The actual life of a gentleman spy, it seemed to him, consisted of sneaking about, breaking the rules of hospitality and generally being anything but a gentleman, and the only mysterious foreigner around was da Silva. He was probably the closest thing Peakholme had to offer to a sultry seductress, come to that.[loc. 556]The year is 1904, and Boer War veteran Archie Curtis (nephew of Sir Henry Curtis, who appears in King Solomon's Mines) is attending a country house party in search of answers about the disaster that ended his military career and killed his friends. Was it bad luck, or sabotage?
His dislike of fellow guest Daniel da Silva -- foreign, dark-eyed, flamboyant and a poet -- is immediate and apparently mutual. But this is a romance, and while it eschews many of the more annoying tropes, opposites definitely do attract.
Think of England is utterly charming. The growing respect and friendship (as well as attraction) between Archie and Daniel is nicely paced, and Charles doesn't shy away from the difficult issues of same-sex attraction in Edwardian England. Archie doesn't identify as queer, and struggles with his urge to treat Daniel as more than just a furtive liaison.
Meanwhile, the two become embroiled in a dastardly plot that involves blackmail, hidden cameras (it's a very modern country house), the defense of the realm, corruption in high places. Daniel's frivolous exterior turns out to conceal nerves of steel, and Archie discovers new purpose in life.
Also there are canonical lesbians.
I read this on a friend's recommendation, and was impressed enough to read several more novels by the same author in quick succession. I have to say I like Think of England, with its discussions of poetry and lockpicking and psychotherapy and Boys' Own adventures, more than the others: I think it's because I like Daniel and Archie as characters.
I like all of KJ Charles because her characters are so appealing (well, maybe not Lucien and Stephen when you see them from the outside in Jackdaw). A lifelong left-of-center Christian, I've struggled with sexuality, and homosexuality and bisexuality (my own) all my life; it's such a blessed relief to set it aside and realize that we're all just people getting on with our lives. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much, but I think that's her gift: making real, flawed, loveable people out of cardboard cut-outs that the powers that be scared us with like bogeymen.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Think of England's protagonist's are very likeable indeed. So are Rag and Bone's. So are Proper English, but somehow less accessible--how odd, to think she does better with men. I think the most affecting were from Sins of the City, Clem (who is on the autistic spectrum) and Pen (goodness, is there a label for the pain he so often feels about his body and being confined by it?) I love how he deals with it and wonder how many men, gay and otherwise, I've known who painted and minced to deal with pain and gender constrictions?
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