Way back when, she was one of my favorite authors. I'd wait on pins and needles for her new books to come out, and was so sad when she passed away. Rather than laughing at her old covers, they made me rather nostalgic for her books, I've not reread one in years, I wonder if it's even possible to find her oldies but goodies. They may not hold up well through time, but they really were favorites back then.
I'm done being melancholy.
On to something else...
I loved Lydia Joyces description of "wallpaper" historicals, and thought LLG was being rather dense through the whole thing.
Then I saw a little post by Maili, that got me thinking...
Well, for me - for what it's worth - GUILTY PLEASURES is a wallpaper historical and TO DREAM AGAIN is not.
Doesn't perspective also determine whether or not a historical is "wallpaper" or not?
Guilty Pleasures is set in England. If I'm not mistaken To Dream Again is set in America, ***edited--I'm wrong, it's set in Victorian England, thanks, Wendy*** it's been years since I've read this book and to be honest, I have no memory of what it's about, so there is no way I can say whether or not it's historically strong or accurate, I'll take Maili's word for it. But, I did reread Guilty Pleasures last month, and I didn't think it was a wallpaper historical and I wonder if it's because of where it was set and the use of a Roman archeological site as a backdrop. Clearly I'm clueless when it comes to British history, but I found the "dig" rather interesting, of course, I have no idea how accurate it was or wasn't.
During the recent plagarism scandal many people found fault with the inaccuracies of the writer's Indian heritage. If I had read this book, I'd have no idea whether or not it was correct and would assume it was.
Am I, as an American, more likely to take for granted the history in a book set in America? Probably not. Am I going to nit pick the historical inaccuracy? Probably, so I do think perspective matters.
9 comments:
To Dream Again takes place in Victorian England and I really, really loved it. See:
http://super_librarian.blogspot.com/2005/10/fantastic-book-alert.html
BREATHLESS and THE CHARADE were both American-set. Loved BREATHLESS, was underwhelmed by TC.
And I have all of LLG's Avon books in my TBR, but I've been scared to try them because - well - they're published by the House Of Homogeny.
Heather...More so because she's deceased and can't defend herself.. I agree.
Wendy, thanks for the correction, I was thinking Breathless, and like I said it's been years since I've read any of these. I commented about the very same thing when I posted that I had ordered her newest book. There really is something strange about Avon isn't there?
Heh. The difference between TO DREAM AGAIN and GUILTY PLEASURES is believability. I "believed" the background of TDA a lot more than I did GP. It's not about historical accuracy at all, but levels of believability. GP feels a fantasy to me while TDA doesn't. Hope this helps.
Maili...
It's not about historical accuracy at all, but levels of believability. GP feels a fantasy to me while TDA doesn't. Hope this helps.
Got it.
I love Arnette Lamb's books and really didn't see what was so bad with them. Or is my love for AL clouding my eyesight. Kind of like beer goggles only romance goggles? Loved Breathless but haven't really liked LLG's stuff since, well, you know . . . (avon).
Never read Lamb but really the covers don't have anything to do with the author. How many pick their own?
And I wouldn't want to see an author 'defend' them anyway.
LOL of course I don't pay much attention to cover snark ;)
Jane, I didn't think they were so bad either. Please, we've seen a lot worse, I always laugh when they snark at Johanna Lindsey's covers. The cover's may suck, but she's laughing all the way to the bank
Sybil, I'm not really into cover snarks, the first few I read were LOL funny, but it's gotten kind of old for me. Normally, I wouldn't want an author or reader to defend a cover, but Ms Lamb is gone and it just made me sad, she had a nice voice and blah, blah, blah, nobody wants to hear me being melancholy.
As for LLG - Conor's Way is just wicked (and I mean that in the good way) It's about an Irish boxer who lost his family during the famine in Ireland. It takes place in the south during post Civil War and I'm ticked that we won't be seeing the likes of it again by her.
And I agree on the AL cover snark.
I think I've got AL's backlist but haven't reread them in ages. I think its time to see if they hold up well to time.
Post a Comment