by Beth Brower
I’m rarely a reader of romance. The only time I remember being truly obsessed with it was in ninth grade. We were visiting my aunt and uncle when my sister and I unearthed a box of my aunt’s Harlequin romance novels, and all we did for the rest of the vacation was devour them. My aunt even graciously sent us home with a few. Now, remember, this was over 40 years ago, and the spice level of Harlequin romances back then was pretty mild.
But that’s beside the point. Recently I attempted another foray into romance, even asking bookstore owners for recommendations. Truth be told, their suggestions were charming enough, but not to the point where I’d pick up another book by the same author or of the same ilk. However, I’ve just read and listened to the entire series of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower. And. I. Am. Hooked.
The novels are epistolary. Emma, twenty years old and soon to be twenty-one, has returned to her beloved childhood home, Lapis Lazuli House, to claim her inheritance: essentially the house, the servants, and enough money to maintain the home and live modestly. Unfortunately, her cousin Archibald, who has been holding her inheritance in trust, has squandered all her money on, of all things, morning robes. Tens and tens of morning robes. Oh, and gambling.
Emma’s banker advises her to sell the house to provide for herself. But Emma will do no such thing. She adores Lapis Lazuli House and will do anything possible to keep it as her home. So the banker suggests renting out some rooms. She does, and of course she rents them to a handsome stranger, Mr. Pierce, a “war photographer” who is dark, brooding, and cloaked in a mysterious past. Hmmm, how convenient.
But Pierce isn’t the only gentleman who has made his way into her life. Through some very curious and, shall we say, potentially metaphysical circumstances, she meets the very dashing Duke of Islington, a man Emma cannot resist verbally sparring with every chance she gets. And as readers of her journal, can we correctly interpret all that sparring as flirting? Let’s just say it gives very Austenian “Emma vs. Mr. Knightley” vibes. Nor are Pierce and Islington the only men in Emma’s orbit. There is also the enigmatic poet and vicar, Young Hawks: golden-haired, empathetic, heroic…
Emma herself is a precocious young woman who hungers for intellectual company and dreams of studying at a university. She has a wonderfully eclectic assortment of friends and acquaintances. Her writing voice is utterly captivating, a blend of mature contemplation and philosophical musing, punctuated at times by a young woman’s naive impetuousness and tumbling emotion.
I’ve read all eight volumes in the series so far and cannot wait for volume nine. Her voice is so engaging that I can’t help but feel inspired to keep a journal myself, and at times I find myself wandering into the cadence of a Victorian Englishwoman. I sincerely hope this series never makes it to the screen, because there is no way the casting could ever live up to my expectations.
