TEST
As those who love historical romance know all too well, the landscape these days is littered with wallpaper. The Duke of Shadows, written by the winner of the Gather.com romance first chapter contest, aspires to be – is being promoted to be – something better than the usual fare. It’s on that scale that I think it’s fair to judge it.
The good news is that the setting for the first half of the book is fresh: India during the Great Uprising of 1857. Heroine Emma is introduced to the reader as a victim of a tragic shipwreck of which she is the lone survivor. Her rescue on the way to India to meet the man to whom she has long been betrothed by family arrangement is viewed as tainted by the English residents since she was taken aboard a ship manned only by rough sailors.
Soon enough Emma realizes that her fiancé is not the man she believed him to be and, just as distressing, she finds the strict constraints within which the English in India live to be stultifying. Enter Julian, the Marquess of Holdensmoor and the heir to a dukedom despite his ancestry: He is one-quarter Indian, something that causes other Englishmen to view him with contempt.
To start with the positive, the characters of Emma and Julian are richly drawn. When we first meet Emma she is struggling with survivor’s guilt, the burden of society’s disapproval for nothing more than having the temerity not to die, and, at the same time, the realization that the life her parents had planned for her fills her with horror. Julian is a man believably caught between two cultures and fiercely dedicated to a cause in which he passionately believes. When the two came together, I felt it.
But, to be totally frank, no book aspiring to be something better can include a major character as one-dimensional as Emma’s fiancé. From the moment the reader first meets him, he behaves in true cartoon villain fashion and he never, ever evolves beyond that (very!) low level for a single moment. So, Emma doesn’t like him? Well, duh.
On an equally one-note level, while I agree that it’s more than time that Imperialist Britain be portrayed as something other than the world-conquering heroes we’re accustomed to seeing in historical romance, surely not all the English in India (except Emma and Julian, of course) were vain, shallow, ignorant, bigoted, and frequently sadistic. You’d never know otherwise here.
The prose is largely satisfying, if on occasion a bit uneven. It should also be noted that the book includes a few jarring anachronisms; for example, the heroine’s paintings are described as “very powerful stuff”. Adding to my quibbles is the fact that the breach between Julian and Emma in the book’s second half extends beyond what seemed believable to me and appeared to be more about padding the page count than anything else.
But, with that said, considering the freshness of the first half setting – the author does a wonderful job of evoking the sights and sounds of India – and the characters of Emma and Julian, The Duke of Shadows represents an auspicious debut for author Meredith Duran. Still, while it’s fair to say that I enjoyed the book and would certainly rate it higher than the average wallpaper historical as reflected in my B grade, from the buzz out there I expected something more. I didn’t get it.
Grade: B
Book Type: European Historical Romance|Historical Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 23/05/08
Publication Date: 2008/04
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Related Reviews
… Aaaaand this has moved to the top of the TBR. (But I’ll wait for Caz’s review.)
Here is the truncated version of my review. THIS BOOK IS AWESOME AND YOU NEED TO READ IT NOW!
I just re-read this in preparation for reading (and reviewing) The Sins of Lord Lockwood and honestly cannot see how it could be anything other than a DIK. It’s been quite a while since I first read it, and I’d forgotten how powerful it is. I do think the last third is less effective than the first two, but it’s still a tremendous book – and it’s a début. I’ve read some good débuts over the last ten years, but nothing in quite this league.
AMEN!!!!! I’ve always wanted to re-review this book because I think the grade is absurdly low!
I was planning to write a review anyway, as I read it years ago before I started reviewing. Give me a week or so and I’ll get on it :)
CAZ IS THE BEST! CAZ IS THE BEST!
Ditto!!!!
I absolutely loved this book the first time I read it, and I’ve loved it just as much on rereading. And I agree with Amanda, that scene where Julian sees Emma again—just incredible.
The first half of this book is an absolute DIK, incredibly well-written. The second half was not as good, IMO. I became very frustrated with the heroine’s actions and reactions.
I will say the scene where Julian sees Emma again for the first time and calls her name gives me goosebumps every. single. time.
I remember very few of the specifics from reading the book years ago but I remember that I felt much as Amanda wrote above. I loved the first half and thought the second half was a let down. Overall a good book but not one of Duran’s I was compelled to reread,
Fool Me Twice is my favorite book by Duran but this one is a close second. I was so excited to see Julian’s cameo in A Lady’s Code of Misconduct and I’m beyond thrilled that she’s finally writing Lockwood’s story.
Me too! She has an excerpt on her website and the set-up sounds excellent!
This line has stayed with me always:
“She had always suspected there were other rules, rules she might understand better than the ones she’d been given.”
Duran, Meredith. The Duke of Shadows (pp. 133-134). Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
I so don’t see this book this way. For me, it’s a DIK all the way.
Me too!
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve re-read this book. This and Fool Me Twice are my favourites by this author!