Laughter Reviews - Keeper: FARM FATALE

FARM FATALE: A Comedy of Country Manors
Wendy Holden
Comedy
Sourcebooks, 2010 (reissue)


Premise: Disillusioned Londoner seeks professional and romantic renewal through relocation to British countryside.

Cover: Title - Alliterative = win, funny = even winnier, plays on previous Holden title 'Fame Fatale' = winningest; the British title for the same book, 'Pastures Nouveaux', was good also, but Apprentice Writer must confess that she likes this better.
Art - gorgeous, saturated color and black silhouettes, perfectly complements cover art for previous title 'Beautiful People'; Apprentice Writer suspects that once Sourcebooks has completed its current run of Holden titles, the results would look spectacular popped into one of those big, multi-cutout picture frames that display half a dozen images at once.

What Works: This may possibly be AW's favorite Holden title of all. There is a perfect balance between empathy with the female protagonist character and amused disbelief with the female antagonist character. The secondary characters run the gamut of what the reader (at least, this one) would like to see in a British set story: glam urbanite, nosy neighbor, farmer, rock star, and AW's favorite: Bond girl. What's not to like? Not to mention the setting; AW adores HGTV-type shows that follow prospective home buyers poking around all sorts of villages and period cottages on the search for a rural retreat. This novel takes that longing, and looks at the unattractive (but very funny) underbelly of what that means in the real estate market. So as the reader can well predict, the heroine's dreams of an idyllic country cottage don't quite pan out. Equal in the non-panning-out department are the anti-heroine's dreams of an ostentatious country estate. The contrasts, and what the two women do about it, keep the reader entertained to the end and provide the basis for the apt subtitle 'A Comedy of Country Manors' (itself a clever play on words).

What Doesn't: Can't think of anything.

Overall: A classic Holden comedy of satiric contrasts that merrily mocks some behaviors and stereotypes even as it incites mad fantasies of leaping onto trans-Atlantic flights to seek out one's own charming English village filled with traditional as well as cutting-edge eccentrics.

But does it make you laugh? Yes, yes, yes!

Lady Avon! Ghost envy! A heart attack that somehow manages to be entertaining even though it really isn't! Just deserts for social snobs! Just a few of the entertaining bits that await. Gentle Reader: go forth and enjoy. And then please come back to say if AW promised too much or just enough!

Learn more about the author here.

Laughter Reviews - Keeper: THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE

THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE
Alan Bradley
Mystery
Doubleday, 2009

Premise: Upper-class, neglected girl finds a dying man in her garden and takes up the case.

Cover: Title - Perplexing, until full quote is known ("Unless some sweetness at the bottom lie, Who cares for all the crinkling of the pie?" from The Art of Cooking) and later when it is quoted to the heroine by the police inspector. Art - Striking but also perplexing, until one encounters the deceased bird with stamp adornment in the pages. Altogether, unusual and intriguing cover.

What Works: The most spectacularly unusual heroine this reader has encountered in a long time, eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce is by turns funny, whipsmart, terrifyingly precocious, and childlike. Over and over, she confounds everyone around her by thinking and performing far beyond any reasonable expectations one might have of a child. Mother deceased while she was an infant, father still immersed in grief such that his three daughters are more or less left entirely to their own devices, Flavia has adjusted to the realization that in her family, people only express affection through doing dreadful things to one another - and by loyally taking the fall for whomever may be threatened by others at any time. This includes the war-traumatized gardener, who 'loses' bits of shortterm memory and has retreated to plants due to ever-decreasing ability to deal with people.

Because of the family's elevated social position in their British village, her own unusualness resulting in lack of friendship opportunities with peers, and relatively large age difference to her older siblings, Flavia is a loner, bored out of her nimble mind and has become a self-taught chemistry prodigy. When she comes across a dying man, she is consequently delighted: Finally, something to do! Her sleuthing process takes many dips and turns, alternating between hilarious and frightening, but is never, ever dull.

Some excerpts that give a flavor of typical Flavia and show the author's flair for similes:

"I still shivered with joy whenever I thought of the rainy day that Chemistry had fallen into my life. I had been scaling the bookcases, pretending I was a noted Alpinist, when my foot slipped and a heavy book was knocked to the floor...within moments it had taught me that the word iodine comes from a word meaning violet, and that the name bromine was derived from a Greek word meaning 'a stench'. These were the sorts of things I needed to know!..When I found that precise instructions were given for formulating (poisons) I was in seventh heaven...I tried to follow instructions to the letter. Not to say that there weren't a few stinks and explosions, but the less said about those the better."

"Whenever I wanted to be alone...I would clamber up into the dim light of the (abandoned Rolls Royce) where I would sit for hours..surrounded by drooping plush upholstery and cracked, nibbled leather (filled with mouse nests)."

"I rechristened (the bicycle) Gladys..I found a booklet called Cycling for Women of all Ages, by Prunella Stack, the leader of the Women's League of Health and Beauty...Was there a companion booklet, Cycling for Men of All Ages, I wondered? And, if so, had it been written by the leader of the Men's League of Health and Handsomeness?"

"Ned stuck out his callused fingers...it was like shaking hands with a pineapple."

"It was like a dirigible with the skin off..."

"...her hair looked like a hot air balloon."

"I made the Girl Guide three-eared bunny salute with my fingers. I did not tell him that I was technically no longer a member of that organization, and hadn't been since I was chucked out for manufacturing ferric hydroxide to earn my domestic service badge. No one seemed to care that it was the antidote for arsenic poisoning."

"Feely once gave Daffy and me (a piece of sisterly advice): 'If ever you're accosted by a man, kick him in the Casanovas and run like the blue blazes!' Although it had sounded at the time like a useful bit of intelligence, the only problem was that I didn't know where the Casanovas were located. I'd have to think of something else."

"I found a dead body in the cucumber patch,' I told them. 'How very like you,' Ophelia said, and went on preening her eyebrows."

What Doesn't: Readers who have trouble with claustrophobia, or who are uncomfortable with children in dangerous situations, may want to sidestep this story. In case it makes them feel better, they can take note of the fact that this is the first book in a series; which demonstrates that at the end of this story, things have turned out alright for Flavia.

Overall: A wildly entertaining and unpredictable story; Apprentice Writer is impatiently waiting for her turn with the library's audiobook copy of the second in the series, the equally perplexingly named 'The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag'.

But does it make you laugh? YES!
If the gentle reader has not paid attention, he or she is urged to go look at the excerpts again.

Learn more about the author here.

m.

Laughter Reviews - Keeper: IMPROPER RELATIONS

IMPROPER RELATIONS
Janet Mullany
Historical Romantic Comedy
Little Black Dress, 2010

Premise: Regency 'He Said / She Said' love story.

Cover: Title - Can be applied to content on several levels = well done. Art - loved it. From the unusual lack-of-people approach, to the magenta and robins-egg blue coloration, to the cursive script, to the whimsically retro parasols and curlicues. Beautiful, and in keeping with the previous title done in chocolate and robins-egg blue. Excellent work, Little Black Dress!

What Works: When Apprentice Writer first heard the term 'Regency Chicklit' she wasn't sure what to expect. Now she can congratulate the author on founding such a delightfully entertaining subgenre.

What did she like? The alternating first-person present tense format was surprisingly successful. The heroine sections really did have the feel of how Bridget Jones would write in her diary had she been born a century earlier, and it was very entertaining to 'see' things from the male point-of-view. Also working was the fact that although many 'traditional' Regency ingredients were present - special licence, mistress, compromising situation, misunderstanding, servant-handling - how the protagonists behaved and spoke in conjuction with them was utterly unpredictable. The way the duel scene ended, especially, will pop up whenever AW encounters another (literary) duel.

"Rules of Gentility", the first Mullany title AW read, was memorable among other things for venturing into territory that is usually glossed over in historicals - at least, the ones AW has come across. In the case of RoG one such subject was water closets (since then also delved into, if that is the right expression, by Eloisa James). In this case, there was some exploration of how expectations differ along class lines, and also the matter of what happened with the natural consequences of a lady (rather than the man) entering marriage with experience, as it were.

But what worked best of all for this reader was the author's style. Breezy, funny, conversational, compelling. Judge for yourself:

"...He wears plain black...but on this man it looks as though he intends to fight a duel and possibly conduct the funeral service over his unlucky opponent all in the same day. His dark hair is unruly...but in a way that, along with this unshaven chin, suggests he has but recently risen from his bed.
Goodness.
He is lean, dramatic handsome as the devil, and I suspect the bed was not his.
A rake!
Will my reputation fall around me in tatters if I approach him?
....I arrive in front of him as he looks up - ...and gazes straight at my bosom.
He yawns."

"I don't believe I'm more or less clever than any of the hopeful young ladies paraded in the marriage mart. I speak some dreadful French, embroider with a minimum of bloodshed, produce lifelessly correct watercolors, have several easy pianoforte pieces at my disposal for the drawing room and occasionally I read something other than the fashion pages. In truth, I am quite accomplished."

" 'Who is that?' I ask.
'Mrs. Gundling.'
'Does not Mr. Gundling care for the park?'
He looks at me, possibly for the first time that day, with a long, thoughtful look. 'I believe Mr. Gundling to be legendary.'
'Indeed? Legendary in the sense that he may not exist?'
'Precisely, ma'am.' He flicks his whip and the greys break into a canter.
'Is she your mistress?'
'That's a very indiscreet question to ask on our wedding day.'
I shrug. 'Very well. I'll ask you tomorrow.'


What Doesn't: Apprentice Writer is still trying to work out how she feels about the last page, which for obvious reasons she cannot reveal. It is not that she disliked it - she didn't. It is more that it was unexpected - from point-of-view, from closing action, and from lack of hint of what came next. This, of course, may simply be a sign of how well-trained she is in forecasting a more typical type of historical romance genre ending - meaning that one that departs from the usual is an innovation, and as such, to be commended. AW will therefore congratulate the author once again, for pioneering an unforeseen ending to go along with the new subgenre.

Nevertheless, AW would personally have liked having a bit more of an idea of what happened to the characters beyond THE END. She is a reader who loves epilogues, as a way of getting a more lingering farewell to characters she has come to like. Perhaps readers will find out what happend to Charlotte, Shad, et al in a follow-up title?

Overall: Apprentice Writer is very pleased to find proof that rather than being dead, chicklit has metamorphosised (is that a word?), and is alive and well in a new form. She will now go forth and find the author's previous 'Rakish Regency' title, A Most Lamentable Comedy, and enjoy her very funny blogpost on genre tropes all over again here: Regency Hotline.


BUT DOES IT MAKE YOU LAUGH? Absolutely
'Improper Relations' has taken up a spot on AW's Keeper shelf. It is available from bookdepository.com with free shipping anywhere in the world.

Learn more about the author here and here.


The Fine Print: AW received a copy from the author - and she's very glad she did.

m.

Laughter Reviews - Keeper: LESSONS IN FRENCH

LESSONS IN FRENCH
Laura Kinsale
Historical Romance
Sourcebooks, 2010

Premise:
Introverted rural heiress and disenfranchised French duke with a shared history meet again, burdened by personal and political events since their parting.

Cover:
Title - Very good. Short, memorable, relevant to content on multiple levels. Art - the trend of lady with bared leg culminating in flexed foot continues. Altogether kind of middle-of-the-road: not heinous, but not especially striking either. Was her gown supposed to be French Blue? If so, it needed more gray in the mix - however, Apprentice Writer concedes that French Blue is a hue better suited to walls than gowns.

What Works:
How much did Apprentice Writer love LIF? Let her count the ways:

1. The heroine. So introverted, yet so resourceful when the situation called for it (and boy, did the situation ever keep calling for it.) So mortified by her inexplicable thrice-jilted state, yet so shrewd in how to take the personalities of those around her into account to achieve results desired. So fixated in her self-image as a non-descript mouse, yet quietly drawing the positive regard of all who mattered (and some who didn't.) Readers who enjoyed Olivia "What Happens in London" Bevelstoke's habit of composing lists to work through her frustrations (AW certainly did) will be likewise entertained by the daydreams Callie concocts to combat feelings of impotence and anger created by the restrictions of her daily life.

2. The hero. Tormented, too charming for his own good, made almost disastrously reckless by jealousy, utterly steadfast in his own way. A fascinating mix of impulsiveness and principles. AW wants to say 'lovable' except that makes him sound like a puppy, or perhaps one of the bull calves that keep cropping up, and AW doesn't think that puppies or bull calves are as passionate or dashing as Trev. Then again, what does she know? The book is dedicated to a hound. One imagines there must be a good reason for that.

3. The secondary characters. Regular readers of this space know how important they are to AW. She was pleased with both human and animal ones. The gravely ill mother - wonderful! The antagonist - went from irredeemable to creating odd flashes of sympathy and hope that something might be done with him. The bull - loved him, though AW has never been a bovine person regardless of how unendingly cute baby Norman was in 'City Slickers'. Were all believable and uncliched.

4. The writing. It flowed so well. No spots that jarred with anachronisms, out of proportion emotion, dragging introspection, questions about the mechanics of how something just happened. And the dialogue - oh, the dialogue! AW desperately longed to have someone to talk with like that.

5. And finally, the big kahuna: The funny. AW's copy is overwhelmingly dog-eared with little gems. She will limit herself to a few:


"She had wrestled with the question (of what could be wrong with her to be jilted three times) herself. Indeed, she and her father and her sister and their acqusaintance and all the local gossips and probably two or three of the wiser village goats had spent a good deal of time dissecting the matter. No satisfactory answer had been agreed upon.

Her father had attributed it to the general decline of British Manhood into Riot and Villany. Her sister Hermione felt that Callie showed a deplorable lack of respect for the fashion in caps. The gossips largely blamed it upon Napoleon. During the French wars, they had blamed everything on Napoleon, and even five years after Waterloo he had not outlived his usefulness in that regard. The goats, being commoners, very properly kept their opinions to themselves."

And:
"...Are you a great heiress, then?"
"Well, yes," she admitted..."After the last settlement, it toted up to quite a sum."
"How much?" he asked bluntly.
"Eighty thousand," she said in a smothered voice.
"Good God."
"So you see," she said, lifting her face, "I'm hardly an object for compassion."
"May I make you the object of my violent and unrestrained ardor?" He made a motion as if to loosen his neck-cloth. "I'm a bit tired, but perfectly willing."
"My calling hours are from twelve to three, if you wish to importune me violently," Callie said, dropping a quick curtsy, "but now I must see to your mother."

And this, the phrase that will join Joanna Bourne's expression of strong emotion ("God's avenging chickens!") in AW's hall of fame:

"...he cried havoc and let slip the hens of war."

Top that!


What Doesn't;
Callie and Trev did not have sufficient foresight to provide siblings who are both alive and single, dashing the possibility of re-entering this world through their books. Perhaps some obscure cousins could pop up and provide a reunion with Callie and Trev in future pages? Perhaps Callie's sister can become a widow? Or couldn't an author of this calibre transform the antagonist into a convincing hero of his own story?

Overall:
This book is destined for the Laughter Keeper Shelf, but it will need to wait to take up its place there. First AW is going to read it again.

But does it make you laugh? YES, YES, YES!
The last time a historical made AW laugh so consistently from start to finish was when she discovered Lindsey Davis' "Falco" series of imperial Rome. Giving LIF to someone feeling down or disheartened would be humanitarian service.


COME BACK TOMORROW FOR Q & A WITH THE AUTHOR!

The Fine Print: AW received an Advance Reader's Copy from Sourcebooks - and she's so glad she did.

M.

Laughter Reviews #29 - KEEPER - "HOW TO TAME A MODERN ROGUE"

Giveaway! Details Below



HOW TO TAME A MODERN ROGUE
by Diana Holquist
Contemporary Romantic Comedy

Premise
Opposite personalities must co-operate to maintain a historical fiction for the sake of a medically fragile senior.

Cover
Eyecatching, attractive turquoise color, playful couple (reminiscent of Julie James' covers) not really indicative of much of content - but Apprentice Writer gives extra points for the fact that the male is not only clothed, but wearing cufflinks. What really works is the clever title - alluding to both time periods involved, and tweaking hot-button terms in the genre.

What Works
A whole lot, actually.

Beginning with the epigraphs (you know - those little snippets some authors use to crown their chapters to give readers a hint about what's about to happen). AW is a sucker for epigraphs, and these are really good. The author has quoted from the fictitious historical tome 'The Dulcet Duke' (that title alone makes AW grin), and the language and scenarios are pitch perfect.

Next, the hero. Loved him. Loved his strengths, believed from the beginning that his flaws had a good reason (they do) and would be overcome (they are), loved the way his mind worked, most especially loved the way he made AW laugh. He regularly doesn't even pretend to listen to the heroine, and rather than seeming obnoxious and male chauvinistic, it comes off as cheeky and funny (isn't the most frequent female complant about men that they never listen?). And the way he goes about transforming himself, and figuring out what it is the heroine really needs was genuine and endearing.

Great secondary characters? Got 'em. A wonderful senior character (of which there are too few in fiction - at least, the books AW has been reading), and an exotic mystery man - not to mention his horse - lend charm and substance.

Believable, zippy writing? Got it. One of the things that irritates AW no end are covers/and or descriptions of heros that are ONLY achievable through many, many hours a day spent at the gym plus ingestion of banned substances, with the actual day-to-day hero activities including at most a mild gallop through the park or a round of golf. This hero is a dedicated soccer player, and the sport has signficance throughout the story. AW's household is a soccer-watching one, so the references to 'elbows', the descriptions of how the players interact with each other, and the process of demasking the mystery man were all very well done in her eyes. Another place that got the checkmark for 'mission accomplished' was the way the hero and heroine recover from the so-called 'Black Moment' (when they each believe the relationship is doomed). The way they built their road back to each other was charming and apropriate to the big picture.

What Doesn't
This question led to a whole philosophical debate for AW, as she has always considered herself the type of reader for whom a heroine need not be likable so long as she is interesting. This belief was tested. The heroine starts out stiff, somewhat self-involved, judgemental, and not especially convincing in her profession as school teacher, considering her erroneous belief that penguins live at the North Pole (junior apprentice writer #2's animal habitat project taught AW that the polar opposite is correct) and her deficiencies in basic courtesy towards the hero - something one would think is second nature to professionals trying to drum the essentials into young skulls. At several points, the hero asks himself why he's attracted to her, and in the beginning this reader echoed the question. Which led to another: why was AW more forgiving of the hero's flaws than the heroine's, and more ready to believe they would be overcome? Is she harder on protagonists of her own gender, and if so, why? She did not arrive at an answer, but thankfully, by the end of the book, the heroine has indeed transformed, and AW liked and was rooting for her well before the HEA came along.

Overall
A wonderful example of how a book with a known ending (it WILL be happy, even though in between both main characters think it won't) can nevertheless be non-formulaic.

But does it make you laugh? Yes, yes, yes
Anyone who has read a number of romances, of whatver time period, will delight in how certain recurring situations and stereotypical language are gently, lovingly, and effectively mocked. One word: rippling.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND



GIVEAWAY!

Celebrating Book Blogger Appreciation Week, Apprentice Writer is delighted to host her first ever giveaway for a new copy of HTTAMR, courtesy of the generous people at Grand Central!

The Fine Print:
1. Tell Apprentice Writer of a sport you either love or detest that was mentioned in a novel, and the title of that novel.

2. Be sure to leave a way for AW to get in touch with you.

3. For an extra entry, come back tomorrow and leave a comment on the Q & A post with the author.

4. For another extra entry, tell AW whether you participated in BBAW, and if so in what way.

5. US/Canadian addresses only, no post office boxes.

6. Contest closes 30 September 2009.



Good luck!

Laughter Reviews #28 - KEEPER - "WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON"

WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON
By Julia Quinn
Historical Romance

Premise
Upper-class Regency Londoners and new neighbors develop a relationship by virtue of being able to see into each other's rooms.

Cover
Clever title. Art doesn't say much about content but is blessedly free of manchests.

What Works
Apprentice Writer originally intended to stay away from this story, given how it is about characters introduced in 'The Secret Diary of Miss Miranda Cheever' which was her first Quinn DNF. But the buzz about 'London' was so consistently positive she gave the first 20 pages a shot - and was completely sucked in. The story is delightful fun, hero and heroine both likable and believable (unlike 'Cheever').

There is a secondary character with 'hero of the next book' written all over him (which AW doesn't mind) and another who seems at first to be heading into villain territory but ends up somewhere else (which AW really likes). There is the heroine's habit of composing mental lists of all topics under the sun (it becomes a matter of great reader anticipation to guess what the next might be). There is excellent satire of gothic novels ("....pecked to death by pigeons...." AW will say no more.) And there is the remarkable feat of having the funniest scene in the whole book populated by three men rather than hero and heroine, as might be expected in a romance. On a more serious note, there is poignant description of how alcoholism can cause damage across generations.

What Doesn't
The heroine's family seems remarkably casual about her interactions. More than once, AW wondered where her parents/brother were and whether their non-protective approach was perhaps supposed to show they considered her on the shelf and not in such need of sheltering, given how thoroughly the hero took over functions that normally would have been carried out by relatives.

Whatever the reason, AW was willing to suspend disbelief since it all carried the story forward.

Overall
Altogether, a wonderful addition to the Quinn oevre, and a keeper on AW's shelf.

But does it make you laugh? Yes, yes, yes!
Was the gentle reader not paying attention above? "....Pecked to death by pigeons..."! There's more where that came from. Including a tuba. Go read and laugh for yourself.

Laughter Reviews #27 KEEPER - "A LONG WAY DOWN"

A LONG WAY DOWN
by Nick Hornby
Contemporary Fiction

Premise
Four Londoners intending suicide meet on the roof of an infamous building and make a pact to let some time go by before re-evaluating their goal.

What Works
Apprentice Writer has heard that when a reader begins analyzing how an author constructed the book, it is a bad thing since that is an indication the story didn't grab them in and pull them along. She begs to differ. The whole time she sped through this story, she kept thinking things like: "These four people, so wildly different from one another, have to have four different and equally believable reasons for contemplating suicide. How can the author possibly do that? Oh. But then they have to have believable reasons for coming back down from the roof, or there'd be no story. How? Oh. But of the four in the beginning, one or more are going to have to work up a new or intensified reason to go through with the deed, right? Oh...." Etc.
In short: Apprentice Writer was engrossed, convinced, and entertained (if that is the right word to use about a novel on suicide). And in case it has remained unclear from previous reviews - she is also the type of person who appreciates happy endings but really, really doesn't like it when they're overdone, with excessive '....red, shiny, Hollywood-ending ribbons' as one book club sister terms it. Without giving too much away of the four story endings involved, AW can say that they are not overdone. Which may, in fact, be one of the most powerful lessons of the book:

Somtimes, the difference between 'I can't go on' and 'Maybe I can' need not be huge. It might be as little as a minor shift in how one looks at something.

What Doesn't
Some readers may have difficulty with the amount of profanity involved (which in itself becomes a running gag). This is not AW's favorite thing, but she could see how it made sense for the particular characters involved, and was informed by the British members of the book club (for which she read this novel) that that is a regular part of the culture among some groups.

The story is written in first person, alternating between the four protagonists. AW thought it was a brilliant way of contrasting the characters, and she never got confused about which was which since their voices were so individual, however it is possible that some readers might not be pleased with the format.

Finally, some book club members were so alienated by the characters that they didn't bother finishing the story because they didn't care what happened to any of them. It is true that the author was unflinching in not 'prettifying' the characters; for AW this was actually a bold move, showing them in their unvarnished (non)glory, and she was fascinated with them until the end. YMMV.

Overall
In this reader's opinion, another bullseye for the author of 'About a Boy' (which she also greatly enjoyed). The fine print: would not recommend for readers under sixteen.


But does it make you laugh? ABSOLUTELY
Though it must be admitted that much is black humor, the funny moments came fast and furious for this reader. It was a rare page that didn't have a noteworthy observation, character detail, or bit of dialogue that was witty, poignant, or sometimes even laugh-out-loud amusing. This is saying something, because AW went into this book with trepidation, suicide being a very touchy subject in her family so she was concerned that the subject matter might be treated flippantly or without due gravity. But though there are many (MANY!) irreverent moments, it is abundantly clear that the author has done a vast amount of thinking on this subject, and the results he weaves in to the story sometimes stay at the surface, sometimes dip further down, and sometimes go very deep indeed. Which one is which may well depend on the individual reader and the immediacy of their personal experience with the subject.

For this reader, the story did all she expects of a keeper read: delivered unique and memorable characters, developed the humor in a believable way, and provided a new way of looking at a real life issue. AW will certainly be searching out more from this author.

Laughter Reviews #19 - Keeper

Time for another book review with the focus: funny or not?

YOUR SCANDOLOUS WAYS

LORETTA CHASE
HISTORICAL ROMANCE

Premise
Secret agent seeks to obtain sensitive material from British divorcee expatriate turned notorious Venetian courtesan.



What Works
First off, the setting. Apprentice Writer adores Italy, so unfolding the story in the superlatively romantic city of Venice guarantees boatloads (hee!) of reader goodwill without a single word having been read. Gondolas, opera, art, famous landmarks, steadily recurring snippets of Italian - all these atmospheric ingredients were splendidly applied to the story (though oddly and to AW's dismay, the Italian obsession with cuisine wasn't. Not one gelato to be seen.)

Second, the trademark Chase verbal & emotional sparring between hero and heroine was in full force, to convincing and amusing effect. This was especially fun on occasions when genre stereotypes were reversed:

" '...I'm a jewel thief! Have you any idea what it does to me to see you give away a fortune in gems?' 'I have a good idea now,' she said. 'It's as good as an opera.' The look he flashed her must have been the kind his Italian ancestors had bestowed on inconvenient spouses, moments before issuing the orders for poisoning or strangling. 'You're beautiful when you're angry,' she said."

"She'd fainted because she was not used to running. 'Have you ever run in stays?' Francesca said to James. 'Oh, why do I ask you? You're a man. Of course you have.' (note: this is especially funny because of a preceding scene where James has impersonated Francesca to smoke out a villain and is very proud of not having ruined her gown by bleeding on it or falling in the canal)"

"...She stormed out of the room. To her displeasure, Cordier didn't follow her...Magny looked at the door through which she'd dramatically exited. 'Are you not going to chase her, fall on your knees, vow undying devotion?...' 'No' (said James.) 'Well then, would you like a drink?' 'Yes.' "


What Doesn't
Should authors remain figures shrouded in mystery? Or reach out to fans by means other than manuscripts to communicate on a more 'regular person' level?

AW doesn't know the answer, but in this case, an insight to creative process shared by the novelist may have had unitended effects. In her tour of blogland to promote this title, Ms. Chase mentioned that the seed was planted while watching James Bond make a building collapse into a canal in Venice. Which is certainly interesting (AW for example watched that same scene and has no completed manuscript to show for it), but she closed the book feeling vaguely let down by the hero. This was not really his fault, poor thing, since he does engage in swift and decisive action where required and has a talent for seduction, thievery, and being in costume - all without question Bondish.

And yet. Somehow, it didn't feel enough. If AW had been expecting a simple jewel thief, she may have been utterly content with the story, but the 007 association raised the bar (though it is true that car chases, insane gadgety inventions, and footchases through a volcano or down a ski-slope would be a tad difficult to pull off in 19th century Venice.)

Also, the inclusion of a single scene taking place in England in the POV of the primary villain was puzzling. Why just this one (since what happens to this character later in the story is told entirely at a distance, on the level of a newspaper report)? Why point out the presence in that scene of an accomplice when the only other mention that character receives is to note her absence from the villain's side later on? Odd, but then AW is not a multi-published literary icon. She will have to trust that there are sound reasons for these manuscriptal decisions, which may, perhaps, be revealed with the next Chase installment.



Overall
Highly enjoyable, but even the charms of English/Italian James 'For My Country' Cordier could not shake the status of AW's favorite Chase hero. Rupert 'Mr. Impossible' Carsington's place in her heart remains secure (see previous Keeper review.)



But does it make you laugh? YES
YSW is not a romantic comedy per se, and contains many a dramatic and/or highly emotional moment. But the moments that are lighter are so entertaining that AW can unreservedly recommend this book for readers who need a lift to their spirits.

Laughter Reviews #18 - Keeper

Time for another review with the focus: funny or not?

MR. IMPOSSIBLE
Loretta Chase
HISTORICAL ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

Premise
Brilliant linguist teams up with disgraced aristocrat to rescue abducted brother among pyramids.

What Works
Just about everything. Daphne starts out with a triple handicap including her status as highly sheltered young woman, scholar who must use her brother as a front and feign constant ignorance due to lack of acceptance of female academic expertise, and with low self-esteem due to being systematically undermined by her late, much older husband. Her re-education starts with a bang almost from page 1, when her brother is kidnapped and she must not only figure out how to negotiate the foreign world of Egypt and the stifling world of British societal structures on her own but set out in her brother's pursuit while staying a step ahead of antiquities thieves, unwelcome admirers, poisonous snakes...

Such a unique and appealling heroine needs an equally unique hero. Sent to Egypt as a last resort by a father who effortlessly directs decisionmaking of the British nation but is at wit's end about what to do with his hellion son, we first meet Rupert as he observes Egyptian soldiers tormenting a defenceless local citizen. Rupert's assessment of the unsportsmanlike odds is enough to merrily fling himself into the melee, leading to a spell in chains in a dungeon. It is here that the two encounter one another, in what is arguably one of the funniest and unique first meetings between characters destined to be a couple.

"...’That man is an idiot.’
'Yes, madam, but he’s all we’ve got’ said Beechey.
‘I may be stupid,’ Rupert said, ‘but I’m irresistibly attractive.’
‘Good grief, conceited too’ she muttered.
‘And being a great, dumb ox’ he went on, ‘I’m wonderfully easy to manage.’
‘He’s cheerful, madam’ Beechey said, ‘Is it not remarkable how he’s kept up his spirits in this vile place?’
Obligingly, Rupert began to whistle.
‘Obviously he doesn’t know any better,’ she said."

The gradual flowering of Daphne and Rupert's relationship in the quiet moments between desert jaunts, target practice, donkey communication, Daphne teaching Rupert Arabic, assasination attempts, pyramid secret tunnels etc. etc. is a joy to behold. Rupert treats Daphne as a person of intelligence as well as a desirable woman, ultmately leading to her acceptance that she is not unnatural. Daphne expects Rupert to be sensitive to and respectful of the people and culture around him, leading Rupert (who due to size and propensity to 'break heads', has always been labelled the dumb ox he describes himself) to exercise his insight, consideration, and leadership qualities. From the moment they meet, there is never any question they'll end up together; how they get to their happily-ever-after through a maze of whizzing bullets, hieroglyphs and rope ladders is a huge amount of fun.

What Doesn't
The lurid cover.

Overall
Apprentice Writer would never have thought that Egypt could be as appealling as in Elizabeth Peters' wonderful "Peabody" series. But Daphne and Rupert are neck and neck with Amelia and Emerson in charm, smarts, chemistry, and derring-do.

She will admit to being a little worried about how the British/Egyptian interaction would be handled, partly (as regular Gentle Readers know) because Apprentice Writer is somewhat sensitive about this issue in general, partly because of wording in a previous work by this author. Lord of Scoundrels is rightfully considered by many a masterpiece of this genre. Apprentice Writer enjoyed the humorous interactions between hero and heroine very much (the way the shooting incident plays out is peerless), but due to emotional neglect/abuse during his childhood, the hero experiences frequent doubts about his worthiness, including a feeling he shouldn't lay his "...blackamoor hands" on his wife's fair skin (he is of English/Italian descent). The components making up the hero's distorted self-image and how these are brought into healing reallignment are complex and should in fairness not be reduced to this one phrase; but even so, having the hero link his feeling of unworthiness with darker skintone tore this reader unhappily out of the story.

To Apprentice Writer's relief, there were no such jarring word choices in 'Mr. Impossible'. There was a moment when it seemed matters might be skating close to the edge of paternalistic views, in a scene where Rupert declares to a bemused Daphne that he needs to take certain actions in regard to two servants because he is '...the father'. But the Egyptians in question are in fact minors, and for Rupert to take action on their behalf in the absence of parents of their own is a positive thing. Other characters the hero and heroine encounter all seem to be judged by their own merits and flaws rather than sweeping generalizations.


BUT DOES IT MAKE YOU LAUGH? YES!
"Mr. Impossible" actually contains more dramatic than comedic moments, but the quality of the funny bits is so good that they stuck in this reader's mind long after the book was closed. This story has a place of honor on Apprentic Writer's Keeper Shelf.

It also raises high hopes for the author's most recent release,
Your Scandolous Ways,
on shelves now. Apprentice Writer is one chapter in, and so far, the buzz of '1800's James Bond in Venice' is justified and delicious.

Laughter Reviews #17 - KEEPER

Time for another review with the focus: funny or not?

THE SILVER PIGS
by Lindsey Davis
HISTORICAL SUSPENSE


Premise
Sleuth in ancient Rome is commissioned by the newest Caesar to investigate fraud and murder.

What Works
What a delight, stepping into the pages of this superbly entertaining novel. The story is meticulously researched and replete with descriptive (but never overdone) historical detail that makes the challenge of everyday survival in A.D. 70 seem to spring to three-dimensional life. The effect is only enhanced by having the highly irreverent hero tell the story in first person.

Marcus Didius Falco is a young man living in a seedy part of Rome during the rise of Emperor Vespasian. He completed his military service, but had the bad luck of being posted to Britain which was not only horribly cold and far away but underwent a native revolt, put down not by his legion but its successor. Consequently he must endure derision rather than basking in military glory as he tries to eke a living as a private eye. His art-dealer father abandoned the family years ago to live with a younger woman and his brother died a reckless hero's death in Palestine, making Falco the nominal head of the family. Falco grapples with resentment of these two male figures, while attempting to deal with the daily demands of his mother, sisters, brothers-in-law, landlady, pickpockets, gladiators, bureaucrats, clients, senators, slaves.....

Falco is a mass of contradictions. He gripes about family but lives in near desitution due to giving all his money to his mother and his late brother's girlfriend to support his brother's child. He praises the bachelor life but is always on hand to shepherd numerous nieces and nephews at family gatherings, public celebrations, and on trips. He contends with beggars and prostitutes but is multilingual and an amateur poet. He often plays the clown but is fast and tough in a fight, and smart enough to see beyond what individuals with much greater power, wealth, and position may want him to see. He makes fun of everyone, including himself, but somehow always ends up taking the part of the underdog, even to his own detriment. Someone this smart and unusual deserves a worthy love interest; when she comes along, that woman is Falco's equal and then some.

So: the settings are compelling, the main and secondary characters fascinating, the mystery intriguing, the scholarship superb. Can the writing keep pace? It can indeed, moving along at a fast and entertaining clip.

'....my mother did something rapid to a vegetable.'

'...I like my women in a few wisps of drapery: then I can hope for a chance to remove the wisps. It they start out with nothing I tend to get depressed because either they have just stripped off for someone else or else, in my line of work, they are usually dead.'

"...she hurtled up the steps of the Temple of Saturn straight towards me. 'Excuse me -' she gasped. 'Excuse ME!' She dodged, I dodged. She was a slight thing; I prefered them tall, but I was prepared to compromise. While we sashayed on the steps, she glanced back, panic-struck. I admired her shapely shoulder, then squinted over it myself. Two ugly lumps of jail-fodder, jellybrained and broad as they were high, were pushing through the crowds towards her. 'Get out of my way!' she pleaded. I wondered what to do. 'Manners!' I chided thoughtfully. 'Get out of my way SIR!' she roared. She was perfect!'

What Doesn't
Apprentice Writer can't think of anything.

Overall
Since its inception, the Falco series has grown into numerous volumes, giving the intrepid sleuth and his faithful life- and detection-companion many cases to solve all over the farflung Roman empire. They investigate with the occasional aid and more frequent obstruction of their families and friends. The many, many fans of this series look forward to catching up with developments in the lives of popular recurring secondary characters as much as puzzling out each new case. Some go so far as to recreate the dishes mentioned in the stories with painstaking attention to historical detail, and try to outdo one another in asking obscure questions of the author at her extensive website. To date, this immensly fun series shows no signs of growing stale.

But does it make you laugh? ABSOLUTELY
The humor is drawn in equal parts from Falco's skewed way of looking at life and his habit of verbal thrust and parry with almost everyone he meets, as well as from the way the author portrays ancient Roman customs (the goat that Falco drags across half the empire because he can't bear to ritually slaughter it, the headache he has caring for the Eternal City's sacred geese, the ticklish business of figuring out how to interact with Vestal Virgins, the indignities he suffers travelling as a seasick non-swimmer, the impetuous use to which he puts a Minotauran frieze....etc. etc.) The Roman Empire of these books is no dusty, dull place of boring senatorial discourse or theoretical military strategy. It is vibrantly, gloriously alive. This first volume kicking the whole thing off has no trouble clinching a spot on Apprentice Writer's Keeper shelf.

Laughter Reviews, #13

Another book review with the focus: is it funny?

THE BIG OVER EASY:: AN INVESTIGATION WITH THE NURSERY CRIME DIVISION
JASPER FFORDE
ALTERNATE REALITY SUSPENSE

Premise
Underestimated police detective investigates suspicious death of celebrity egg.

What Works
The sheer creativity of presenting traditional nursery rhyme characters in a “What if they lived in modern times?” crime drama deserves standing applause. Detective Inspector Jack Spratt heads the Nursery Crime Division, a tiny, underfunded, widely derided branch of the police department in an English town where officers are evaluated according to how much tabloid media coverage their cases get rather than accuracy of actual police work. Jack’s cases have a low rate of conviction (the most recent being failure to find the three little pigs guilty of attempted murder following the scalding of the big bad wolf – possibly because the jury was stacked with other pigs), so he is regularly outshone during press conferences by his rival and celebrity crime solver Friedland Chymes, who tweaks his cases according to media-catching features.

When Humperdinck Jehoshaphat Aloysius Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III (a.k.a. Humpty Dumpty) is found dead, apparently from injuries sustained falling from a wall, Jack and newly assigned assistant Mary Mary soon learn that the case is much more complex. Humpty was a ladies man, political opportunist, and financial genius working on a massive takeover project involving the two greatest footcare businesses in the world (which happen to be headquartered side by side). There is no lack of suspects who may have wanted the egg out of the way.

The plot winds its utterly unpredicatable way around twists, turns, obstacles, and mucho nursery rhyme characters, which become great fun to recognize and 'collect'. But fascinating plot is just the beginning. The author gleefully challenges reader perspective on multiple levels - from the statement that ‘all the Jack Sprat books have been designated as Character Exchange Programme Safe Havens and all characters are protected by the Council of Genres Directive’ which is placed right after the regular ‘any similarity to authentic persons is entirely coincidental’ message,
to an ad from the Talking Animals Relocation Authority encouraging bears ‘of an anthropomorphized disposition to settle on officially sanctioned plots of land to live idyllic quasi-human lives - application forms in local library',
to the nursery rhyme storyform giving a nod to the classic storyform of myth by incorporating a titan with political asylum problems,
to the epigraphs fronting each chapter that spoof classic crime novels (e.g. a report on the farewell banquet held for the Locked Room Mystery, which is then found murdered - in a locked room, or the report on the banning of the Identical Twin Plot device as well as anything to do with anagrams as part of the 'tough new measures to stave off stagnation in professional detecting').

What Doesn’t
The only quibble Apprentice Writer had was a lack of understanding of the tremendously built-up character of the Jellyman, whose visit to the town becomes entwined with the big climax. Perhaps this character appears in the author’s backlist; Apprentice Writer will now seek this out, pronto.

Overall
Mad scientist, murder, industrial espionage, jealousy, eccentric architecture, St. Cerebellum’s insane asylum, retired acting bombshell, a couple of dozen strains of salmonella – this novel has it all. Should the Gentle Reader feel that his or her reading material has become same old/same old, this utterly original story will be a breath of fresh air. Or, perhaps, a tasty omelette. Either way, refreshment and food for thought.

But is it funny? YES, YES, YES!
An extremely entertaining and whimsical read, this novel earns its place on Apprentice Writer's Keeper shelf for unbounded creativity.

Laughter Reviews, #8

For a change, we depart from the world of publishing to broadcasting.

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
DVD, Seasons 1 & 2

Premise
Competent, ethical, common-sensical middle son is forced to run the family business, deal with his jailed father's charges of fraud and 'light treason', and manage family members who share none of his qualities.

What Works
Pretty much everything. The casting of each part is spot-on, without a flat performance in the bunch. Michael Cera as the sweet teen, Jessica Walter as the alcoholic non-maternal socialite mother, Jeffrey Tambor as the ethically challenged father, and Jason Bateman as the straight man and nominal central character are especially brilliant - but really, all the main characters are superb.

The guest star choices are inspired, with celebrities gleefully poking fun at themselves. Liza Minelli (cast as the mother's chief rival in more ways than one) grumbling "Everyone thinks he's Sinatra!"at a lacklustre karaoke performance, Henry Winkler (cast as the hopelessly incompetent family lawyer) whipping out his comb to repeat his iconic Fonzie mirror image gesture, Julia Louis Dreyfuss (cast as a trial lawyer pretending to be blind) channelling Elayne's extreme pragmatism and abrasiveness, Charlize Theron (cast as a beautiful, developmentally delayed British woman) whose overprotective uncle comments she was lucky to have enough money for surgery as the camera cuts to a 'Before' shot which is really a movie still from Theron's comparatively overweight, underattractive character in 'Monster' - all are priceless.

Jokes become running gags throughout the season and are suddenly given a new twist (the secretary who keeps flashing her surgically enhanced breasts at the unwilling Michael while saying 'This is the last time you'll ever see these!' and the brother-in-law suddenly being inspired to do the same but with the exclamation 'And you'll be seeing more of these!'). There is simultaneously an exquisite attention to detail (in an episode about people acting like sheep, a group of employees board a bus simply because it is there; the bus side carries the caption 'Church of the Good Shepherd'), and a cheerful refusal to explain basic background (Why does Gob go everywhere by Segway? Why is there next to no information about Michael's deceased wife? How in the world did clueless but lovely fashionista /cause supporter Lindsey meet much less marry the dorky and forever bumbling Dr. Tobias Funke? Why was daughter Maybee given a name synonymous with 'perhaps'? This question is highlighted even more during an episode when Maybee and her cousin have a conversation at their school in front of a poster exhorting students to vote for 'Surely', Maybee's altar ego.)

The writing is unpredictable and irreverent, taking skillful shots at such topics as car culture, Spanish language soap operas, the Hollywood industry, alopecia, detox programs, fundraisers, nudity in media, and even the war in Iraq (via spoofs of the pursuit and underground discovery of Saddam Hussein) to name but a few. The relationship between show creators and viewers is constantly tweaked - no more so than when the series was threatened with cancellation and the Bluth family's efforts to prevent their company going under become a transparent, cheeky vehicle for the show's efforts to keep itself going, to the extent of a 'savethebluths' website address being flashed on the screen and a very funny discussion among family members about which other networks might offer refuge.

What Doesn't
The only thing Apprentice Writer can criticize in this series is the fact that the public, and therefore the broadcasting powers-that-be, decided to pass on its continued brilliance and cancelled the show after only three seasons. Apprentice Writer chooses to see the silver lining of this cloud; having gone out in a blaze of glory, 'Arrested Development' won't suffer the indignity of jumping the shark (Ha! another Fonzie reference!) and deterioration from genius to mediocrity (Twin Peaks, anyone?).

Overall
Rather than sameness-overload and resulting boredom, watching the episodes back to back intensifies the humorous edge and makes the running gags more apparent.

But does it make you laugh? YES, YES, YES!
This series is a satiric treat. Don't deny yourself the pleasure of a highly entertaining weekend, and many happy repeat viewings.

Laughter Reviews, #2

With the abundance of regular review sites on the web, the Apprentice Writer takes a different approach: sorting books into cyberpiles of 'funny', 'not', and 'comedy keepers'. Be forewarned: Apprentice Writer is hard to please.


CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK Elizabeth Peters
HISTORICAL SUSPENSE

Premise
Determined British spinster travels to Egypt and becomes embroiled in archaeological mystery.


What Works
Everything. This book is a total delight; from the exotic setting, to the heroine (busybody and know-it-all Amelia Peabody), to the hero (hot-tempered Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson, Amelia's equal in brains and stubbornness), to the secondary characters (damsel-with-a-past Evelyn and Emerson's younger brother Walter), to the mystery development and resolution. The clash between fusty Victorian era social etiquette and the non-stop action, not to mention how various parties pursue one another romantically, is delicious.

What Doesn't
The only quibble AW can come up with is that this book is so excellent that the follow-up adventures of Amelia and Co. (of which there are quite a few) may not always manage to reach as high on the performance bar as the original. But it isn't fair to hold that against this gem of a story.

Overall
Of the many bullseyes this book hits, the one that may be the most remarkable is in how deftly the author avoids the trap that many another author with settings in different countries falls into: making implied (and sometimes, overt) statements of the relative superiority/inferiority of the different cultures or religions involved in the plot. How many novels divide heros and villains strictly along ethnic lines? How many stories involve abusive treatment that is acceptable when confined to one group, yet outrageous when extended to another? The first time AW actually flung a book against the wall was when the supposed hero in a bodice-ripper whose title is long forgotten worked himself into a rage because the villain raped his mother. Obviously, it wasn't hard to understand that he would find the act itself upsetting. The problem was that he focussed on how she traced her lineage back to Spanish royalty, and wasn't merely a Mexican peasant - the implication being that raping peasants and/or Mexicans is less of a crime than raping artistocrats and/or Spaniards.
By having heros and villains distributed among Brits and Egyptians, Christians and Muslims, women and men, Peters' novels make the useful general point that it is wise to judge individuals according to their own characters and capacities rather than tired old generalizations, and the comedy writing point that you can get quite a bit of mileage out of characters acting counter to pre-conceived notions.

But does it make you laugh? YES, YES, YES!!!

For the comedy-starved, this Crocodile is a banquet. Dive right in and enjoy, knowing that the feast continues with many more Amelia/Emerson stories to come in this wonderful series.