Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran
Sep. 4th, 2009 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreAfter Emmaline Martin’s parents died in a shipwreck on the passage to India, she was rescued by sailors, only to find that British Indian society considered her ruined because she was on a ship full of men with no chaperone. Not the least of the detractors is her fiancé, Marcus, who is racist, abusive, and having at least one public affair with a married woman. The only friend she makes is Julian Sinclair, Marcus’s quarter-Indian cousin, who promises to help her return to England. Before he can do so, however, the Sepoy Mutiny occurs, and they’re forced to flee Delhi and are later separated when Julian leaves her with friends to try to rescue his family, only for Emmaline to have to flee again after he leaves.
Later, Julian returns to England, having been told she dies, and Emmaline believes he abandoned her when she learns he’s returned to London. They meet again four years later, at a showing of paintings she’s made of India.
In a way, this is like reading parts of two books. The first a romantic adventure set in India in 1857, that cuts cut off halfway through, just as it really gets going. The second is in 1861 in London, where two people who separately experienced the same horror reconnect, with a full book crammed into half a book, and so I never really think enough time or development is given to Emmaline’s healing process, or Emmaline and Julian working through their problems. I would have happily read either book, but neither of the two halves fully satisfied me the way I wanted them to. I can’t help but think that it should have been one of the old 500-700 page romantic epics of the 70s and 80s, only without the rape and overbearing alpha male.
Later, Julian returns to England, having been told she dies, and Emmaline believes he abandoned her when she learns he’s returned to London. They meet again four years later, at a showing of paintings she’s made of India.
In a way, this is like reading parts of two books. The first a romantic adventure set in India in 1857, that cuts cut off halfway through, just as it really gets going. The second is in 1861 in London, where two people who separately experienced the same horror reconnect, with a full book crammed into half a book, and so I never really think enough time or development is given to Emmaline’s healing process, or Emmaline and Julian working through their problems. I would have happily read either book, but neither of the two halves fully satisfied me the way I wanted them to. I can’t help but think that it should have been one of the old 500-700 page romantic epics of the 70s and 80s, only without the rape and overbearing alpha male.