Sweet Nightingale (Ulverscroft Large Print Series)

Rating:
Summary: Good but implodes
Review: Outside of my preferred time period, several scenes I enjoyed especially the bridegroom being escorted by the bridesmaids into church but I gave up part way through. You may enjoy it.

From the back of the Ulverscroft large print edition...

In the year 1594, Bernard Kettering, a Member of Parliament and a Justice of the Peace, was growing tired of the capricious ways of his ward, John Harcourt. At the age of six, John had become the fifteenth Baron Harcourt de Laleham, under the joint guardianship of his mother and Bernard, his second cousin. John grew up spoilt and indulged by his mother, and after her death Bernard decided to bring his nineteen-year-old ward into line. When John falls in love with Tamsin, an illegitimate girl from a notorious family, Bernard is livid - and the affair is doomed...

Rating:
Summary: Historical Romance
Review: Outside of my preferred time period, several scenes I enjoyed especially the bridegroom being escorted by the bridesmaids into church but I gave up part way through. You may enjoy it.

From the back of the Ulverscroft large print edition...

In the year 1594, Bernard Kettering, a Member of Parliament and a Justice of the Peace, was growing tired of the capricious ways of his ward, John Harcourt. At the age of six, John had become the fifteenth Baron Harcourt de Laleham, under the joint guardianship of his mother and Bernard, his second cousin. John grew up spoilt and indulged by his mother, and after her death Bernard decided to bring his nineteen-year-old ward into line. When John falls in love with Tamsin, an illegitimate girl from a notorious family, Bernard is livid - and the affair is doomed...

Rating:
Summary: Good but implodes
Review: While I did like this story better than the previous reviewer, it did have its problems. It's a star-crossed love story, with class and social position being the obstacles. John is a young nobleman with a strict guardian; Tamsin the illegitimate daughter of a disreputable landowner. Their romance, of course, must be pursued secretly.

In the 16th century there were harsh penalties for sex outside of marriage, penalties mostly suffered by women. Her mother's fate is something Tamsin is determined to avoid. John, however, is a spoiled young man used to having his own way, especially with women. Clashes are inevitable, but thru Tamsin, John learns to be less selfish.

There is plenty of historical color, though it is all local: no pageantry of courts or large cities here, but long forgotten marriage and May Day customs.

The title Sweet Nightingale refers to a 16th century love ballad, a song which serves as a prism through which the lovers view their affair. As the affair changes, the song takes on different meanings. And there is a beautiful love scene which surpasses most of the more explicit ones I've read.

The implosion comes when circumstances conspire to create a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, John reverts to form as a spoiled nobleman.

His treatment of Tamsin is so cold and harsh, so entirely unsympathetic, that it broke the spell for me. Worse still, he blames everyone but himself for his problems. It all made me queasy, so I wouldn't recommend the story on romantic grounds. However, if you are interested in Elizabethan times, you'll find a well-researched historical by a writer who can carry off a suspenseful plot.