I often find historical novels quite heavy, but this one was entirely unexpected. It’s a coming-of-age story of Hugh Entwistle as he steps into the world of the wealthy and a society bounded by rules, with secret dalliances on the side that must always remain secret.
At first, I didn’t feel that involved with the story, but when Hugh meets his three relationships – the beautiful, the sublime, and the indifferent. Yep, from Edmund Burke’s A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, the story’s narrative just flowed smoothly.
I loved Hugh. I loved his sassy and captivating persona. His internal monologues are also so much fun to read. I also loved the secondary characters, which seems to fall right out of those old renaissance-themed movies.
I liked that the romance wasn’t as dragged out, although I thought the narrative suffers a bit on the second half of the book because it feels like there’s a lot of telling more than showing.
The author also has an excellent grasp of the language of the time, which I appreciate here. Each character has a distinct vibe. His humor is on point; I find myself chuckling now and then.
Overall, I found this to be really sweet, humorous, and very interesting. It’s quite a different take from the usual queer historicals I’ve read before and is well worth my time.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
An advance review copy was provided by the publisher, The Book Whisperer via Netgalley for an impartial and honest review.
Date of Publication: September 21, 2021
About the Author
A native of the American Southwest, David Lawrence has spent much of his life in Great Britain, France, and Finland. He now lives in a the American Northwest – Helena, Montana – with his Finnish partner.
By day he loves hiking under the Big Sky of his beautiful adopted state.
By night, however, he prefers editing lost manuscripts and wandering the byways of 18th century London…
You can learn more about David Lawrence and his penned works by visiting his website: https://www.aherowithoutanovel.com/ and subscribing to his newsletter.
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