A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbottsen

Summary: After the Russian revolution turns her world topsy-turvy, Anna, a young Russian countess, has no choice but to flee to England. penniless, Anna hides her aristocratic background and takes a job as servant in the household of the esteemed Westerholme family, armed only with an outdated housekeeping manual and sheer determination. Desperate to keep her past a secret, Anna is nearly overwhelmed by her new duties—not to mention her instant attraction to Rupert, the handsome Earl of Westerholme. to make matters worse, Rupert appears to be falling for her as well. As their attraction grows stronger, Anna finds it more and more difficult to keep her most dearly held secrets from unraveling. And then there’s the small matter of Rupert’s beautiful and nasty fiancée. . .

My Review: This is one of those stories that you know how it will end, but the fun is in the journey. Thoroughly researched, richly plotted, and full of memorable characters (even though there are a lot of them, most are three-dimensional enough to remember forever), Ibbottsen has crafted a wonderful riches to rags tale. I love stories where people are good -- even in a Horatio Alger sense -- and I love worlds where the characters, while not completely perfect, strive for goodness, intelligence, and compassion. This is one of those stories, but even with "straight" characters, it doesn't lack in conflict. Gripes? There were a many asides and obscure (for current readers) references, and the point of view changed extremely quickly, without warning. The story was strong enough to keep me in, however, so the gripes are minor ones. I loved this, and I'll definitely be reading more Ibbottsen in the future!

Review: The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray

I picked up A Great and Terrible Beauty when it first came out. I read the first chapter, didn't like Gemma much, and put the book down. But the title kept I really liked these stories, so I finally gave in. And after the bratty!Gemma first chapter, I was pulled into the setting immediately, fell in love with certain characters, related well with others, and was very frightened at times.

Wonderful YA Gothic fantasy!

Rebel Angels was by far my favorite. The Sweet Far Thing could have -- and probably should have -- been a lot tighter, as far as the plot goes. I wasn't happy with the resolutions of many of the storylines, either, but that won't stop me from

A) seeing the films
B) reading the series again
or
C) really enjoying the story.

Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

SPOILERS CONTAINED

Okay, so I would so hate Rochester. What a girly man! Whine, swoon, aloof, brood, rinse, repeat!

But he was interesting. He was really, really interesting. And for all the interesting that is Rochester, Jane is ten times the interesting. Of course, it was tied up way, way too neatly toward the end for it to be a real gothic novel, but man, I enjoyed it. Also, this is one of the few books that I would prefer abridged. You could tell the same story, not lose any of the goodness, and have a book 2/3 the size.

Thanks to everyone told me to read this. It was way better than that Wuthering Heights nonsense!

KIMMY, the 1944 film version came out on DVD last month. And it stars Joan Fontaine! *love!*

Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

This it the just kind of book my mother didn’t let me read when in her home. I felt naughty, just as the Spence girls did when reading Mary Dowd’s diary.

I first picked this up a year or so ago, and really disliked Gemma, the main character. But I’ve wanted to read as much YA Victorian and Edwardian as possible, and how could I resist it any longer? Beautiful title, beautful cover…

And wow. This one chilled me more than once, and I take pleasure in knowing that there’s another book waiting and one after that being written. Great prose, too. The thing that frightened me the most is that Mary and Sarah really reminded me of Pauline and Juliette from Heavenly Creatures. Which is a damn freaky movie. I’ll nix all the comments about historical fiction writers and fantasy realms.
Come to think of it, Peter Jackson would do a great job with the film version. Alas, Charles Sturridge is in charge of the screenplay and direction, seems like.

Review: Jamaica Inn by Daphne DuMaurier

Tightly-woven, extremely intelligent gothic suspense romance goodness, cover-to-cover. A strong female lead (not that I’d expect anything less from the Dame), engrossing males, and more twists than…um…Dwight Schrute’s brain!

But seriously, this might be the perfect gothic romance. Take your time and enjoy this one with a carefully-brewed cup of golden tip assam, like I did tonight.

As for the Hitchcock film version: WHATTHEFRICK? Only the first ten or so pages (and that’s a liberal estimate) of the book are even referenced. Don’t worry, the only thing the film version spoils only the audience’s expectations for the book.

This is running pretty steadily against My Cousin Rachel, by the by. They’re very different, but Jamaica Inn has a higher re-readabilty level.

Jamaica Inn is on my top ten novel list. Easy.