Customer Reviews

The Lady's Companion

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My friends told me Carla Kelly was a terrific writer. I didn't listen. For a long time I just ignored all regencies because their covers are so hideous. Finally, a few Carla Kelly books came my way and I was astonished to discover a present day writer who is the next best thing to getting a reincarnation of Jane Austen herself! So I've hunted down some of her books but have a long way to go before I have them all. I should have listened because these books are much harder to find nowadays. "The Lady's Companion" is at the top of my list of Kelly's books. It is because she effectively deals with the British system of class. The British tend to drive me crazy over their class distinctions so Kelly had her ideal reader with me on this novel. A writer who can at one and the same time find humor in the class situation yet also write a love story around it--well, no one but Kelly has done it so well since Austen herself, IMHO! In this novel, the "lady" in question, is reduced by her father's gambling to become a lady's companion of an elderly, difficult woman. She also starts thinking about marrying the bailiff of the estate where she works. This is a really radical notion because the two are not of the same class! You would think an interracial marriage was being broached with the reactions this couple encounter. Don't miss this book. In 2nd place with me is "Reforming Lord Ragsdale" by Kelly.

Susan's father has bankrupted them with his compulsive gambling, and she decides she would rather work for her living than be a poor relation, even though it scares her to death. She goes to work as a companion to a lonely but very proper and reserved old lady, where she meets and is intrigued instantly by the lady's bailiff. Not only is this a refreshing change from the usual poor-girl-rich-lord story, but it is extremely well-written and the emotions all seem honest. I like best the books where I feel as though I would want to know the people in it, and I definitely would have wanted to meet these people.

Carla Kelly never fails to present us with very real characters who are, sometimes, caught up in painful circumstances which they must work through.

In The Lady's Companion, she has presented us with Susan Hampton, the daughter of a profligate and selfish baronet who has sqandered his fortune and, therefore, her future amongst her own class. Susan takes courage into both hands and looks for a paid post outside her own circle. She meets the delightful Joel Steinman, proprietor of an employment agency, and is sent to the Dowager Lady Bushnell as a lady's companion. In fact, she has been sent, unbeknownst to her, as a gift from Joel to David Wiggins, former Regimental Sergeant Major, now the bailiff to Lady Bushnell at her manor, Quilling, in the heart of the Cotswolds. This is one thread of the story and it is beguiling in its unfolding.

The battle of Waterloo plays a big role in this story for it colours the actions and the characters of David, Joel, Lady Bushnell and her family. A beautiful metaphorical device, a strain of wheat bred from a handful of grain picked up at La Haye Sainte farmhouse during the battle, becomes a symbol of hope, of forgiveness, of coming to terms with the death, destruction, cowardice, heroism and trial by fire that those who survived must deal with in its aftermath.

All in all, this is a radically different book - nothing like most traditional regencies. It's not just a cross-class romance, it is about endurance, faithfulness, courage and honour. The love the various characters develop for each other is moving and poignant. The ending of the novel is emotional and sad but also full of hope for the future. Despite their superficial differences, Susan and David are well matched.

This book made a Kelly fan out of me. I admit to a weakness for when an author can take a formula and tweak it. Having a Regency heroine fall for a servant and the author actually leave him a servant is a twist that I adored.

The hero and heroine fall into an easy and natural relationship despite the social barriers between them. This is a plot easy on the melodrama but full of heart. For me it was a definite keeper.

This book made me a fan of Ms. Kelly's writings. The conflict is true to the period (no overly melodramatic murders or abductions) and believable. The characters are personable, except, naturally, when they are intentionally contemptible. I enjoyed this book the first time I read it and have re-read it many times. If all Regencies were as successful as this one, perhaps the genre would have higher standing within the literary community.

Carla Kelly has done it again. This time a Welsh bailiff, former foundling, thief, liar and war hero sets out to win the heart of a courageous lady. Susie Hampton is a lady and in the Regency time period, socially superior to Sergeant Wiggins. Their courtship and friendship has been so well crafted by Carla Kelly. She manages to incorporate the horrors of the long battle of England against France, while showing the bravery of the many men and women involved in the campaign. This book was a welcome addition to my vacation suitcase.

This is one of the few books that I found that really touched me. The emotions were honest and not overly dramtic. Everything did not have to have a happy ending, yet the tone of the book was honest and caring of people and their feelings. This is the third of Carla Kelly's books that I have read and the first author I have chosen to read her works in years. I feel well rewarded for my choice in her as an author.

I read The Lady's Companion over 3 months ago. I was reminded of it when I saw the title after following the link to the author. I've read all but one and I think it's one of her best. She hasn't written a Regency that is anything less than 4 1/2 stars. Many deserve higher than 5 stars.

Carla Kelly never writes traditional Regencies, and her books are frequently superior to the average for that reason alone. I adored 'Mrs Drew Plays Her Hand' and 'Reforming Lord Ragsdale.' This book is quite different even from those.

Susan is the daughter of a gentleman, but her father is a gambler and has fallen on hard times. After he lost her family home, Susan was forced to go to live with an aunt, who turned her into an unpaid servant. So, she decides, she might as well get paid for such work, and applies for a job as a lady's companion.

At the home of her employer, Susan meets, not a handsome son who instantly falls in love with her (as more traditional Regencies would have), but her employer's bailiff. A completely unsuitable match for a lady - but why should it be considered unsuitable?

This is why I say this book is more reminiscent of Catherine Cookson's nineteenth-century novels, where these kind of cross-class romances are more commonly found. Kelly provides her usual natural style and occasionally earthy touch to the romance (and I don't just mean in terms of sex scenes; her characters are always well-rounded and she spares no maidenly modesty).

I still prefer her earlier books, but if you're a Carla Kelly fan this one is worth a try.

The problem at the heart of this novel is more than usually interesting. Class differences versus character.

Miss Susan Hampton is the only child of a profligate gamester, Sir Rodney Hampton. During her 22 years she has lost her home, she has been subjected to countless lies and broken promises, and has had the humiliation of knowing the surname Hampton is a shameful one. As the story opens she and her father have been forced to move in with his sister, where she will quickly become an unpaid drab. Except...Susan has just enough courage and hope to put her foot out of the door to find employment.

David was a foundling brought up in a workhouse. In his youth he had lied, thieved, poached, and made his way as best he could. To escape justice he fled over the border from Wales to England and took the name of a small town, Wiggins, for his surname. David Wiggins continued his unsavory way after he took the king's shilling, until the day he was being flogged 300 lashes for stealing. His epiphany was created by the intervention of Lady Bushnell, wife of his colonel, who halted the flogging and saved his life. From that day he has been a completely changed character. His devotion to the interests of the gallant Lady Bushnell and her late family are boundless. He is a constant, dependable man with drive and ambition--he is striving to engineer a new strain of wheat that will be the beginnings of a seed business.

The compatibility of Susan and David is obvious in the way that is almost a Carla Kelly trademark. How Susan comes to grips with the problem of class as her relationship with David and Lady Bushnell unfolds is beautifully told.

If you like this book, I recommend Mary Balogh's A Matter of Class and, for a grittier take on a character like David, Sharpe's Tiger (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #1) Bernard Cornwell.