Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Milady by Laura L. Sullivan

1 review

_vanessa's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Milady is an enjoyable read. Laura L. Sullivan certainly achieves her goal of rehabilitating the villainess image of Milady into a complex, conflicted, complete and well-rounded character. 
 
However, ultimately, I feel the novel is hamstrung by this single-minded purpose. Milady – or rather Clarice Paget – is given the long-due room to shine and show how suffering and desperation can drive difficult decisions that weigh on a conscious, while other characters become two-dimensional villains only to give her someone to play off, escape, outwit, deride, and even be harmed by. It’s a strange novel, with Milady shown complete indulgence for mistakes and difficult decisions, while other characters are not given the same compassion. Milady is merely acting to survive and create her own destiny, while other women like Lady Mary Villiers and even Marie de’Medici are only merciless schemers who plot and double-cross for the fun of it, instead of women in equally difficult situations trying to create and wield power for the sake of their safety and that of those they love. 
 
Even stranger is the role of George Villiers - The Duke of Buckingham - as a callous power-hungry fop who takes advantage of Clarice’s sincere feelings for him when part of the novel and part of the inciting incident of plot details how they are trained to take the court by storm by seduction and intrigue together. It’s difficult to follow and take to heart Clarice’s lamentations of betrayal and heartbreak when George succeeds in achieving his goal of becoming the King’s favourite. Having what is still a much-debated relationship between James I and George Villiers turned into a tumultuous scheme that naive Clarice did not suspect is a step too far away from history and nuance to be an enjoyable element of the novel.
 
 
I completely understand the impulse to show all men out as monsters and misogynists, and indulge in a little misandry here and there, but having nearly all the men in the story act that way lacks the thought-provoking impact of having their flaws teach us lessons. Lessons about what gender makes of us, and how women – particularly in historical time-periods – survived and found happiness with men or without them. 
 
These incidents of the flattening of characters in history and the original <i>Three Musketeers</i> novel (which I confess I haven’t read, yet) were disappointing, and hung in the back of my mind while reading but didn’t fully dampen my experience of what was a fun take on the character. The plot is exciting and adventurous, and really shows Milady in a new light, maybe elevating her too high up the ranks of women. 

A Girlbossification of a classic, intriguing villainess. 
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