What I've Read This Week

What I've Read This Week . . .

Devil's Club by Georgette Heyer -- Historical Romance

Dominic, The Marquess of Vidal aka "Devil's Club" is the son of Justin and Leonie, the Duke and Duchess of Avon featured in These Old Shades. Dominic has all the devilish tendencies of his father along with his mother's temper which makes him one of the most wicked men in all of London. He shoots a man in an impromptu duel and is compelled to flee the country by his father. Vidal refuses to go alone. He decides to take along Miss Sophia Challoner, the spoiled, beautiful daughter of a Cit. Sophia's elder sister Mary gets wind of the plot and determined to save her sister's reputation, she interferes, finding herself the one abducted instead. At first she thinks she can escape easily and be home before anyone outside the family finds out but she doesn't reckon with Vidal's dangerous temper and his desire for revenge. She also discovers that though hot tempered, the Marquess is not quite the devil she at first feared. He places Mary in the care of his headstrong cousin Julianna Marling, in Paris to prevent a mesalliance, a matter which complicates the plot considerably when Julianna's strait-laced beau turns up. Back in London, Mrs. Challoner is determined to make trouble and the Duchess plans to stop her. Leonie, with her rakehell brother-in-law Rupert in tow, heads off to France in search of her son before the Duke discovers the trouble. The Duchess's good intentions may backfire and hurt her son more than help him if he can't put his vices to good use for a change. Though this book features characters from These Old Shades, it isn't necessary to have read These Old Shades. It's a very predictable story, yet it doesn't make much sense. There's no particular good reason for the characters to fall in love. Dominic is far more ruthless than ever his father was and deserves the sobriquet Devil even more than Justin. He's both the hero and the villain of the book though I could not see him in the hero role. He's a cold-blooded killer with a hot temper and very little empathy for anyone other than himself. I really liked and admired Mary for the way she handled the situation. Heyer excelled at writing the anti-heroine who refused to faint or fall into the vapors when the going gets tough. Mary is no exception. Instead of hysterics, there's a vastly funny scene which I will not spoil here. The characters don't sparkle and come to life as they did in These Old Shades, though Mary would become the model for future heroines .The book is full of period detail though slightly less so than These Old Shades. Heyer provides just enough to give a sense of the time period but not too much to overwhelm. 

Deadly by Julie Chibbaro -- Young Adult Historical Fiction

In 1906 New York girls like Prudence Galewski are brought up to either work for a living or marry well. Prudence's classmates at Miss Browning's School For Young Ladies are excited about their job placements in department stores or swooning over their latest beaux. Pru wants more than that. She wants to find out what causes death and stop it. She loves helping her mother, a midwife, but the job doesn't earn much money. Pru's father went missing during the Spanish-American War and while they wait for him to return, Pru and her Marm need money. Pru has the opportunity to work as an assistant to the head epidemiologist at the Bureau of Health and Sanitation. Mr. Soper, Pru's boss, is investigating an outbreak of Typhoid Fever in New York. As Pru helps him uncover the mystery of the disease's origin, Mr. Soper begins to think that the disease is being transmitted by a healthy carrier. The trail leads to one Mary Mallon, an Irish immigrant who cooks for wealthy families. If they can get Mary to understand the situation and submit to testing, Mr. Soper could solve one of the greatest medical mysteries of the time. When the press gets word of Mary's situation, the papers dramatically embellish the story and threaten to destroy everything Mr. Soper and Prudence have worked towards. Along the way, Prudence meets a lady doctor and discovers that others share her passion and that passion can lead to an actual medical degree. Prudence carefully notes everything in her diary, including her pain at missing her best friend, her longing for her father to return and her growing awareness of her feelings for Mr. Soper. This novel, told in first person diary format, deals with the history of medical knowledge and the shocking story of "Typhoid Mary." I'm not particularly interested in medicine so I found it hard to relate to Pru and her excitement at the knowledge she was learning. Some of her diagrams are a bit too much for the squeamish like myself. I did enjoy the mystery and the race to find the Typhoid carrier. The name Typhoid Mary is well-known but the true story is not. The true story of Mary Mallon is very upsetting by modern standards and I found myself sympathizing more with Mary than with Mr. Soper. Mr. Soper is entirely too cold and detached from human feeling. Pru begins to question his attitude but she questions it more because she is worried she isn't cut out to be a doctor rather than from empathy towards Mary. I thought there could have been a kinder solution but when dealing with historical facts I suppose an author must be true to history. Prudence's awakening romantic feelings were out of place in this story and felt tossed in for no good reason. I kept reading mostly because I was interested to learn what happened to Pru's father. The resolution to that story line is heartbreaking and the moral is a bit heavy-handed. I didn't love this novel but I didn't hate it either. I would recommend this book mostly to young adults interested in medical knowledge.

Selling Hope by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb -- Middle Grades Historical Fiction

It's May 1906 and 13-year-old Hope McDaniels is on the road again traveling with her father and their second-rate vaudeville show. Hope's father Nick is a magician with a love for Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau and a dislike of modern invention. Hope is is willing assistant and she also tells fortunes on the side with the help of Crooked-Eye Jane. Hope is tired of the vaudeville circuit. She longs for a real home and financial security. As the troupe heads into Chicago, Hope overhears the company manager discussing who should be let go. Nick is on the list of possibilities for his incessant gabbing to the audience. Hope is thrilled and terrified at the same time. At long last she'll have a proper home, which she hasn't had since the death of her mother years ago. She worries about how they will live until her father finds a new job. Clever and resourceful Hope discovers the solution in Chicago as mass hysteria over the approaching Halley's Comet rages through the city. With the help of a fellow troupe member Buster Keaton, Hope hits upon the idea of selling anti-comet pills. Hope worries about what Buster wants out of their partnership, not wanting to share her earnings. It seems that Buster wants a friend. Having a friend is new to Hope but she discovers that good friends are worth having, especially when they're as charming as Buster. As earth speeds closer to the Comet and people fear the end of the world is near, Hope begins to realize that she can bring hope to people despite misgivings about her con. Her father too discovers how to capitalize on the coming comet and Hope learns an important lesson on the concept of home. This is a cute little story about an event that few people know about. I think everyone in modern times can relate to mass hysteria and everyone needs a little hope in their lives. The way the author handles the idea of hope, linking it to her character, Hope, is very clever. The message is a little heavy handed but I like the way the final few scenes were played out. The setting of the story is absolutely marvelous. I loved getting to know the vaudeville performers and they really come to life. Many of them were real people. The author puts words in their mouths and describes their actions and feelings so vividly, it's hard to believe she wasn't a vaudeville performer in 1910. I especially love the way the story is written in first person. Hope is the type of kid usually found in novels of the Great Depression but she's more interesting being from an earlier time that is less familiar. Hope's voice is authentic to the period - including liberal use of the word Huck as an expletive! Hope also adds to the narrative by inserting her own wisecracks and observations on vaudeville life in 1910. This is a charming story that will appeal to readers young and old!