This is a great book. I didn't enjoy it as much as I think other people will because a couple of things about it bugged me, but it was truly enjoyable and wonderful to read a book about a topic I never thought would pop up in a romance novel, and to have it be historical and believable. This is the story of Elle, a free Black woman, who has agreed to go undercover as a slave during the Civil War to get information to help the Union and end the war. She meets Malcolm, who is a Pinkerton detective also undercover, on the same kind of mission. Oh, and importantly -- Malcolm is white.
It's a fascinating story with no easy resolution. Elle is brilliant and beautiful and Malcolm loves her and respects her and treats her like a human being (whenever he can -- really only when they're alone). Elle loves him but she knows all the problems their relationship would face, even in the North.
I was frustrated that Elle goes back and forth with Malcolm so many times. She has very, very good reasons not to trust him or want to be with him, and once she does, she seems to immediately change her mind, over and over. They also each get a turn being jealous over situations they know mean nothing to the other person. I was also a little frustrated that Malcolm is incredibly perfect from the very beginning. I can definitely see why the hero of this kind of book needs to be a man who is better than almost every other man; it's the only way it's justifiable that Elle will love him when there is so much to go against their union. But I have realized that as a reader, I always prefer selfish scoundrels or lying assholes who are reformed by love, to men who are fundamentally good and true from the beginning. It's just less interesting to me that way.
Grade: C
#46 in 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment