not only skilled at these, but is even talented at blending them -- enhancing a painting with just a dappling of moving light, or choosing just the right melody to complement the decoration of a room -- the sorts of talents that make a house into a truly comfortable and elegant home. But she's nearly 28, and doesn't have a face that attracts attention, and is more-or-less resigned to being a spinster.
It's a lovely, sweet book. If you like Austen, and you like domestic fantasy, you'll like this. If you don't like Austen or domestic fantasy, you might want to see if the library's got a copy, anyway, just to see if you change your mind. No promises, of course -- if it's not your thing, it's not your thing.
But it is MY thing, and it's a very good example of it.
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/fiction-collectio/shades-of-milk-and-honey/