AMAZON UK £3.99
AMAZON US
$5.58
AMAZON CA $7.30
Romance - LGBT / Fictional saga
late 19th Century
Paris
Following on from the first volume, The
Second Footman, of this trilogy Max Fabien has now been secretary and lover
of his master, Armand, marquis de Miremont, for a year. Their affair, discreet,
yet intense is nevertheless stretched at times: Armand, the much older man, is
overcome with jealousies swiftly followed by regrets and apologies; Max is
young, astonishingly handsome and prone to attract the attentions of people his own age of either sex.
When Armand's estranged wife, Aline and
their younger daughter, Juliette, descend upon Armand's chateau, the place
becomes chaotic as Aline insists on taking over: their daughter is about to
come of age and only the best will do for her. This is where we really find out
just how weak a man Armand is as Aline walks all over him and Juliette twirls
him around her little finger. Max looks on stoically, but his downfall looks imminent when he spurns Juliette's
unwanted advances – despite her recent engagement.
There is a lot to be commended in this
book: the narrative is impeccable and always in keeping with the era; the
characters are so well written that you want to strangle Aline almost from her
initial entrance, Juliette is little better and you switch your feelings
towards Armand from sympathy to disdain and back again. Throughout all this,
Max remains the perfect gentleman, yet he has his own demons to deal with. You
also tend to feel sorry for him as events conspire against him; yet, at the
same time, you question his motives, his ambitions and his love for Armand.
It is a story of the trials of love,
suspicions and jealousies, breaking up and making up, liars and thieves,
charlatans and wastrels.
The pace picks up a lot at about the
halfway stage, though in my view it was somewhat pedestrian prior to that, over
filled with Armand's doubts, jealousies and accusations and Max's repudiations
and reassurances. There are a few references to the back story until quite
close to the end when Max makes a discovery and this rather leads the reader
away from the main story. As with any series, I think it would be beneficial to
read the books in order. At over 400 pages, I found it a little long and that
may put potential readers off as the 'entertainment' and the action doesn't really
start until Aline and Juliette arrive on the scene.
The cover well depicts the enigmatic Max, although the yellow font is a little hard to read, especially at thumbnail size.
© Richard Tearle
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