Customer Reviews

Lilies on the Lake

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

 

 

I was extremely saddened by the complete lack of anything appealing in this book. I truly enjoyed Kingsley's earlier books, especially "The Sound of Snow", "Call Down the Moon", and "In the Wake of the Wind". I was disappointed by "In the Presence of Angels" but I was more than willing to give Kingsley another chances as I had enjoyed her earlier books so much. This book (Lilies on the Lake) almost seems like it was written by a different person, it's truly awful. The main character, Pip, is a selfish, spoiled, arrogant, and manipulative liar. And those are her good points. Other than that she's basically a complete bore. She doesn't get much better by the end of the book, and even though she was supposed to have gone through this "change" to realize her love for John Henry, I must admit that by then I neither cared nor believed that such a truly loathsome person (I had no empathy for her at all) had changed. Mentioning John Henry; I love romance novels, and I must say I usually like men with dashing names and interesting personalities. John Henry has neither. He's cold, chauvinistic, and he seems to constantly want to control Pip. He thinks it's her fault that she's not in love with him and he's spent his entire life trying to change her mind to the point of an almost unhealthy obsession. I don't find him attractive in any way. This is no Mr. Knightly of Jane Austen's "Emma", I wish that John Henry had even an ounce of Mr. Knightly's charm and compassion. Also, dangit, I wish he would pick "John" or "Henry" or even "Jack" for goodness sakes! When I think I John Henry I keep imagining some anal editor or a puritan. Bad form, Ms. Kingsley. Please come up with something more enjoyable and believable next time, your fans miss your talent.

I have read all of Kingsley's previous books and enjoyed them, but this one was just dreadful. Both of the characters were unpleasant and unattractive. There was too much back story between when they were presented as children in a previous book and their subsequent meeting in Egypt. Moreover, the circumstances behind their second meeting in Upper Egypt were absolutely preposterous. Kingsley's presentation of Egypt was incorrect in many aspects. Instead of researching the country, she appears to have simply read a number of the (very good) Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody books.
It's a shame that when an author becomes successful, her editors don't feel the need to continue doing their work and pointing out flaws.

The tension and conflict between the characters makes for a powerful emotional chemistry, which kept this book interesting most of the time. However, what bothered me was the unusual resolution of conflict: that Pip should discover how flawed her character is, obey John Henry, and apologize. Once or twice, John Henry briefly apologizes, but only after Pip confesses and apologizes repentantly first. Never mind that John Henry's deception caused many of their problems. Worse still, in the book's final happily-ever-after scenes, John Henry admonishes Pip to "behave" for the sake of their future. What an uneven and unfair resolution! I've never read so chauvinistic a book.

In this book, not only is it a recycled plot, the writing is somewhat uneven and I felt no connection with the characters. The hero, being of the opinion that of course he knew what was best for both the heroine and her adopted son, grated. There is little to no insight as to why he is this way. The heroine wasn't developed at all. That is to say, all you saw throughout the book was her reactions to the hero telling her what to do and rebelling. Then apologizing. She spent too much time apologizing to the hero for the way she reacted to him manipulating her. I found that somewhat distasteful to be honest. I enjoyed some of her other works, this I didn't enjoy at all. At the climax of the book, when you're supposed to connect with the characters the most, there is no insight into the emotional state of the heroine. And then she apologizes AGAIN to him for the way she reacted to him. ARGHH! It could have been so much more. The spiritual revelation was simply a tacked on plot device so the author could get on with her life. I don't blame her...

In 1835 Alexandria, Egypt, Portia "Pip" Merriem fulfills her life long dream of an Egyptian adventure until her chaperon Isabel admits that she fled England pregnant. Four months later in Luxor, Egypt, Isabel goes into labor. The locals get John Henry Lovell to help with the birthing. John Henry is stunned to see Pip; she is the woman he loves who once rejected his overtures because she felt he wanted to use her to gain social status. Her rejection led to his fleeing England. Isabel dies, but the baby is saved.

Pip plans to raise the infant as her own. So Pip can avoid scandal back home in Norfolk, England, John Henry proposes marriage. Pip accepts in order for the baby boy not to become disgraced in the eyes of the Ton. She believes John Henry is using her and the child to gain social prominence. Unbeknownst to Pip, he already has attained that status, but now wants what he always desired from her, her love.

LILIES ON THE LAKE is an entertaining historical romance that centers on relationships. The story line is well written but neither John Henry nor Pip hooks the audience until late in the novel. He is desperately manipulative and she is spoiled in spite of adopting the infant. That ultimately changes as love flourishes between the trio, but readers must remain patient and sail with the plot. Fans of historical romances will find enjoy Katherine Kingsley's second chance at love tale.

Harriet Klausner

Though they haven't seen each other in ten years, Portia "Pip" Merriem and John Henry Lovell come face to face again on a houseboat in the middle of the Nile amidst a strife-filled Egypt of 1836. When Portia's companion dies in childbirth, John Henry plays the gallant and steps in to marry Pip and provide for the child.
It is almost inconceivable that John Henry would have pined away for Pip all these years after her last callous treatment of him. Selfish to the core, she believes that John H. married her because of her noble birth (he was only a lowly farmer's son). Pip goes so far as to suggest John H. wants to "humiliate" her by asking her to live in a gatekeeper's house at Manleigh Park where he is the steward.
Portia is such an unlikable heroine that it is difficult to believe that she acts the way she does merely to resist a man controlling her life. Even harder to believe is that she has a sudden and total transformation on Christmas Day making her happy with her life and in love with her husband.
Predictably, that love doesn't seem to last long as soon as Pip sees that John H. hasn't been totally truthful with her. In keeping with her true nature, she refuses to see him and calls him "the most horrible deceitful man on the face of the earth." While the initial plot shows promise, it seems quite a stretch to think that a self-made man such as John Henry would continue to harbor love for Pip considering her horrible treatment of him years before as well as her abominable behavior towards him after they married. Though the spiritual element adds a nice touch, Pip's lack of humility would seem to preclude her relying on a higher power.

Intentionally or not, this novel seems to come across as a sort of object moral tale about women who aren't content to choose a man and have a family as early as society demands. The heroine, willful, self-indulgent and *gasp* intellectual, having managed to avoid the obligatory matrimony by the time she's 27, is suddenly forced into both motherhood and marriage by an unlikely but interesting set of circumstances. Unfortunately, the hero and the author conspire to also smother every last bit of resentment and pride out of the heroine, with the use of deception, domination and manipulation. I waited for the author to lead the two into a classic compromise and meeting of the hearts. Instead, I got a train wreck.

The heroine holds out until page 200, when we suddenly hit a literary speed bump and a preacher's Christmas Day sermon gives her an epiphany. She instantly becomes a Stepford Wife, begs the hero for forgiveness, has a personality change and gives up the last remaining shreds of her pride without a hint of the spirit she showed earlier in the book. It was infuriating and stomach-churning. I stumbled forward for a few more pages, and then could read no further. I couldn't finish. I hated the hero, got nothing but contempt for the heroine and found myself wondering if Kingsley hadn't deliberately set out to preach to the readers about willful women who don't know their place. I don't know if this is typical of a Kingsley romance novel, but I'm not about to risk another such waste of time by trying another.

I've liked all of Katherine Kingsley's other books, so I was pleased to find Lilies on the Lake the other day. When I finished reading it, I found myself wondering why on earth these people were supposed to be likeable. I grant you that Kingsley may be presenting gender roles more accurately for the time period that other Regency authors, but I cannot like a story that supports a man simply ordering his wife around, as John Henry does when he ships Pip from Egypt to England against her wishes -- and never an apology or explanation for this to her anywhere in the book. And why should these people have fallen in love, other than their long-lost affection as children? Neither of them ever seems to show their more loveable qualities to the other, so their relationship seems mostly based on poorly understood lust rather than any appreciation of the other person's self. I do like Kingsley's writing, and I liked these characters as they were presented as children in one of her other books, but I cannot like this The Lilies on the Lake. I'll be getting rid of this as soon as possible lest it make me mad again.

This is my first time reading any of Kingsley's books, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Lilies on the Lake. Although it gave WAY to much information about the characters past, it helped focus on why the characters are the way they are. The other thing that caught my attention was Egypt. I love that place and its history. The meeting of 'old friends' on the Egyptian soil solidifies the romantic aspect of the story. Also it was noble of Pip to adopt the baby, and good of John Henry to help them on their way. At the beginning, the two characters didn't fit together, but hey! They DO say opposite attract right? Well, in my opinion, Ms, Kingsley did a wonderful job showing that its small world and that past love never dies.

All her life, Portia Merriem had dreamed of exploring Egypt and all her mysteries. On the day she arrived in Alexandria, however, her grand adventure became a catastrophe in the making when her unmarried traveling companion, Isabel, confessed her secret pregnancy. Months later, while traveling down the Nile, Pip prays for a miracle to save her laboring friend. The miracle arrives in the form of John Henry Lovell, the childhood friend she has not seen in a decade. When Isabel dies from complications, Pip is determined to raise the baby as her own. However, the only way to avoid scandal is to marry and Pip now finds herself trapped in a marriage to John Henry. A man who, in Pip's eyes, has married her to gain social prominence.

John Henry had adored Pip for most of his life. Knowing the difference between their stations, he was a farmer's son and she was the stepdaughter of a marquess and an heiress to boot, he had been prepared to love her from afar. That is, until one day when harsh words tore them apart. Ten years later, John Henry is rich and well connected -- a fact he hides from his new bride. John Henry will now have to work for the one thing he doesn't have...Pip's love.

LILIES ON THE LAKE revisits characters we first met in IN THE PRESENCE OF ANGELS. While the first half is full of action and takes place in exotic locations, it is in the second half of the book that one really begins to empathize with these two characters. By all accounts, Pip has grown up to be quite an accomplished and independent woman. However, there remain traces of the spoilt girl who once drove her best friend away. John Henry has grown up nicely as well, but his desire for Pip's unconditional love drives him to actions that might, in the end, prove disastrous. Though you might want to knock this pair's heads together every so often, readers will enjoy this tale.

TheSchemer