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3 out of 5
by
Angelc
from
The United States | Mar 18, 2009
I read this book because of all the great reviews of Meredith Duran's writing. But after struggling to finish, I realized this book was just not for me. Duran is an excellent writer, and wrote a very well developed plot, but I didn't care for the descriptive violence that permeated the book.
At the start of the book, Emma Martin has been through a tragedy, the first of many, and emerged wanting to truly live life. Julian Sinclair, the Duke of Auburn, feels at home neither in India or in London, as a son of both worlds. The last thing they expected was to be caught up in the political turmoil between Britain and India with only each other. They survive the unthinkable together, but ultimately are separated by the political unrest. Years later, they are reunited in London, only to discover how much they both have changed.
The book is split into two parts, and the first part was more promising than the second. The second book didn't tell me enough from Julian's viewpoint, the only side of the story I saw was Emma's. Julian was downright mean and cruel to Emma, and since I didn't see his point of view, I didn't understand his motives. Honestly, his cruelty might have been the breaking point for me, where I just completely stopped enjoying this book. In the first part, Julian was loving, caring, and kind to Emma, and wanted her to know how much he loved her. In the second part, he was constantly mocking her and condescending. The only part of the second half that I liked was the storyline with Emma's paintings. She worked through her grief by painting the horrors that she had seen. I didn't think the cold, dark secret she was keeping was something that she couldn't share with Julian after everything that they had been through together.
I am a sucker for a reunion story, and the actual reunion scene in the London ballroom was by far my favorite scene of the book. This is the Julian that I wanted to see through the entire book, so caught up in his love for Emma that the rest of the world disappears.
This book is very dark and filled with tragedy and violence. When the couple does let their love show, the result is beautiful and tender. However, these moments are just too few in my opinion.
Reviewed for: http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com/
11 people found this review helpful
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4 out of 5
by
Readdiction
from
The United Kingdom | Apr 30, 2008
Duran's use of language leaves me breathless, anticipating the unraveling of the story and the love between two strong and emotionally scarred people. She effectively brings to life not only their world but their emotions and personalities enabling a reader to become fully absorbed into the world. Their pain becomes your pain. And you cannot help but feel such joy in their much deserved happy ending.
The excerpt of The Duke of Shadows' first few chapters lured me into a world so adeptly described that it surpassed even my own colourful, and rather fanciful, memories of India. As these descriptions are seen through the eyes of Emmaline, a gifted artist, it poignantly reflects her outlook in life and the changes she goes through after she leaves India. Emma's descriptions of England prove such a contrast to the vibrancy of India and acts as a great device to show just how much she has actually changed. And although several reviewers feel that they cannot connect with her, I am of a different view. Her perspective leaves me feeling as much as an observant as she does and her narration helps me understand her inner conflicts. I just want to add that she did not have any TSTL moments, and I applaud Duran on creating an intelligent and strong heroine!
I think that Duran has written the most compelling hero in Julian - the Duke of Auburn who happens to be a half-breed too. He is not your typical rake (although he is described as such), he is noble and is tormented, and oh god, i want him. He is not afraid to express his feelings and prove his devotion to Emma and its done in a way that doesn't make his character any less "manly", more so in fact. You can feel his devastation over the loss of the Emma he had known and his determination to bring her back from her lonely tower, to make her live and feel again. The only criticism I would make is that I wish I had more from his point of view.
The story was believable and while the villain may have been a bit one-dimensional, the secondary characters were well developed. I will definitely be looking out for more editions from Meredith Duran. That said, GET THIS BOOK!
6 people found this review helpful
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5 out of 5
by
Abby
from
Cambridge, MA | Sep 11, 2008
Oh holy hot damn! FINALLY - a romance novel that's smart, interesting, fast-paced, well-written, and and and and I'm out of adjectives.
Meredith Duran does what few romance writers do: tackle British rule in India DURING the uprising in the mid 1800s. I've ready plenty of books where the hero is scarred, internally or externally, because of the conflict, but never have I read one where the hero AND heroine live through and experience the horror. Brilliant move, Duran.
Also, both protagonists, Emmaline and Julian, are as richly textured and rendered as one of Emma's paintings. Both are deeply flawed characters, but whose actions to the challenges thrown at them and created by them are believable, real responses. There are no TSTL moments to be found here and Julian never goes all-out Alpha Male.
The secondary character are delightful and I hope we're going to learn much more about Lockwood and his mysterious red-headed wife!!
I adored this book so much that when I finished it, I went BACK to page one and re-read it. That is a first ever for me. Some people did it for Harry Potter, me, it was Duke of Shadows that so inspired me and drew me so completely into their world, that I couldn't let it go after one reading. The descriptions of India, the conversations and conflict between Emma and Julian, representative of the larger conflict between India and Britain ... absolutely captivating.
OK - so enough praise. Let's look at the one, tiny detail that wasn't A+ perfect: the villain. Pretty stock, white-bread villain if you ask me. But he manages to thrown in enough tension to get a satisfying ending, so he's not completely useless.
Some reviews claim Emma is hard to empathize with. Damn right she's hard to empathize with! Probably the only people who could even remotely understand what she's gone through would be women who have been forced into exile and made to endure horrors that no person should ever have to suffer through. In my head I likened Emma to an Afghani woman, fleeing her country for the still-unstable refugee areas of Northern Pakistan. It is much the same for Emma -- and Julian to a certain extent.
If you have never read a romance novel before, I highly recommend starting with this one. If you're already a romance fan, be prepared to have your mind blown.
3 people found this review helpful
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4 out of 5
by
Vivien
from
Austin, TX | Jul 14, 2010
They meet in Delhi, Emmaline and Julian, and nothing about their relationship from that point onward is what I would have expected from a Victorian romance. In their flight from the mutiny, they both endure things that romance-novel characters rarely encounter. This book is, dare I say it, gritty.
The plot moves this thing, and the meticulous and brilliant research. I read it end-to-end with no temptation whatsoever to interrupt with laundry or errands. I was hooked.
That said, the characters came across as a little dry. Their dialogue is flat in some places, and the sex scenes were similarly uninspiring but useful for plot. No one-liners or gorgeously angsty scenes moved me to almost-tears. Nothing made me want to stand up and cheer. But nothing made me want to stop reading, either.
In the end, I enjoyed this book and will be on the lookout for others by the author. The spare, no-nonsense writing style is very easy on the brain.
Many thanks to Christa Paige for the recommendation.
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5 out of 5
by
Catherine
from
Sierra Vista, AZ | Mar 9, 2010
Every once in a while I will find a book that will move me. It's more than just enjoying the storyline or characters or even just the beauty of the prose. It's all that and more. It's some indefinable spark in the story that draws me in and makes me feel transported. I love when I find that quality. It varies from person to person, but wherever it's found it's something to be treasured. I found that quality in this book. I know that it is one that I will be able to read again and again and still find some new element of the story that will entrance me all over again.
I loved the undercurrents in the characters. There was never anything cut and dry about them. There was always layer after layer of meaning and motivation behind their actions. So much tragedy surrounded them, but so much strength too. The personal tragedies compounded by the tragedies they experienced during the revolt in India made for very complex characters. As I read the story I kept thinking about Jo Goodman's books. This author gave me the very same qualities that I love about Goodman's books.
Emma was a very well drawn character. She came off as very dark to me, even in the beginning. The death of her parents seemed to seep into her. Her indifference toward her betrothed's betrayals and total change of character, as well as her dissatisfaction with society seemed to echo that depression in her. The passage:
"She sat down. The solitude suited her. She had known the room would be deserted; it was too early for damage to have been done to dresses and gloves. Later, women would crush inside, anxiously pacing the floor as their ayahs struggled along behind, patching ripped hems and scrubbing at stains. The charm of the shadows would fade, and the music would be drowned out by snapped complaints and snickered gossip.
"And this is my life," she whispered. This was what she had fought so hard to survive for when she had floated for endless hours on the breast of the ocean, the sun cracking her skin and settling salt beneath her fingernails." (pg. 49)
particularly moved me. Throughout the story the sadness and hopelessness seemed to breathe off the pages. It was very beautiful. It seemed at times, from my point of view at least, that she was almost suicidal. Which is an odd perception, because when in danger she never seemed to want to die. I just couldn't shake the thought that she teetered a little too close to wanting to be totally lost. Things like this passage:
"He grasped her face in his hands to slant her head, to give him deeper access, to fill her. Yes, do it, she thought, consume me, swallow me whole. Odd feelings with no root tore through her. She felt frenzied, almost angry, ready to jump out of her skin. He would take her before she went. How would she go? Would she die? Would she face the water again? Could anyone keep the promises she suddenly wanted from him?" (pg. 131)
made me really wonder about her state of mind. I don't know though... It was in the middle of a love scene. Possibly it was just an expression of how consumed by him she was? Either way, it just made me more fascinated by her character.
Julian was less well drawn than Emma. I appreciated the author showing the dueling cultures in his nature. The fact that no matter what he did, he would never be a true part of either country made him a very sympathetic character. In truth, the most intriguing parts of his character came in moments that gave more depth to Emma. I particularly liked the insight he showed in the fragment of the poem he quoted to her. I think that a defining moment of the change in her character came when she discovered what he had meant by that statement. I don't know if these thoughts of his character make it really only Emma who carried the story or whether Julian only really came to life when dealing with her.
I liked all of the love scenes, especially because they seemed to add something to the story. The love scene that occurred at Mr. Cothurst's house touched me in particular. It showed so much insight into who Emma had become and the sorrow and self-mockery that Julian suffered from because of that. It was raw and not really romantic, but I loved it because of those reasons. I felt it fit perfectly with their characters. I felt so badly for Julian. His yearning and his pain when he was only given crumbs of what he needed from her felt like a living thing. I thought it was a powerful scene and that Meredith Duran has great skill.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It lived for me in a way that very few books do. I cannot wait to see what comes next for this author. However, be aware that this book is not perfect. I thought that Marcus was a thinly drawn character and I would have enjoyed nuance in him and less simple "bad guy". Also, my copy needed more editing. There were times that an extra word would be inserted into a sentence or a letter was missing in a word. It was very distracting in a love scene. Instead of "take her" it was "ake her". It wasn't horrible; it just kept pulling me out of the story. Despite that, I think that this book will be one of my favorites of the year.
1 people found this review helpful