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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Journey of Discovery, November 29, 2003
This review is from: A Christmas Journey (Hardcover)
Anne Perry's memorable character, the indomitable Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould, is the heart of this book. She is a young wife and mother, 30 years of age, attending a weekend house party at the home of her friend Omegus Jones. There Isobel Alvie, a young widow who is vying for the attention of an eligible bachelor, makes a cruel and cutting remark about Gwendolen, another young widow who would appear to be about to become engaged to him. The next morning Gwendolen is dead, an obvious suicide. Omegus proposes a medieval solution that could allow Isobel, who the guests find responsible for Gwendolen's death, to redeem herself. It will be a long and bitter journey in the cold of early winter to deliver Gwendolen's last letter to her mother, who lives in the north of Scotland. Vespasia, in friendship, offers to accompany Isobel. The journey is longer and much more difficult than anticipated, but the women persevere and meet another remarkable woman, Gwendolen's mother. The morals and mores of mid-nineteenth century England may seem strange and unusually strict to us, but Isobel and Vespasia must learn to live within those rules. As they travel, they share their thoughts and develop a true friendship. It is a journey of discovery for both of them, as they look deep inside themselves. I do agree with another reviewer that Vespasia dwells too much on her affair with Marco in Rome, but I assume that it is still a very recent occurrence, so that is understandable. What I do not understand, however, is Vespasia's willingness to leave her children, well cared for though they are, for long periods of time, first to go to Rome and again to travel to Scotland. Again, I suppose it is customary for the gentry and nobility of that era to do so. Nevertheless, it surprised and disappointed me. However, this is an excellent book which I highly recommend to all who love Aunt Vespasia and wish a glimpse of the young woman who became a great lady.
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25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely Disappointing!!!!, March 30, 2004
This review is from: A Christmas Journey (Hardcover)
Anne Perry is a brilliant writer. She is my favorite author and can take you into Victorian England better than Charles Dickens, BUT even a superb writer can not always create a good work. Anne Perry proves that with this shallow, short novella. Her descriptions are magnificent, but there has to be a riviting story to make a piece worthwhile and this book does not have one. The title is misleading, it is not a Christmas story. It starts before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. It has virtually nothing to do with Christmas. To be accurate, it might better have been titled "A Winter Journey". I had thought that this work might give insights into the wonderful Lady Vespasia from the Thomas Pitt novels. All it does is expose her as a shallow, almost adulterous lady of leisure who spends a great deal of time thinking of her lost love from a Roman escapade and has very little thought of her husband and children.She does not even spend Christmas Eve with her family but rushes off to Applecross to be with a man who has fascinated her throughout the book. The woman who causes the problems in the story is a most unlikable person. She has a quick, sharp, wicked tongue and uses it often. She snaps at everyone, even as they try to help her. The only person of true and nobel character is the stoic mother of the girl who committed suicide. She is the most interesting character in the book and only makes an appearance in the last quarter of the story. However even her character is under developed as there is no real reason given for her running from her previous life. There are needless extensions of the trip to find the mother of the suicide victum. Everytime it seems that she will be found, she has moved on to another more remote location. This gives Ms.Perry a chance to describe the Scotland she calls home, but needlessly prolongs a story that has quickly run out of steam. I wish I could recommend this book as Anne Perry and Christmas seemed a magnificent combination, but this is a very poor work from a usually great author.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A nice Christmas gift, December 13, 2003
This review is from: A Christmas Journey (Hardcover)
This is a much shorter book than most of those from Anne Perry; it's a piece of light rewading for and about Christmas. The writer takes Aunt Vespasia, one the favourite characters from her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, and tells the story of one Christmas in her younger days. It isn't exactly a mystery story - a young woman commits suicide and her reasons for doing that seem obvious. But Anne Perry is master of digging beneath the obvious to find the truth beneath the truth. The result is a tale that flows from an elegant house party in a country mansion north to the frozen snowy wastes of Scotland (and Anne Perry lives in northern Scotland so we can assume she knows whereof she speaks). It's a pilgrimage of sorts, with Vespasia and her friend Isobel toiling through storms and snowdrifts to find the mother of the dead woman and, incidentally the truth behind the suicide. The only thing spoiling this good story is the overly moralistic tone that Anne Perry is increasingly becoming bogged down in. Of course you want characters with deep motivation - some pure, some mistaken, some evil - and the battle between good and evil always makes for good plot structure. But Anne Perry does tend to overdo it, leaving the reader wondering if she can stand being swamped beneath so many layers of virtue and morality.
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