TEST
Hooked from the beginning, I raced through this book as fast as I could, reading it in one rather long sitting. Unfortunately, what started out as a fantastic story petered out into a more-average tale that didn’t quite fulfill its promise. Still, the writing style is great, and No Greater Pleasure is a solid read that I still would recommend to others.
The Order of Solace is a religious order in which young women become Handmaidens and help their patrons find peace. Helping a patron find solace includes a myriad of possible tasks, including sleeping with them. They believe that with each successful case, another arrow will be placed in Sinder’s Quiver, until one day the Quiver is full and the Holy Family will return.
Gabriel Delessan requests that a Handmaiden be delivered to him. When Quilla arrives at Gabriel’s home, she is surprised to find that he only wants her to be his general assistant, not a sexual partner. Gabriel’s mother was an adultress, and his wife is the same, which has left him thoroughly distrusting of women. He knows that his Handmaiden’s only thought will be to serve him, and will not expect affection or any sort of payment in return.
As time passes, Gabriel tries to remain aloof, but Quilla slowly makes herself an integral part of his life. One day his wife, Saradin, a bitter woman who tried to poison herself and ended up half-mad, returns. Still, she is sane enough to realize the growing happiness in Gabriel’s life, and she becomes jealous, making Quilla’s life a living hell. Gabriel is forced to decide just what Quilla’s place in his life will be, and exactly how much he needs his Handmaiden.
The story started taking a downturn for me once I realized the similarities between No Greater Pleasure and Jane Eyre were growing larger and larger. As I am not a big fan of Jane Eyre (no flames, please!) it was a little disappointing to see everyone slowly fitting into their roles of brooding master, quietly strong governess/servant, misunderstood child, crazy wife who burns down the house, etc. At one point the parallels became glaringly obvious, and from then on I had a mental checklist in the back of my mind comparing the stories, which inevitably detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
I’m a little torn about Quilla and Gabriel’s relationship. The romantic tension between them is really fantastic, but the love scenes are oddly lukewarm. I ultimately didn’t believe that Gabriel’s love was even existent; it seemed more a great reliance upon Quilla that slowly became affection (but not quite love). Gabriel most reminds me of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady – he seems like he wants Quilla only because he is incredibly accustomed to her face.
Quilla was also a mixed bag for me. Her interactions with everyone besides Gabriel were really interesting. Her beliefs as a Handmaiden heavily influence the way she deals with obstacles, and I enjoyed the way people reacted and became better people as they grew to know her. Quilla was a bit non-expressive for me; she was incredibly controlled in her emotions, and even her anger was kept under such a tight rein that I wished someone could prick her into showing real feeling. Her emotions were always very correct, and I ended up feeling that she was too mild and reasonable to be truly real.
I began the story intrigued with Gabriel, and ended up most disappointed by him. He is such a tormented, enigmatic character that I expected to see some real depth and growth of character. He loves his young son greatly, but has difficulty showing affection for him and often ends up shouting at him in frustration. This storyline is never resolved satisfactorily. Gabriel treats Quilla cruelly many times throughout the book, and, in a turbulent scene, basically blames her for all his problems. Wracked with grief or not, he shouldn’t turn on the one who loves him the most, and I was pretty annoyed with his childishness. In the end, everyone suffers for his bullheaded idiocy. The reconciliation scene is nice, but very short. He doesn’t show that he has changed enough, that he’s truly sorry for Quilla’s broken life. So I was disappointed that Quilla is incredibly quick in accepting his lame apology.
In case you’re concerned, the reasoning behind Gabriel and Quilla’s romance is similar to that of Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester’s; his wife Saradin is only a wife in name. She is so mentally unsound that she requires a nursemaid to accompany her. She and Gabriel only remain married so he can have rights towards his son.
While there are some overriding concerns, there is also much to enjoy in this book. The descriptions of this slightly-alternate world are wonderful. The secondary characters are all interesting, and Quilla is most real as a character when she interacts with them. The author’s style is great, and I got the feeling that if certain scenes had been extended, maybe my issues with the book would be lessened.
I ended up a little more disappointed than happy with No Greater Pleasure. The story had such promise, but I felt that nothing was adequately solved, and the happy ending didn’t leave me satisfied. The Jane Eyre inspiration didn’t help much either. Still, even with all my complaints, the author has a nice grasp of prose, and it was pleasant to read a story that flows well.
Grade: C+
Book Type: Alternate Reality
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 20/11/09
Publication Date: 2009
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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.