It has been almost 2 weeks since my last post. In my defense, none of the authors that I follow have released anything yummy and new in that time. So I read random books by new authors I've never heard of (more to come later...) but could grow to love and wrote the blogs on paper and avoided my computer. So in the next couple of days, get ready for a barrage of new books and blog posts.
Lets talk about Julia Quinn's new book Mr Cavendish, I Presume. Which seems to be a bastardization of the popular quote by H. M. Stanley on meeting the explorer David Livingstone, when he uttered "Dr. Livingstone, I presume." (And that, ladies and gentleman is an example of why I should be on Jeopardy!). I'm not sure of the reference because the esteemed explorer never shows up in the book and as far as I could tell those actual words weren't uttered either.
Julia Quinn's An Offer From a Gentleman introduced me to how amazing historical English romance novels could be. In fact, it was the first romance novel that I ever purchased.(Also the first that my mom found and threw away...twice) But despite my abiding infatuation with the Bridgerton brothers that were the mainstays of her previous 7 book long series, I have been quite let down by her more recent efforts including this book. That isn't to say that this wasn't quite an enjoyable read to pass the time (a little over 2 hours), but I had higher expectations.
Amelia (our heroine) is a pleasant girl, who has been engaged to the Duke of Wyndham, Thomas Cavendish since she was only months old. And Thomas, as most bachelors in these books do, has been avoiding setting a date for the wedding. Not because he doesn't want to get married, but it seems that he has all the time and doesn't see a pressing need to see the deed done. And Amelia, despite the ton's pity, seems fine with the arrangement. He is after all a duke, and a cute one too.(bonus!!) It has only recently seemed to bother her that he doesn't care what she thinks and has never asked her opinion. Not because he's mean. But seriously they've always known each other and it wasn't important before. And to be fair Amelia has been doing an exquisite imitation of a brainless, accommodating debutant when around him.
So if you read The Lost Duke of Wyndham then you know that his cousin Mr. Jack Cavendish-Audley shows up and becomes the Duke, being higher in the hereditary line. So circumstances almost destroys his new friendship/relationship with his fiancee, when it is realized that she was betrothed to the 7th Duke of Wyndham and not specifically Thomas. And Thomas makes things worse by stepping aside and thinking that he knows best for everyone.
The story is basically a rewrite from The Lost Duke of Wyndham except from 2 new points of view. The reader already knows how the suspense ends because you already read the conclusion in her previous book. And in the epilogue, Julia Quinn does some serious magic tricks that really don't make sense to give Mr. Cavendish a title back. It seemed unnecessary. Especially since she spent the last chapters convincing us it was ok that he didn't have a title.
One thing I do love about Julia Quinn's books, including this one, is her characters. They react like normal people when their lives are falling apart. (And since this is a Romance Novel, It's only a matter of time). Amelia reacts like a normal 21 year old, when she witnesses her father, Mr Audrey, and Mr Cavendish arguing over who has to marry her, preferably the other man. No hysterics. A great deal of pride and a quiet panic attack. That passage was beautiful to read.
Also as far as characters and their relationship with others are concerned, I was thrilled that Julia Quinn wrote a realistic representation of sisters. Amelia is the second of 5 daughters. And in contrast to most other romance novels they aren't the bestest of bestest friends, who tell each other everything, and can't be out of each other's sight. They like each other and are friends, but they all have lives outside each other. This struck me as particularly true in the book when Amelia clarifies that even though she has known her friend Grace since she was little, they aren't the best of friends. Grace, despite being a main character in this book, is the best friend of Amelia's sister Elizabeth. Because ,as she puts it, if you have sisters only one can be the particular friend of someone. I know that doesn't sound nice. But it is just what happens. And I am THRILLED that an author understands this.
As number 3 in a family with 5 girls myself, I found this a refreshing look at sister bonds. In my experience almost everyone in your family and outside of it is trying to lump you into a constricting box, where you are only defined by your family. So each of us had specific friends. And though my sisters knew my friends and I knew theirs, we each had our own particular girlfriend that we weren't really willing to share. It was a way for each of us to carve out a place of originality in a family, and to make people identify with you not as a part of a whole, but as an individual.
So if I was going by a scoring system (which I'm really trying to avoid, but shall make an exception here) I would give Mr. Cavendish, I Presume, a 7 out of 10 in character development. 4 out of 10 in originality.6 out of 10 in over all readability. And 4 out of 10 in how it rates against her other books.
It was a nice book to read, but really nothing special. And if you already read The Lost Duke of Wyndham, then you already met the characters and know most of their story.
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