In a genre that wallows in cultural necrophilia, you have to love characters fighting actively against the aristocracy and existing power structures. Or at least I do. Apparently, so does author Courtney Milan because she is doing it again in a novel that is easily one of the best historical romances ever written and one that simultaneously subverts and embraces the genre. Never afraid to beat romance tropes about the head and shoulders, The Suffragette Scandal, like The Countess Conspiracy before it, takes feminism and themes of identity and wraps a love story around them.
In 1877 Cambridgeshire, Frederica Marshall, Free to her friends, runs a newspaper that is, by, for, and about women and the issues they face, much like the romance genre. A radical who has chosen her battles carefully, she is the target of derision and efforts to silence her. Into Free’s life walks Edward Clark. He approaches her with a warning that someone is trying to sabotage her and an offer to help stop him. He makes it clear that he is not doing so out of altruism, he claims to be incapable of it, but because the enemy of his enemy is his friend. Already aware of the challenge Edward mentions, she decides to trust him even when he says she shouldn’t. Free knows better than Edward. She knows better full stop.
Free’s current problem comes in the form of Lord James Delacey, a man whose overtures she had the temerity to reject. It would seem farcical that a man should react so extremely to rejection, if we didn’t know that it is sometimes so sadly true. A woman standing up when virtually the whole world is telling her to sit down, Free makes a convenient public target for Delacey’s ire:“That’s precisely it. You said no, so that is what I am giving you. No newspaper, no voice, no reputation, no independence.”
Spending her life lighting candles against the darkness, Free is a magnificent character. Sanguine and undaunted, she hides none of her intelligence and knows she should not have to. She is not naive, she knows what she faces, but she has decided who she will be and acts accordingly. Her choices have a price she is willing to pay and she finds strength in small victories and in laying the groundwork for the victories to come, even the ones she knows she will never see. Her swain is one of those alluring rogues one encounters in romance. Edward has a disaffected view of the world and of himself, but he is also heartbreaking, appealing, and understandable. As a younger man, he tried to stand up and was forced down so violently that he tells himself he has withdrawn from considerations of right and wrong. Free makes him see that “maybe pessimism was as much a lie as optimism” and in each other they find a suitable partner to stand against the world with.
I cannot possibly do The Suffragette Scandal justice. It is an instant classic and everything a romance novel can be when giving full rein to the genre’s central tenet of a woman’s right to self-determination and in conjunction with Milan’s undoubtedly masterful skills as a writer. It’s a glorious homage to the brave and quiet warriors of the world insisting on what is right. It’s romantic. It’s funny and moving and entertaining. It’s on sale now and you should buy it.
Links to my other reviews can be found on The (Shameful) Tally 2014 or my list of books by author. My thoughts on the judgment that comes with reading romance can be found here.
Reviewer’s Note: As a captious reader (I maintain a list), I want to give kudos to Milan for the little details, too, such as the fact that Free’s long hair is held up by nineteen pins instead of the usual two, and, although Free is “small but mighty”, Edward acknowledges that their height difference makes kissing somewhat awkward.
Also from The Brothers Sinister Series:
The Governess Affair – very good novella
The Duchess War – great
A Kiss for Midwinter – CLASSIC
The Heiress Effect – the secondary plot was lovely
The Countess Conspiracy – superlative
The Suffragette Scandal – BRILLIANT, see above
Talk Sweetly to Me (novella) – August 19, 2014 (bouncing with excitement)
I tweeted your review, and Malin’s, at Courtney Milan again. Great reviews. Both of you.
Thank you, dear. As Ms. Milan self-publishes, I suspect the ARC I got through NetGalley actually came from her, and because of that, she hopefully gets to read my review, which I also submitted there. At the same time, that thought fills me with dread. I’m so conflicted.
You have no need to be filled with dread. It’s a well written review.
It’s a conflict between anticipating a brush with greatness and self consciousness, isn’t it?
Thanks! I hope she spends the day reading reviews about what a fantastic writer she is.
Instant classic? I’m in & adding to the pile which is getting dangerously high and topply. (If you never hear from me again it’s because I was smothered in my sleep under a book avalanche).
Also tweeted.
Move it to the TOP of the pile.
Agreed! Just stop what you are reading now and read Suffragette Scandal.
On my short recommendations list, I added this to the “classics” section and added a note that if you read only one romance novel, it should be this one.
I could stop reading Landline/Rainbow Rowel mid-book but I’m pretty sure that if I do that, a fairy dies.
No, no. the fairy just takes a nap. It will wake back up.
Because I have already finished Landline AND read The Suffragette Scandal twice, I understand your dilemma. Finish the Rowell. Then ignore your possible Rowell-book hangover and read this as soon as you possibly can. That way no fairies will be harmed.
Ugh, you and Malin are ruining my carefully laid reading plans for the rest of this summer. I don’t have room for surprise must-read books!
You do and you must!
Narfna, you keep foiling my carefully laid reading plans, it’s only fair that I return the favour.
Mrs. J, your review made me cry. I just wanted you to know that. You always write excellently, but you rarely bring me to tears. Well done.
Really? I felt like I wasn’t doing it justice.
I thought you each did a fantastic job of capturing your experience with the book. Your descriptions of Free and Edward were evocative.
Alright, I downloaded it. The goal is to read it on the plane to Kuwait on Friday. Of course, I was supposed to be on a plane to Kuwait last Friday but got held up because I had issues at the range – so wish me luck tomorrow, I can’t be here another week. I need to qualify so I can get to my job. Great review.
It’s pretty good. I think you’ll like it.
Very well-written review, Madam. I have moved this to the top of my list. Many thanks.
If you haven’t already seen it, I saw “Iron Jawed Angels” (HBO movie a few years back) about the suffrage movement in the US. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it. (Not much on the romance scheme, but still, the work those women did was incredible.)
Thanks again!
Thanks! i will look out for the movie.
You had me at “cultural necrophilia.” That’s such an awesome phrase – can I use it sometime? Great review – and I really want to read the book now!
Thanks!
Milan is an absolute must, she surpasses all others so often. Can’t wait to get to this one.