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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
At first, I thought this was going to be too light weight, too similar to everything "Downton" (and not doing it as well as Waugh did). Yet a few chapters in I found myself changing my mind slightly. Our Herione has surprising depths (and self-awareness), however Our Hero is stereotypical of the macho men in a bodice ripper. The life that Delilah is forced to leave in Paris and London and take up in Kenya is also a lesser version of what other authors have done better... however, that doesn't matter as much as one would think (except for when a character expresses ideas that are politically correct for today, virtually blasphemous back then): the local tribesmen have value, female circumcision is bad, we need to conserve our wild animals, etc., when it got a little annoying.
So not a deep read, but perfectly pleasant.
ARC provided by publisher.
So not a deep read, but perfectly pleasant.
ARC provided by publisher.
Interesting. I had trouble with Delilah sometimes—she's a terror and has no interest in being anything else—and Ryder is perfectly awful (one of those dreadful alpha heroes, the sort who scorns Delilah for being independent and headstrong and demands that she does as he says...but would clearly immediately lose interest if she were more conventional), but there's more interaction of race and class and politics with the story than I'd necessarily have expected from the genre.
I'm also interested to see that Delilah isn't, ah, chaste: she has a History and sleeps with whomever she wants, including (gasp!) men who are not the hero. This is a Harlequin Mira book, not a bog-standard Harlequin (read: this is on the chick-lit end of romance), but it's still a little surprising to me. Contemporary romance heroines don't usually get to sleep around, so I care less about what it does or doesn't say about Delilah's character that she sometimes sleeps with married men than I care about what it says about writer/publisher/editor/reader.
What else? Delilah spends most of the book in Kenya, but the word 'Kenya' is mentioned roughly 30 times, while 'Africa' is mentioned roughly 120 times. At one point Delilah mentions that she's almost broke because she only has the nine thousand pounds she got from selling her car, but nine thousand 1923 would be worth more than half a million pounds in 2018, which does not really say 'broke' to me. Is this one of those things that's a matter of perspective? Ryder rips Delilah a new one for being 'selfish' pretty much immediately after she gets out of three weeks in jail, where went to save someone else. (Have I mentioned that I don't care for wannabe alphas?)
I'm also interested to see that Delilah isn't, ah, chaste: she has a History and sleeps with whomever she wants, including (gasp!) men who are not the hero. This is a Harlequin Mira book, not a bog-standard Harlequin (read: this is on the chick-lit end of romance), but it's still a little surprising to me. Contemporary romance heroines don't usually get to sleep around, so I care less about what it does or doesn't say about Delilah's character that she sometimes sleeps with married men than I care about what it says about writer/publisher/editor/reader.
What else? Delilah spends most of the book in Kenya, but the word 'Kenya' is mentioned roughly 30 times, while 'Africa' is mentioned roughly 120 times. At one point Delilah mentions that she's almost broke because she only has the nine thousand pounds she got from selling her car, but nine thousand 1923 would be worth more than half a million pounds in 2018, which does not really say 'broke' to me. Is this one of those things that's a matter of perspective? Ryder rips Delilah a new one for being 'selfish' pretty much immediately after she gets out of three weeks in jail, where went to save someone else. (Have I mentioned that I don't care for wannabe alphas?)
Apparently, Deanna Raybourn outside of the Lady Julia Grey series just isn't for me. I really did not enjoy her last standalone book The Dead Travel Fast, but this one sounded so interesting I was excited to give it a go. I was very disappointed.
Quite frankly, this book was a bit of a mess from start to finish. The main characters are developed in sudden bits and pieces, and don't really make sense. The other white settlers are pretty awful, and pretty flat in most cases, and while I really liked Gideon and Moses and the other African natives, I think there was a lot of problematic "white savior" elements which isn't very surprising from such a setting, but were not addressed like they could have been and left a not-so-nice taste in my mouth. The other thing which really bugged me was Ryder basically threatening to rape Delilah, while outdoors alone with her, made even worse as from the beginning he is established as her protector in the wilds of Africa - yet this instance isn't a big deal at all.
Delilah and Ryder are not well-developed characters, as much as all the random information about them that's thrown at us tries to do so - they come out with things in conversation that just don't make sense. I'm still not sure exactly how old Delilah is, but despite her apparent age, multiple marriages, and continent-crossing travels, she seems stupidly immature, which makes the wise things she sometimes says all the more jarring. Their romance was so hot and cold and contradictory that I lost interest, and it was just rather boring in the end. The plot was all over the place, and despite the numerous and varied Big Events of the book, it all kind of felt like filler, for Delilah to fall in love with Africa...well, the small specific part of Africa near Nairobi, but it's all just "Africa".
I really enjoyed the setting, and for that alone I was determined to finish it, but I kept hoping it would get better and it never did.
Quite frankly, this book was a bit of a mess from start to finish. The main characters are developed in sudden bits and pieces, and don't really make sense. The other white settlers are pretty awful, and pretty flat in most cases, and while I really liked Gideon and Moses and the other African natives, I think there was a lot of problematic "white savior" elements which isn't very surprising from such a setting, but were not addressed like they could have been and left a not-so-nice taste in my mouth. The other thing which really bugged me was Ryder basically threatening to rape Delilah, while outdoors alone with her, made even worse as from the beginning he is established as her protector in the wilds of Africa - yet this instance isn't a big deal at all.
Delilah and Ryder are not well-developed characters, as much as all the random information about them that's thrown at us tries to do so - they come out with things in conversation that just don't make sense. I'm still not sure exactly how old Delilah is, but despite her apparent age, multiple marriages, and continent-crossing travels, she seems stupidly immature, which makes the wise things she sometimes says all the more jarring. Their romance was so hot and cold and contradictory that I lost interest, and it was just rather boring in the end. The plot was all over the place, and despite the numerous and varied Big Events of the book, it all kind of felt like filler, for Delilah to fall in love with Africa...well, the small specific part of Africa near Nairobi, but it's all just "Africa".
I really enjoyed the setting, and for that alone I was determined to finish it, but I kept hoping it would get better and it never did.
A delightful story set in 1920s Africa starring a scandalous flapper.
Even from reading the summary beforehand, I still didn't know what to expect when I started reading this. It was a fast read, although I'm not sure if the reason for that was the writing style or the fact that the story just moved quickly. Regardless, I never really felt a lull in the story. While it took a little while for the story to get going, once it did, there was no stopping it.
I admit to not reading a whole lot of historical fiction set in Africa, but that was because the books always looked so stuffy. A Spear of Summer Grass managed to evoke the beauty of a country without gagging me with it.
The characters were fantastic, although I admit to not being able to keep some of them straight. The main character Delilah started out as a frivolous, flighty flapper, but her character growth made for great reading.
A fantastic read set in a rarely visited time and location.
Even from reading the summary beforehand, I still didn't know what to expect when I started reading this. It was a fast read, although I'm not sure if the reason for that was the writing style or the fact that the story just moved quickly. Regardless, I never really felt a lull in the story. While it took a little while for the story to get going, once it did, there was no stopping it.
I admit to not reading a whole lot of historical fiction set in Africa, but that was because the books always looked so stuffy. A Spear of Summer Grass managed to evoke the beauty of a country without gagging me with it.
The characters were fantastic, although I admit to not being able to keep some of them straight. The main character Delilah started out as a frivolous, flighty flapper, but her character growth made for great reading.
A fantastic read set in a rarely visited time and location.
I read this for the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club, January 2015. I'll be honest, that's the only reason I read this, for several reasons. I've read this author before and I didn't really care for her. In fact, I read her before for THIS book club. It's not that the writing was bad, quite the opposite, it just didn't appeal to me. I also don't particularly care for this time period, but that was less of a factor for THIS book. In a lot of period books, the period is almost like a character itself, but this one didn't really feel like that to me. Lastly, the subject matter is just not something that draws me in.
So, THIS book. The writing was nice and it was very readable. But I just didn't love the story. The main character was a horribly selfish person when it came to people she knew, but bring on the local, unnamed citizens of Africa and she's Mother Theresa. Even all that altruistic behavior can't erase the fact that she's a complete bitch to her "friends." I also was very uncomfortable with the way domestic abuse was portrayed and explained away. It was very much with the victim blaming.
In the end, I enjoyed reading this one okay, but I didn't really like it and won't read any more voluntarily.
So, THIS book. The writing was nice and it was very readable. But I just didn't love the story. The main character was a horribly selfish person when it came to people she knew, but bring on the local, unnamed citizens of Africa and she's Mother Theresa. Even all that altruistic behavior can't erase the fact that she's a complete bitch to her "friends." I also was very uncomfortable with the way domestic abuse was portrayed and explained away. It was very much with the victim blaming.
In the end, I enjoyed reading this one okay, but I didn't really like it and won't read any more voluntarily.
Worth Reading
Great book about a wealthy American women who moves to Africa in the 1920s. I loved the main character & the world building.
Great book about a wealthy American women who moves to Africa in the 1920s. I loved the main character & the world building.
More like 3 1/2. The heroine is an odd mix of the admirable and the low. I was endlessly surprised by her, I guess like real life complicated persons. I though the ending was a little too pat. It was hard to put down even when I wasn't enjoying the situations. Good writing, less than fun story.
This comes from an upscale division of Harlequin romance and it certainly has the everything checked off in the romance checklist – feisty heroine, pirate-type hero, conflict between them immediately, heroine doing amazing things etc. However, it was less predictable and grittier than I would have guessed and I had fun with it. I was drawn in by beautiful cover…and I would say the story lived up to the cover.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Well written dynamic characters. I felt I was transported to Africa when reading. There were well written quotes that make you think and reflect. Love books like that!