Customer Reviews

Indiscretion

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Very good book in the style of Georgette Heyer, very engaging characters and a charming heroine. A true regency novel with a good plot and a pretty ending.

"When Caroline Fortune's prodigal father loses all they possess, he arranges for his daughter to become the companion of the formidable Mrs Catling. Although uncomfortable with the plan, Caroline resolves to make the most of this introduction to polite society, and her beauty and intelligence soon attract many admirers. But, much to her dismay, she is just a quick to realize that love and romance are not what some `gentlemen' seek and finds herself unjustly complicated in their indiscretions. Exasperated by her predicament, can Miss Fortune retain her reputation without losing her head and her heart?" BACK COVER

This is a Regency style novel written with intelligence and wit. Miss Fortune, the heroine of the story, reveals, through her words and thoughts, delightful, wise, laugh-out-loud funny, and sometimes very poignant insights into the human heart. I highly recommend the book.

This book is more adeptly and enjoyably written than the majority of recent works exploring middle-class Regency romances from an Austen-esque perspective. It most closely resembles Pride and Prejudice, with flavorful dashes of Sense and Sensibility and even, in some details, Persuasion, thrown in.

The author aims for stingingly witty parlor repartee enhanced with trenchant social observation; I would say he succeeds in the former more or less most of the time, although several exchanges late in the book between Caroline Fortune and her love-interest grow a bit forced in their unflagging attempts at humor.

I give the author major points for a leading man that is, at least in personality and speech (though not in the expected familial pedigree and level of solvency), quite enjoyably different from most other contemporary authors' Darcy-type love interests. And Caroline herself is well-developed as a character.

The author tries to differentiate several secondary characters--Uncle John, Mr Downey, Mrs Catling, Miss Downey, and Mr Leabrook--from their nearest Austen counterparts Mr Collins (P&P); Lady Catherine (P&P); Mary Crawford (Mansfield Park), and Mr Crawford (MP)/Mr Wickham (P&P), respectively. Surprisingly, he largely succeeds; each of Morgan's characters is just different enough to pass for distinctive--for example, Morgan's Mr. Downey shares Mr Collins' slavish devotion to an aging benefactress, but while the latter is the pompous, self-deluded comic relief, the former is characterized as variously good natured and moodily intense, with mercurial fits of anger and despair.

I have two problems with this novel, but they by no means overshadow the book's overall excellence: First, the several present-tense passages Morgan inserts, bizarrely, into scenes throughout the book. This is not only confusing in that it interrupts the flow of the scenes both plot-wise and stylistically, but is self-conscisouly "literary" to an unacceptable degree. Thankfully, the reader runs into such passages only half a dozen times throughout the work.

Secondly and more importantly, I feel the resolution of Caroline's romantic attachment--which has been built up incrementally with skillful intensity over the narrative's course--is painfully, almost absurdly brief, given the fact that this is a romantic comedy. Both elements of this genre must be balanced, as Austen demonstrates so well in P&P and Persuasion, two novels that are comedic throughout but linger appropriately--in final chapters--on the romantic denoument, with the heroine and her love interest given several pages to reflect on their past prejudices and current attachments. In contrast, Morgan's lovers are given short shrift: less than two pages (the last ones) over which they come to a hurried understanding, and these pages on the tail-end of a breathless, multiple-chapter expedition involving a runaway seducer and seducee, an undercover sting, and a wrap-up scene with Mr Downey that resolves several other plot points in a page or two.

This book's level of quality--and the level of enjoyment it engenders in its readers--really deserves a more carefully crafted and satisfying ending. However, do not let that stop you from picking up Indiscretion.

If you love Jane Austen-style Regency rom-coms but have been disappointed with some of the recent entries in the genre, look no further.

Miss Caroline Fortune has the perfect right to question the aptness of her surname. Her mother, born into landed gentry, started the downward trend when she married a charming wastrel of a soldier, being disowned by her family as a result. The mishaps only escalated after the untimely death of her mother. Growing up in her father's wake, Caroline learned from an early age to dissemble, dodge, make do, and generally get by on what she could cobble together. Finally, when he loses even their last few pounds of rent money, she hires on as companion to the irascible Mrs. Catling, a wealthy widow whose joys in life seem to come mostly from creating misery in the lives of all who know her. In spite of her employer's difficult nature, though, Caroline gets along reasonably well, even becoming friendly acquaintances with Mrs. Catling's beleaguered niece and nephew, and their friends. Until the day, that is, when she is fired for expecting a day off to attend her father's funeral. Fortunately for Miss Fortune (I couldn't help myself), her aunt and uncle (her mother's sister) have finally tracked her down, and are delighted to clasp her to the bosom of their family. This begins a new chapter in Caroline's life, one which will eventually sort out good friends from bad, and lead her to relationships she never thought she would have.

Indiscretion is a charming piece of Regency parlor comedy and romance, very much in the style of Jane Austen. With the exception of 2 or 3 brief sections where the author inexplicably changes to present tense--which I found confusing and irritating--the narrative flows along as smoothly and gracefully as a river through the English countryside, and the dialogue is full of Regency wit and manners. My only other caveats would be what I felt was a somewhat rushed ending, and the fact that, although this is listed as a romance, there is little romantic action (in the modern sense) in the story.

If you particularly enjoyed Georgette Heyer's early work, if you always wished Jane Austen had written more than six novels, give Indiscretion a try. While it won't be to everyone's taste, serious aficionados of Regency fiction should be well satisfied by it.

© Night Owl Romance 2008

I whipped through this book even though I am not usually a fan of regency books. The characters in this book are wonderful though and if a sequel were possible, I would implore Jude Morgan to write one!

Jude Morgan's novel, Indiscretion, reads a lot like Jane Austen, just with a little more scandal, and a little less pomp. Unlike other period novels, Indiscretion does not gloss up history with sex, flirtation, and coy writing, but sticks close to the modest fiction of that time period. The novel draws many parallels to books of the same genre by Regency authors: the wealthy, upper class; a young, outspoken woman; marriage, engagement, elopement, etc.

It follows Caroline Fortune, or Miss Fortune, for a little play on words, whose father's bad habits with money force her to take a position as a companion to an elderly woman. Reminiscent of the strong, battle-axe widows of other literature, acting as companion is no easy job for Caroline, though with the usual wit and spirit of most heroines, she manages to fare well enough through honesty and strength.

A change in circumstances brings her to the country among relatives, where romance unfolds, scandals take place, and indiscretion abounds, but all with the same wordy, descriptive phrases and subtle hints that make Austen such a joy. For those of us who love Austen, Morgan does a good job of breathing spirit back into the genre and reminding us of the beautiful world of haughty morals, spirited young women, and marriage.

I loved this witty book - I have been hesitant to buy anything (especially hardcover) that is supposed to be just like Jane Austen's writing. This book however, does not try so hard and it is very like her writing. I loved the witty conversations - just perfect - I hope this author continues in this vein.

I am Jane Austen fan. I also enjoy the humor in novels by Georgette Heyer and Dorothy Sayer. I had high hopes for this one, but I found it dull and slow going. I did finish it, but have no desire to explore other works by the author.

There is not one complaint to be found in this book, or author. I recently picked up "An Accomplished Woman" and read it and felt such joy at finding an intelligent romance written similar to the style of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. I quickly picked up another, "Indiscretion" and devoured it. The vocabulary used in the book challenges me to type in the word at my computer to get the definition. I find her word choice perfect and varied throughout her book. In fact, I find it hard to find those special words used more than once, to my chagrin as I have a hard time remembering a new word unless challenged with it often enough. If you read her books, you will find complete satisfaction!

As other reviewers have said, this book is a must for Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer fans. What a romantic novel should be, but seldom is.