The Dark Affair

author: Maire Claremont

The Dark Affair is a dark historical that doesn’t involve ballrooms or ratafia, and features themes of addiction and madness. I’d say it’s what would happen if Bellatrix Lestrange started writing a historical romance and then Hermione finished it for her.

Margaret Cassidy is a former noblewoman, now impoverished due to the Irish famine. Her parents are dead, her brother has fallen onto the wrong side of the law, and her world is collapsing. When the father of Lord James Stanhope, Viscount Powers, approaches her with a job in exchange for saving her brother, she takes it out of desperation. Powers is in an asylum–he became addicted to opium and descended into “madness” (grief and drug-fueled outbursts) after the death of his wife and daughter. Margaret is to marry Powers, but act predominately as his nurse, with the understanding that at some point they need to have a child in order to secure the family line.

This book started off pretty dark, what with Powers behaving erratically to frightening degrees as he withdraws from opiates and Margaret reflecting on the tragedy that struck her family, but over time it becomes a book about healing and is actually quite comforting.

Margaret was a nurse in Crimea and Has Seen Some Shit, so she’s prepared to deal with Powers. They’ve both suffered incredible loss, and they find healing by working through their grief together.

I really loved this book. I loved the unusual premise, I loved the transformation of both characters, and I loved that the characters talked about and dealt with things that many historicals overlook. I read it in one late-night sitting, annoying Dewey because I wasn’t going to bed.

If you’re looking for more emotionally gripping stories with comfort and loss set in dark, unexpected places instead of bright ballrooms, you should totally snag this book. It’s a palate cleanser of the best kind.

– Elyse

Historical: European, Romance

The Glassblower

author: Petra Durst-Benning

I have NO IDEA who recommended this at our Reader Rec party at RT, but they said “19th century German glassblowers” and I said, “What’s that author’s last name again? Yeah, that’ll be waiting for me when I get home.” And all three books were.

In the fall of 1890, a glassblower living in the village of Lauscha, Germany, with his three daughters dies, leaving them in dire straits. The eldest, Johanna, feels responsible for providing for her family, and discovers a talent for running a business. Ruth, the middle sister, is determined to marry (but doesn’t think much beyond that). And Marie, the youngest, has a talent for blowing glass and art, but women don’t blow glass. They help the men, until Marie goes, “Hm, I think I can do that.”

There are romances in the cards for all three sisters, although Johanna’s is based around this neighbor kid who just hangs around until she’s finally like “FINE I GUESS YOU’RE ACCEPTABLE” which is a trope I am TIRED OF.  The romantic relationships aren’t the focal point of this book. The focal point is this family of sisters.

I loved the complex relationships between the three of them, and how their different personalities were needed to make their glassblowing business work. And how each of them needed to learn and develop their skills (and learn some tough lessons). I thought the translation was pretty good (there weren’t any awkward wordings or syntax errors that can happen in a bad translation) and the story was very compelling.

There are a lot of details of how glassblowing works, and how the village of Lauscha is set up. It’s right on the cusp of a new age for Germany (so, if you’re a nerd like me, you know that the ghosts of World War One are over the horizon), and the role women are playing in society. I think the best stories come from eras of change because of the tension created by that societal change, and this is a good one.

– Redheadedgirl

Historical: European, Romance

Romeo and/or Juliet

author: Ryan North

Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North is a choose-your-own-adventure retelling of the Shakespearean classic. It’s all sorts of fun with adorable artwork in shades of white, red, pink, and gray. However, the novelty of the CYOA format wears off quickly and Juliet’s routes were much more fun than Romeo’s (not that I mind too terribly).

A little disclaimer that this isn’t a book for kids. Teens, maybe. But the humor is bawdy and some of the adventures can be a bit more adult. Readers can choose to go a more traditional route with the retelling of Romeo & Juliet, or they can really go for broke and pick the most outlandish events.

At the start, you can choose whether you want to “play” as Romeo or Juliet. Juliet was by far my favorite. She’s a tomboy at heart and spends her days “getting buff.” Romeo was less compelling and didn’t seem to have as fun of a twist to his characterization. Pretty much he seemed to be in love with love.

The artwork of the book is the best aspect. With multiple artists contributing, there isn’t one uniform art style, just a consistent color scheme. Some illustrations are more cartoonish, while others are detailed. There’s also a full list of all the artists in the back of the book, which I appreciated, since I tend to follow a lot of artists on Twitter and Instagram.

Since I primarily played as Juliet, I’ll share some of my favorite endings.

It’d make a great gift for someone or a funny read-aloud at parties, but I don’t recommend trying to read through all the endings in one sitting, as I became rather tired of flipping pages around. And don’t bother with Romeo.

– Amanda

Humor, Graphic Novel