The Captive Reader

I read The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig shortly after it was released in January 2009 – I am nothing if not prompt in obtaining copies of Willig’s newest novels.  At that time, I enjoyed it but was less than overwhelmed.  My reading notes advise that there was not enough interaction between the romantic leads and, honestly, I was nursing some resentment towards Willig over an early development with one of my favourite characters (all has now been forgiven since Penelope’s situation was righted in The Betrayal of the Blood Lily).  Somehow, taking 15 hours to process the story as an audio book rather than the normal four or five it takes to read the novel gave me a much greater appreciation of the story and of Charlotte, the heroine, in particular.

Other readers may turn their noses up at Willig’s novels but when I am in want of something fun and comforting and a bit edgier than my beloved Heyers, these are my go-to books.  They are very clever, clearly well-researched,  and thankfully don’t take themselves too seriously.  If the mysteries can sometimes be a tad flimsy, the characters are delightfully engaging and the relationships just the kind to ruin young women for reality (see Facebook Group “The Pink Carnation Books Have Given Me Unrealistic Expectations of Love”).  Take for example the synopsis of The Temptation of the Night Jasmine:

Throughout her secluded youth, Robert was Lady Charlotte’s favorite knight in shining armor, the focus of all her adolescent daydreams.  The intervening years have only served to render him more dashing.  But, unbeknownst to Charlotte, Robert has an ulterior motive of his own for returning to England, a motive that has nothing to do with taking up the ducal mantle.  As Charlotte returns to London to take up her post as Maid of Honor to Queen Charlotte, echoes from Robert’s past endanger not only their relationship but the very throne itself.

Dangerous, dangerous stuff my friends.  But so delightful!  Unlike the other books in the series, where the hero and heroine are thrown together and their romance plays out in dialogue, Charlotte is alone much of time.  Always the cerebral type, more at home in a library than a ballroom, Charlotte intellectualizes her emotions.  When I read the book, I skimmed these passages but hearing them aloud, and read with so much feeling, made it much easier to sympathize with Charlotte and to feel caught up in her plight.  This time around, I felt far more emotionally invested in her story.

However, the down-side of an audio book is that it is no longer so easy to skip the Eloise sections of the novel (which I admit to doing when rereading the novels).  Eloise is our modern, American protagonist, an aspiring academic researching aristocratic espionage during the Napoleonic era.  As a plot device, she is incredibly useful.  As a character, I find she grates.  Listening to, rather that reading about, her activities prompted no new outpouring of sympathy and only further frustration (how do you not know what your boyfriend does after several months of dating?  Why do you not just ask?).  Colin, her English boyfriend, remains rather flat and doesn’t seem to get the same attention or respect as his historical counterparts.  Hopefully this will improve as the series continues.

Overall, Justine Eyre does an excellent job of reading.  There were a few strange pronunciations and a mid-Atlantic twang creeps in occasionally, which can be distracting.  That said, it must be difficult to find readers who can balance the accents for the American Eloise with the rest of the British characters (with the occasional Frenchman thrown in for fun).  I did particularly love Eyre’s voice for my favourite character, Lady Henrietta.  The Masque of the Black Tulip, which centers on Henrietta (and the fabulous Miles), remains my favourite of Willig’s novels and I would love to hear it read – so much banter!  Unfortunately, my library doesn’t have a copy.  I have suggested that they purchase a copy (they have audio books for 3 of the 6 books in the series) but none of my other suggestions have yield any results yet, so…I’ll keep my fingers crossed anyways.

Slowly, it seems I am being coverted into a fan of the audiobook.  Yes, they require a very large investment of time but the experience is different and unique and, as was the case here, absolutely fascinating in the way it made me reconsider the story.