<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: a less mature heroine would have made novel a 5 star read
Review: Elizabeth Weston is the elder daughter of a scholarly gentleman, who together with her father, had spent many years in the Mediterranean studying the Second Punic War and retracing the steps of the Carthaginian Army. Upon her father's death, Elizabeth managed to publish a book detailing the work that they had done. The book brings Elizabeth some acclaim; but more importantly however, it also brings her to the attention of an extremely rich gentleman, who, when he dies leaves her a fortune. The gentleman's greedy relations (his sister-in-law, Mrs. Atwater, and her son) however are incensed; and resentful at being done out of a fortune, Mrs. Atwater storms the Weston household, insults Elizabeth and threatens to blacken Elizabeth's name in London society. Initially, Elizabeth had had every intention to refuse the bequest; now however she decides (in a fit of anger and pique) to go to London with her family, and to try and establish herself in society, just to spite the Atwaters. Once there, Elizabeth quickly becomes quite fashionable and much sought after -- and she also finds herself steeped in a campaign to one up Mrs. Atwater socially. She also meets (finally) the head of the Atwater household, Julius, Lord Atwater, who turns out (to her surprise) to be a rather charming and intelligent man. However, in spite of Julius's claims of noninvolvement, Elizabeth is sure that he, like his aunt, is out to do her harm. What she doesn't realise is that Julius has become quite enamored with her. Will Julius be able to persuade the suspicious Miss Weston that his intentions are honourable? But what hope of success can he have when his own aunt has declared all out war on Elizabeth? "The Baron and the Bluestocking" was a rather agreeable read and there is much to recommend about this novel: it is well written, and has some rather funny bits. I also liked Reed's lightly biting commentary on the social mores of the period (as seen through Elizabeth's eyes). But it would have been an even more enjoyable/probable read (for me anyway) if Joy Reed had made Elizabeth a little younger and a lot less sensible. And that is because I was unable to reconcile the sensible and full of scruples Elizabeth from the first few chapters with the impulsive, uncertain and rather socially competitive Elizabeth in the subsequent chapters. And in spite of the fact that Mrs. Atwater probably did need to be taught a lesson, some of Elizabeth's behaviour smacked of pettiness and left a bad taste in my mouth. One expects such behaviour from villains, not heroines! And then there was her belief that Julius was out to harm her. A sensible and intelligent woman would have asked around about Julius, and would have discovered that Julius and his relatives are cut from different cloth. But not Elizabeth. In spite of the poor man's attempts to set her mind at rest, Elizabeth refuses to budge from her original impression of him. After a while, this got a little tiring, esp since Julius did nothing (not even a barbed sneer) to her. "The Baron and the Bluestocking" is a charming comedy of manners, and I probably would have enjoyed a lot more if the heroine had been a little younger -- say 22 or 23. However, this is just an opinion I had -- you might not share my view about the heroine's age.
<< 1 >>
| 
