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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Plus ça change . . .,
By kellytwo "kellytwo" (cleveland hts, ohio) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mally (Paperback)
It's fun, I think, to read 'early' books by now-established writers. Have they changed? Has the genre itself changed? MALLY was originally published in 1980 as a Regency Romance, and during the intervening decades, I think the genre has changed more than the author. Sandra Heath still writes with style and humor and strong descriptive qualities. The reader never has any difficulty in visualizing any scene, such is her skill. Her characterization and plotting have not deteriorated one whit, either; in fact, by comparison to her most recent books, she's still very adept at both. What has changed, however, is the genre of Regency Romance. In recent years, the relationship between the hero and the heroine, and how it develops, has become all-important to many readers. They want to know what is happening inside the minds of both leading characters, and don't like to be led astray by any additional characters who assume too much importance. If that's the kind of reader you are, then you'll probably not be as happy with this book as I was. If, however, you can enjoy a bit of uncertainty, and rather more to the plot and pacing, not to mention a bit of wondering -- now just who IS she going to end up with here, anyway? -- well then, I would highly recommend MALLY as an enthralling reading experience. Marigold St. Aubrey, née Berrisford, has been a widow for two years at the beginning of the story, and is not completely convinced that marriage to the dashing Sir Christopher Carlyon is the right thing for her to do. She does love him, but does she love him enough? Chris, on the other hand, has no doubts, whatever. Mally and her mother have come to London, searching for Mally's sister, Maria, who has unexpectedly left their Welsh home, and her fiancée, Thomas Clevely. Maria is nowhere to be found, but the Lady Annabel Murchison, daughter of the Earl of Hartmore, who was once thought certain to become the bride of Sir Christopher, is everywhere, making it very clear that she's not given up her hopes of that marriage. Into this mix, add the volatile Richard Vallender, who has returned from America to purchase Castell Melyn in the Breconshire town of Llanglyn, where Mally's family has lived for years. Richard's former cousin-in-law, Andrew York, who accompanies him, also plays a major part. As does the ghost of the Lady Jaquetta de Winter, cruelly imprisoned in the depths of the castell in 1485. The plot and pacing are reminiscent of that other genre known as Gothic, as Mally fights to overcome her fear of the Castell, even as she cannot remember exactly why the fear exists. Eventually, all the couples end up matched correctly, and even Mally's mother is satisfied. You should be, as well.
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