Virgins
“Ian Murray knew the moment he saw his best friend’s face something terrible had happened.”
This is a reread for me, but when I read it last time, the plot of the first novel and, worse, the characters were not fresh on my mind. In addition, I think this novella, like a lot of the novellas are probably meant to fill in backstory more than to be read first, as happens with a lot of similar books and stories I’ve come across, especially in genre fiction.
Jamie and Ian (old Ian, well young old Ian) are in France, and among other things, we are fresh from Jamie’s severe lashing that shocked his father into some kind of medical event. Jamie’s backstory is being filled in a little, and you might recall he tells Claire a little about his time in France long before he met her. In the story, Jamie and Ian get involved in some local intrigue that involves money, some sexy prostitutes, and Spanish Jews, so you can imagine it’s both a jaunty tale, and a little uncomfortable. We know Jamie tells Claire he’s a virgin when they meet, and of course we know that Ian eventually marries Jamie’s sister Jenny. And so we have a lot little moments where they almost have sex, but stop short. There’s some funny discussions about what does and what does not count as sinning, re:sex, and count as sex, re:sinning.
Previous Review: (It’s interesting to reread something I didn’t recall particularly well and see what I had to say about it) I think this is a funny little novella that is a prequel in a way to Outlander. It’s not a prequel in that it sets us up for much in the main novel, but it gives us a little character motivation, some background, and some funny further discussions on the religious ideology at play in the novels. One of the final scenes of the first novel is a long discussion of faith and faithfulness based on Clare’s double marriage. This book has a similar conversation based on the idea of a teen boys’ concept of sex and sin. Basically…does it count as sin if he…well, sinned prematurely. It’s a pretty hilarious inversion of the conversation from novel one. Other the story is a nice bit of character development and history that I won’t recall a lot of later.
A Fugitive Green
“Minnie Rennie had some secrets.”
This is another novella from the Seven Stones collection, and yet another that I am almost certain is meant to be read long after you meet the characters when they are quite older. Having read the first three main novels, I have met Harold Grey, brother of John Grey, especially in the capacity of his letting Jamie live after being captured in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. He allows this because Jamie saved his brother’s life in an earlier moment, and the scene is almost funny because Hal is mad that he has to do it, but he does it on his honor as a gentleman.
In this novella, he’s much younger and on the cusp of meeting his wife Minerva, “Minnie”, as part of a series of palace intrigues. It’s a solid novella, and like the above, I am clearly missing some context, even though the book is before others.
Lord John and The Hellfire Club –
“Lord John Grey jerked his eyes away from the door”
In this first novella both in this collection and in the Lord John series at large, John Grey is invited a club in order to be told a secret by an old friend. When the friend is murdered in front of him and the secret remaining hidden, Grey looks into the matter and discovers a kind of murder and ritual sacrifice club — not unlike Eyes Wide Shut, but real stuff going down!
The novella is the first introduction to the character outside of the larger novels, and this also means a shift in narrative and tone throughout. This seems to continue with the first full length novel. You get the sense that these novels are much faster and more fun to writer, and don’t really lag so much.
Lord John and the Private Matter
“It was the sort of thing one hopes momentarily that one has not really seen–because life would be so much more convenient if one hadn’t”
Lord John almost immediately steps out of the Hellfire Club and into this mystery. And here we have the first real indication of what kind of books these will be, mystery novel. I am a sucker for a good historical mystery novel, but this so almost Outlander, that it’s frustrating that it’s not Outlander.
So the mystery is two fold, with the driving question how will they be linked? A man is found dead, and another man (both military men) missing. Lord John is asked to investigate. John’s cousin is getting married and rumors are swirling about her betrothed. The questions are: is he a rake and does he have “the pox”.
Looking into the underworld of London, John is able to begin the process of unravelling both mysteries, and as you might have guessed, they’re connected!
But you are wondering, does he have the pox?