How to Marry a Marquis (Avon Romantic Treasure)
by Julia Quinn
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Book Summary Information
Author: Julia QuinnEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1990-03-09
ISBN: 0380800810
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Avon
Book Reviews of How to Marry a Marquis (Avon Romantic Treasure)
Book Review: Interesting, but not to my taste
Summary: 3 Stars
I started reading Julia Quinn (whom I respect both as a writer and as a person online) with her first Bridgerton book THE DUKE AND I. I love checking out her site to see what redesign she and her sister have been upto. And I am amazed continually at how she continues to change and grow as an author with each new Bridgerton book. However, I have to say that her earlier books which are still in print are not to my taste. This is the third early Julia Quinn I have tried, and it failed to amaze me or enthrall me, let alone make me laugh. I am sure that it is to other readers' tastes for other reasons.
Let me explain why I gave this book only three stars. I do try to rate books by their sub-genre. That is to say, I don't expect a comic romance to do the same things for me that an angsty romance would. Comparing those would be as unfair as comparing apples and oranges, or comparing classical music and the blues. However, I do expect a romance (whether in print or not) to have a certain internal coherence. This book lacks that from the outset.
A brief plot summary - Elizabeth Hotchkiss, impoverished eldest daughter of a deceased baronet and mainstay of her three younger siblings, is companion to an elderly lady Lady Danbury. At the start of the book, she is in serious financial crisis, since her money has run out. They have barely enough to eat, let alone send her young brother to Eton (like his predecessors). Enter a mysterious but charming estate manager, who suspects her of blackmailing her employer. The manager is actually Lady Danbury's nephew James Sidwell, Marquess of Riverdale, a rich Marquis who has retired from spying on the French for the War Office. In the meantime, Elizabeth has discovered a book "How to Marry a Marquis" written by a Mrs Seeton, and with the aid of her sister Susan, plans to practice its edicts on the manager (not knowing that he is really a marquis). The rest of the plot builds on the growing warmth between the couple, not matched unfortunately by trust felt by the hero in disclosing his real identity. There is of course a happy ending, after painful family secrets are revealed to each other (along with the hero's real identity as a real Marquis!).
Now for my problems with the book.
Firstly, we are told that the heroine's father is a baronet, but he is later called Mr Hotchkiss. This is a small error (possibly made when the author upgraded his rank), but it is actually part of a bigger problem for me. What exactly is the social and financial position of the heroine, and what are or could be her reasonable expectations? She is the eldest daughter of a baronet. However, she is impoverished enough to be worrying constantly about money, to consider it essential that she marry (presumably to a man happy to take on the charge of her siblings) and yet she plans or hopes to send her young brother to Eton. Her father, baronet or not, apparently had enough money to live quietly but genteelly in the country, but years later, his children - including his heir and only son - are so impoverished that they do not have enough to eat! Something is wrong here, or missing here. Presumably the Hotchkisses were granted a baronetcy in her father's time or even generations earlier. What happened to the family money? If there was no family money, how did generations of Hotchkisses go to Eton? This is never dealt with in the book.
Elizabeth's situation is another problem. It struck me as artificial - a device by the author to create or add more interest to the book. Beautiful heroine? Check. Impoverished heroine? Check Loyal heroine raising her siblings? Check. Clumsy heroine? Check. And so forth. Furthermore, I don't find clumsiness in a heroine (or any person) necessarily comic, although others may do.
James's reasons for not revealing his real identity to Elizabeth was a third problem, although I can rationalize this as a "test" of Elizabeth's love for him, however much he denied him. The attack out of the blue on Elizabeth made rather less sense; the person was described as a drunkard, not as a potential rapist.
Overall, I found the story somewhat unreal, the words and phrases used highly anachronistic, and the general effect that of a wallpaper historical (a historical where the setting is lightly sketched in, sometimes inaccurately). I don't mind wallpaper historicals per se, but I do want to be involved in the story. HOW TO MARRY A MARQUIS did not engage me; I could not feel that Elizabeth and her family were real persons (let alone real Regency persons), and the spats (in content and style) between her and her next sister probably contributed to the anachronistic feeling. James seemed only slightly more real, but only after he had gloriously messed up. The persons (or living beings) who came most alive for me were Lady Danbury and her cat Malcolm. Finally, the whole story seemed to move along jerkily, unlike her later books. The book also seems rather dated by all the parallels to THE RULES (a 1990s bestseller).
The comedy in this book, the characters and their situations are far more likely to appeal to most fans of Julia Quinn. However, if like me, you didn't enjoy her earlier books or this title, stick to her Bridgerton books and her later works. I think I will do so in the future.
Notes - HOW TO MARRY A MARQUIS is the sequel to TO CATCH AN HEIRESS, and is a prequel of sorts to the latest Bridgerton book IT'S IN HIS KISS (2006) which features Lady Danbury's grandson Gareth as the hero, with a part for Elizabeth's youngest sister Jane.
Recommended only with reservations
Written 6 January 2006 by "bookjunkiereviews", 1st 2006 review
Summary of How to Marry a Marquis (Avon Romantic Treasure)
When James Sidwell, Marquis of Riverdale, offered to help Elizabeth Hotchkiss find herself a husband, he never dreamed that the only candidate he could propose would be himself..
Setting: Regency England
Sensuality: 8
Elizabeth Hotchkiss needs to marry a wealthy man, and fast. The oldest child of four well-bred orphans, she's managed to keep the wolf from their door for years, but she's running out of options. The only marriage prospect in sight is her landlord, Squire Nevins, but his lecherous gaze makes Elizabeth's skin crawl. So when she discovers the book How to Marry A Marquis in her employer's library, she impulsively stuffs it into her reticule and takes it home. Encouraged by her insistent sister, Elizabeth reluctantly agrees to learn the book's rules well enough to catch a monied husband. But first, she must find a man to practice her wiles on. Enter James Sidwell, the Marquis of Riverdale. Posing as the new estate manager per his beloved Aunt Danbury's instructions, he just happens to arrive at the Danbury estate on the very day that Elizabeth discovers the book. Is it too coincidental that James's Aunt Danbury needs his assistance in catching a blackmailer at the precise moment that Elizabeth needs a guinea pig? Perhaps, but neither Elizabeth nor James have reason to suspect that they're being lovingly maneuvered.
James begins to search for a blackmailer, and Elizabeth is high on his list of suspects. While purposely spending time with her to explore her guilt or innocence, however, he's irresistibly drawn to her beauty and kindness as well as her practicality and sharp tongue. And when he learns that she's practicing to entice a husband, he can't resist offering to tutor her in courtship. Before long, the two realize their growing feelings for each other. But the course of true love never did run smoothly, and the lovers encounter a few obstacles along the way. Will the evil Squire Nevins easily give up his designs on Elizabeth and her sisters? What about the nefarious blackmailer? And how will Elizabeth react if she discovers that James is not who he pretends to be?
How To Marry A Marquis is a delightful read with witty dialogue that sparkles, wonderful secondary characters--including the difficult Aunt Agatha and an impossibly arrogant cat named Malcolm--sensuous love scenes, and a hero and heroine that readers will fall in love with. --Lois Faye Dyer
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