Love and Folly

I really enjoyed this book on rereading it in 2025, ten years after first encountering it, because of the author's depth of historical knowledge and the immediacy with which she presents the threats that the privileged class of that time faced from government oppression and quelling of free speech on the one hand and the uprisings of the unemployed and UNprivileged class on the other. The author Richard Falk worrying about whether it would be wise to publish satire in the political climate and the cartoonist arrested for publishing a caricature depicting George IV as fat (which he was, immensely) seemed quite topical this year.

The characters, especially the older protagonists from Lady Elizabeth's Comet and The Bar Sinister, are show more engaging and I would happily read any number of books about them if Simonson had chosen to write more.

Also, I really love the authenticity of the setting and manners. I did not discern any disturbing anachronisms, although having reread all three books (Comet, Bar Sinister, and this) in two days, I may have missed something. I did wonder about use of "a lot" in the first quarter of the 19th century for a second or two before I read on; not the sort of thing that's easy to look up quickly. But the spelling throughout the books is outstanding. Even the narration in Simonson's books conforms to Regency era norms, eg. "teaze" spelt with a zed. I greatly admire her writing and her erudition. show less

Romance series generally follow a pattern: each book follows a sibling or friend of the previous book, and marries them off in turn. Couples from earlier novels generally have walk-on parts, spending just long enough on-page to let the reader know that they are deliriously happy and have plenty of babies.

This is not that kind of series.

The Clanrosses from [b:Lady Elizabeth's Comet|2908100|Lady Elizabeth's Comet (Clanross, #1)|Sheila Simonson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1257779204s/2908100.jpg|2935256] and the Falks from [b:The Bar Sinister|2616896|The Bar Sinister (Clanross, Prequel)|Sheila Simonson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1261150964s/2616896.jpg|2641551] are back, and they make up the majority of the show more novel. Elizabeth's younger half-sisters' romances and intrigues provide the driving force of the plot, but the older, already married characters are the ones I (and I think the author) was most interested in. They have so much left to negotiate and figure out, for themselves and as a couple, and watching them work through it was really fascinating. And I really enjoyed the way history is portrayed in these books--there is real danger from the poor people, who have real grievances, and the censorship of the written word actually seems very threatening here. That said, there isn't really a narrative arc in this book--no build up and then a climax, I mean--and so although my affection for the characters kept me interested, the events themselves are rapidly fading from my memory. show less

Another Walker regency novel, well-written with an excellent plot and historical details.

Enjoyable, a little thinner than the other two with the same family/characters.