A couple of nights ago, when my other half and I were trying to decide on a movie to watch, I noticed Sense and Sensibility in our Netflix cue. I saw the movie a long time ago, in college actually, during a class on women's literature. Since one of my goals for the year is to read one of the Jane Austen books I haven't gotten to yet, I decided this would be a great movie to watch again.
I may like to read romance novels, but when it comes to real life, I'm much more practical -- some might even say boring. I've had my fill of wild romance and adventurous relationships, and now that I've settled down, I've found that the smallest, quietest things sometimes make me the happiest.
Case in point: this Valentine's Day.
I went back and forth as to whether I liked Victoria Alexander's His Mistress by Christmas. The Publishers Weekly review calls it "inconsistent," and I think that's probably the best way to describe it -- and to explain my vascillating opinion of the book.
On one hand, the story seems promising. Having been raised by independent-minded women, Veronica is an extremely liberated Victorian widow who values her independence. But she is lonely, so she decides that the best option is to take a lover, without the loss of rights and independence that she would suffer if she married.
Great idea, right? But the characters constantly act contrary to their, well, characters. Sebastian, the reputed ladies man she chooses as her lover, apparently suffers love at first sight and decides he must marry Veronica, despite his long history of love affairs. Veronica tries to seduce him, he rebuffs her and proposes, she turns him down.
I went back and forth as to whether I liked Victoria Alexander's His Mistress by Christmas. The Publishers Weekly review calls it "inconsistent," and I think that's probably the best way to describe it -- and to explain my vascillating opinion of the book.
On one hand, the story seems promising. Having been raised by independent-minded women, Veronica is an extremely liberated Victorian widow who values her independence. But she is lonely, so she decides that the best option is to take a lover, without the loss of rights and independence that she would suffer if she married.