Customer Reviews

Alethea

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first read this book at age 14, and memories of the story are still with me. It is the last in a stunning trilogy that follows a strong and endearing family in 17th Century England. The story is entertaining and beautifully written by Belle, who apparently knows and loves history, as well she knows and loves the families she has brought to life to live in this world.

If you've read Moon in the Water and Chains of Fate, I'm sure you'll like Belle's last book dealing with this branch of the Heron family. (She also wrote Lodestar, which goes back in time a few generations to tell about the life of Christopher Heron.) As with all of the other books by Belle I've read, she really sucks you into the story with fascinating characters set against a turbulant and interesting time in history. This book picks up with the daughter of Francis and Thomasine, Alethea. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first two books, but that has nothing to do with Belle's efforts. Her writing was a wonderful as ever, I just didn't identify with Alethea as well as some of the other characters. However, she is still a well-developed and interesting character in her own right. And to say, "I didn't enjoy it as much as the other two" means very little. This book still makes a fascinating read.

Alethea is the oldest daughter of Thomazine Heron, whose story was told in The Moon in the Water and The Chains of Fate. Her talent for drawing is evident even at the age of eleven and her parents send her to stay with cousins in London where she can train with the famous artist Mary Beale. Once grown Alethea's only desire is to paint and has no wish to marry and lose her independence - but there are three men determined to have her. Her beauty, wit and charm captures the fancy of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, one of the more infamous and licentious members of Charles II's court. Also in love with her is Jasper, the country-doctor son of Thomazine's greatest friend, as well as the dark and brooding Kit who is forever scarred by his childhood and cannot let go of his obsessive and unhealthy desire for Alethea.

Can Alethea maintain her virtue against the onslaught of charm and poetry from the amusing but married Rochester? Or will she face scandal and succumb to her greatest desires? What about the staid, but oh so faithful Jasper who is willing to wait patiently? Will she escape Kit's unnatural love or will it lead to violence? Will that evil witch Meraud finally get the just desserts she so greatly deserves? Inquiring minds want to know but I am not going to tell you - read it for yourself.

Set amidst the backdrop of 17C England during the reign of Charles II, including a terrifying look at the Great London Fire, I found this an absorbing read that kept me reading well into the wee hours of the night. While it might not appeal to readers looking for an action packed novel, I loved the character developments and family relationships Belle was able to create, as well as a look at this period in England's history away from the King and his court. Belle has a nice knack for writing children and pets into her stories without them being cloying in their cuteness.

I have to say though, despite all the shenanigans with Rochester and his drinking cohorts, the all time scene stealer was Rochester's pet monkey. The scene where Alethea's parsimonious uncle pays a surprise visit during a dinner party and the pet cuts lose at the most inappropriate moment,

"The monkey shrieked rudely back and began, with intense concentration, an obscene ritual of intimate hygiene."

Her uncle's reaction? Priceless.