Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
Aug. 8th, 2008 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreNote: Despite the length, all plot details are either on the back, or in the first few chapters, so I don't consider this spoilery beyond the one hidden bit. Which is also in the first few chapters.
James Cordier is a spy for England in 1820, using his looks to seduce women suspected of being enemies of the crown. He knows that he’s expendable and can be easily replaced by another good looking guy willing to do all for king and country, and so he does his best to both get the job done without annoying his superiors, and to not get killed by his enemies. His latest mission is to go to Italy and seduce Francesca Bonnard, a woman who supposedly has letters that could prove her ex-husband a traitor, and reveal his entire network. Francesca, of course, isn’t about to give up the leverage she has on him, and has proved to be more than a bit recalcitrant when asked for the letters in the past. So James is sent to seduce them out of her. Insert romance novel game of cat-and-mouse. And since it’s Loretta Chase, you know it’ll be pretty good.Ignore that book with the blond haired, blue eyed Arab spy masquerading as a Frenchman. Every author is allowed a dud. Possibly, it was the result of a Gundam Wing induced fever dream.
Except, did you catch that one word? The “ex-husband” one? In 1820? There weren’t exactly that many reasons to end up divorced then, and not that many options open for divorcees. You see, five years ago Francesca had an affair to get revenge on her husband for his own affairs. In response, he saw to it that her father was driven out of England as a con-artist, and dragged her through the courts as an adulteress, destroying her reputation, before throwing her penniless into the streets. Normally in a romance novel, some kind friend or relation will come and pack the heroine off to the country, or she will change her name and become a companion to some elderly lady in the country. She will live in guilt and shame, fearful of her secret being discovered, until the hero comes along and his healing love brings her out of her shell, and she timidly goes out into the world, fearful of rejection.
Francesca? Moves to the continent and becomes a courtesan. A high class courtesan sought after by princes and dignitaries. She never feels shame for what he did to her, and never apologizes for who and what she is.
Cue the romance novel community going insane. A promiscuous heroine? Who feels no shame? Who actually likes sex? Who doesn’t need the hero’s approval? The most awful thing they’d ever heard of! The wank was amazing. People swear to never read Loretta Chase again. They say this is the most revolting plot they’ve ever heard of. They are appalled that she actually likes sex before meeting James, and that she isn’t ashamed of it. My favorite but, I think, was when they talked about how no well bred woman would become a courtesan if she had a choice, that being a divorcee was a bad thing that cut off options, etc. Basically, they didn’t even bother to read the book. Otherwise, they would have noted that that was rather the whole point: that her life was destroyed, and that the only option she had was that or starving. I’m sure they especially went ballistic when she had sex with another man after meeting, and even making out with James. Even worse, the other guy wasn’t revealed to be OMG EVIL BECAUSE ANYONE SHE LIKES AFTER MEETING THE HERO HAS TO BE!!! And that Francesca and James even helped matchmake him and her friend.
But Chase doesn’t stop there. She goes even a step farther. You see, the whole “spy who sleeps around a lot as part of his duties” bit is pretty popular with romance novels. He’s always angsty. Oh so very angsty. And noble and heroic and ohnononono…he isn’t a prostitute with the government as his pimp! Really! James? Is pragmatic, angst-lite, and well aware that a prostitute is exactly what we is, and nothing else. He wants out because he’s tired of it. In fact, he wants to go to England and dance at Almacks with dim little virgins hunting for a husband. He wants the life most romance novel heroes avoid like the plague.
Loretta Chase, as a general rule, is quietly subversive. She twists and bends romance novel tropes all over the place while working squarely within them. Here, she kicks them in the face. The “virgin or shame” rule? Torn into shreds. The “noble manslut for king and country” trope? Exposed as the shallow excuse (and pretty much lie) that it is.
The result? A book worlds better than most of its target audience will ever appreciate, because it exposes the problems with so many of its comfort zones, while presenting a hero and heroine who would mop the floor with all their “acceptable” and “proper” heroes and heroines.
James Cordier is a spy for England in 1820, using his looks to seduce women suspected of being enemies of the crown. He knows that he’s expendable and can be easily replaced by another good looking guy willing to do all for king and country, and so he does his best to both get the job done without annoying his superiors, and to not get killed by his enemies. His latest mission is to go to Italy and seduce Francesca Bonnard, a woman who supposedly has letters that could prove her ex-husband a traitor, and reveal his entire network. Francesca, of course, isn’t about to give up the leverage she has on him, and has proved to be more than a bit recalcitrant when asked for the letters in the past. So James is sent to seduce them out of her. Insert romance novel game of cat-and-mouse. And since it’s Loretta Chase, you know it’ll be pretty good.
Except, did you catch that one word? The “ex-husband” one? In 1820? There weren’t exactly that many reasons to end up divorced then, and not that many options open for divorcees. You see, five years ago Francesca had an affair to get revenge on her husband for his own affairs. In response, he saw to it that her father was driven out of England as a con-artist, and dragged her through the courts as an adulteress, destroying her reputation, before throwing her penniless into the streets. Normally in a romance novel, some kind friend or relation will come and pack the heroine off to the country, or she will change her name and become a companion to some elderly lady in the country. She will live in guilt and shame, fearful of her secret being discovered, until the hero comes along and his healing love brings her out of her shell, and she timidly goes out into the world, fearful of rejection.
Francesca? Moves to the continent and becomes a courtesan. A high class courtesan sought after by princes and dignitaries. She never feels shame for what he did to her, and never apologizes for who and what she is.
Cue the romance novel community going insane. A promiscuous heroine? Who feels no shame? Who actually likes sex? Who doesn’t need the hero’s approval? The most awful thing they’d ever heard of! The wank was amazing. People swear to never read Loretta Chase again. They say this is the most revolting plot they’ve ever heard of. They are appalled that she actually likes sex before meeting James, and that she isn’t ashamed of it. My favorite but, I think, was when they talked about how no well bred woman would become a courtesan if she had a choice, that being a divorcee was a bad thing that cut off options, etc. Basically, they didn’t even bother to read the book. Otherwise, they would have noted that that was rather the whole point: that her life was destroyed, and that the only option she had was that or starving. I’m sure they especially went ballistic when she had sex with another man after meeting, and even making out with James. Even worse, the other guy wasn’t revealed to be OMG EVIL BECAUSE ANYONE SHE LIKES AFTER MEETING THE HERO HAS TO BE!!! And that Francesca and James even helped matchmake him and her friend.
But Chase doesn’t stop there. She goes even a step farther. You see, the whole “spy who sleeps around a lot as part of his duties” bit is pretty popular with romance novels. He’s always angsty. Oh so very angsty. And noble and heroic and ohnononono…he isn’t a prostitute with the government as his pimp! Really! James? Is pragmatic, angst-lite, and well aware that a prostitute is exactly what we is, and nothing else. He wants out because he’s tired of it. In fact, he wants to go to England and dance at Almacks with dim little virgins hunting for a husband. He wants the life most romance novel heroes avoid like the plague.
Loretta Chase, as a general rule, is quietly subversive. She twists and bends romance novel tropes all over the place while working squarely within them. Here, she kicks them in the face. The “virgin or shame” rule? Torn into shreds. The “noble manslut for king and country” trope? Exposed as the shallow excuse (and pretty much lie) that it is.
The result? A book worlds better than most of its target audience will ever appreciate, because it exposes the problems with so many of its comfort zones, while presenting a hero and heroine who would mop the floor with all their “acceptable” and “proper” heroes and heroines.
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 04:22 am (UTC)They both sound well-adjusted (unbelievably so, in fact, considering their professions) which is great for them, but for angst junkie like me? Means instant pass :)
no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 04:46 am (UTC)I'll never understand why "confident and functional" means "boring and angstless" though.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 01:40 pm (UTC)Also, it's a moral issue. In most circumstances I find people who sell themselves for sex (men or women) and seem to find no shame in it, and treat it as another profession (whether they are a courtesan, a spy, or whatever) unappealing. I don't think they should be burned at the stake, and there are plenty of situations where this might have been their only option to survive, but there is a difference between doing it because you have to, and doing it because you have to and because you think it's a great job. I am not one of those feminists who finds prostitution ennobling.
Now, does this mean I would never want to read a novel about a courtesan? No, not true. If the novel did not revolve around the issue of love, I might have loved to try it, despite that. One of my favorite novels is Thais of Athens, about a legendary Greek hetaera who was definitely not ashamed of her profession (and did not end up with some savior otp either). But not only is there a mental difference between a courtesan in 19th century and a hataera, Ivan Efremov was an author I knew and trusted and it was not a romance novel, which is by definition supposed to be about fuzzy romantic feelings.
Anyway, this is turning into a rant :) Sorry!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 03:30 pm (UTC)I find the angst of characters who deal with it and keep going with life much more compelling than the ones who make it their lives. Angst wallowing and characters who let angst rule their lives is, more often than not, en extreme turn off to me, at least partly because healf the time, if they'd just shut up and deal, they'd be a lot happier.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 04:09 pm (UTC)Clamp and Saiyuki characters are an exception. They just have too much angst for that to work no matter how nobly they try. Especially Fai.
Otherwise, I demand text that treats it as screwing them up, not making them hot. Or that it be played up for cheese and crack, or the the character be an uber-dork, like Zuko or Kougaiji.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-09 07:49 pm (UTC)I do agree with some that the ending is a little too "everything is better now," but I'll make allowances, as it kinda feels like an editorial requirement.