Mistress

ISBN: 0-7887-01258-4 Order from: Recorded Books

An overly verbose, at times implausible Regency Romance, occasionally enlivened by affectionate dialogue.

Reviewed by David on January 30, 2000

Genre: Romance (Regency Romance, Mystery)

Synopsis: In Regency England, the high society has created a cliquish, elaborate lifestyle that barred young unmarried women from most social interactions. When Iphegenia Bright, an intelligent, head-strong young woman, determines to track down her aunt's blackmailer, she resorts to an unusual strategem. Posing as a widow, and a former mistress of the powerful noble Earl of Masters, Iphegenia gains the entry to London's fickle and curious elite. The game gets infinitely more complicated when the Earl unexpectedly returns to town.

Full Review: This unabridged recording of Mistress, is read by Bartbara Rosenblatt with her usual panache. The skillful reading, however, cannot disguise the frequently ponderous prose. The verbose, repetetive, at times purple dialogue and descriptions overwhelm the wit and passion possible in the Regency Romance. Unlike much more deft creations of the inventors of the genre such as Georgette Heyer, this novel suffers from bloat, as the characters ponderously avoid all contractions, and keep repeating descriptions with the regularity of a copy-and-paste operation. At times, one suspects that the author was paid by the word.

The villainous plot is rather implausible, not surprisingly since this is much more of a romance than a mystery. More troubling, however, is the flat and stereotypical nature of most interactions: the autocratic Earl, the stubborn and passionate young woman, act as though common sense was impossible, and their vaunted intelligence is rarely in evidence.

The secondary characters are more interesting, and on occasions when the protagonists break through their stereotypes, especially when Iphiginia expresses her unorthodox affection for Masters, the book becomes downright delightful.

In short, this is an unfortunately cumbersome romance that could have been quite entertaining with some ruthless editing.

Overall: 4.5; Plot: 4; Characters: 4.5; Style: 4; World-building: 5; Originality: 5;

ISBN: 0-7887-01258-4 Order from: Recorded Books