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A review by astoriedsoul
The Bracelet by Dorothy Love
3.0
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.
This review originally appeared on my blog: The Literarium
In Antebellum-era Savannah, Georgia, Celia waits for her intended fiance, Sutton, to return from his work in Jamaica, while she occupies herself with the usual social functions and charity work expected of a lady in her station. On the moment of Sutton’s return, a disliked local journalist bursts his way into Celia’s home and opens up the wounds of a long-passed scandal and mystery that has haunted her family for years. As her father’s health fails, Celia is thrust into the role of sleuth as she is sent a series of mysterious and threatening letters, along with a bracelet including a deadly message, that threatens her family. To save all she loves, she must purge her family of this long-buried secret.
Dorothy Love’s novel is set against the backdrop of Antebellum-era Georgia. In other words, it’s set against the years of rising political tensions between the North and South regarding the abolition of slavery, before Abraham Lincoln’s election as president, and before the Civil War. Sprinkles of these historical moments find their way into the story, and it provides a lot of atmosphere–albeit a romanticized version of the South at this time–to the novel and characters’ lives. As I read with this in mind, with the feeling this historical background provides, I couldn’t help but recall Margaret Mitchell’s iconic Gone With the Wind; yet, this novel is more simple and on the surface than what makes Mitchell’s novel a permanent fixture in the American subconscious. I don’t know how else to explain it. At the same time, you can tell the author did her research to set the novel up in this historical framework. This research and accuracy adds a tone of realism to events in the novel.
I had problems with the dialogue and character development in this novel, mainly that I didn’t believe most of it. While I sympathized with Celia, not wanting her family to be ruined, I felt that the characters overall were surface characters and could have been “fleshed out” more in terms of their emotions, interactions, and so on. I didn’t feel the raw authenticity or depth in any of this that made the characters feel like the real people that they were in history. Also, there was no tension and depth to the romance between Celia and Sutton either. From the beginning of the novel, it is understood and stated that the two are betrothed and will marry, and that’s that. This part of the story doesn’t delve deeper into the bond between the two. So, if you are a reader looking for a developed romantic story-line, you won’t find that with Celia and Sutton. This was disappointing. I wasn’t looking for a romance novel, and I don’t seek that out at all in novels, but it would have helped in at least knowing more and in feeling more connected with the characters in this book. Overall, I felt distant from the novel’s cast. However, it does get better as it goes on, but the narrative still remains mostly on the surface.
I also didn’t feel like the dialogue, or voice, was authentic to the time and how people of that era would have spoken to each other across classes. I had one particular problem with the way the housekeeper would talk to Celia, calling her “daft” at one point. No housekeeper, or servant of any kind, would talk to a lady of the house s/he serves in that manner. Servants were employees and nothing more, and while servants in a higher position like that of housekeeper/butler, lady’s maid, or valet would have been able to exercise more freedoms than a parlor maid or kitchen maid, they still would speak with respect and reverence to their master or mistress. So, the few inconsistencies that there were in this novel really jerked me out of being immersed in the mystery, which is the heart of this book I think.
The mystery itself is well-done, and though readers will find out who the villain is well before the final chapters, this doesn’t detract from wanting to get to the end. I figured out who the villain was quite early on, but I found myself wanting to keep reading to understand the “whys” of it all, and I was eager to see how it resolved. And we as readers will keep reading because we still want to know how Celia and her family will fare. There are enough twists, turns, and mysterious events to keep the plot moving, and the Love’s narrative becomes a well-paced and easy read. Her language and style is simple, straight-forward, and makes no demands on the reader.
Overall, this is a good, easy historical murder mystery, and it was a fun alternative to the more serious reading I’ve been doing recently. Escapes are good. I would definitely read this again, and I do recommend it. The story, characters, style, and content are all likeable and solid aside from my few gripes above. Last, I was pleasantly surprised that though this was marketed as “Christian Fiction” it is not at all overtly religious; in fact, I didn’t realize it was categorized as that on NetGalley. The family goes to church and that’s about it. As a non-Christian, I found this an extremely likable quality, the fact that it wasn’t “preachy.” In fact, I’d probably just categorize this novel as Historical Fiction. So, don’t be deterred by the categorization in your local bookstore if you’re in the same boat as me.
This is a solid book.
This review originally appeared on my blog: The Literarium
In Antebellum-era Savannah, Georgia, Celia waits for her intended fiance, Sutton, to return from his work in Jamaica, while she occupies herself with the usual social functions and charity work expected of a lady in her station. On the moment of Sutton’s return, a disliked local journalist bursts his way into Celia’s home and opens up the wounds of a long-passed scandal and mystery that has haunted her family for years. As her father’s health fails, Celia is thrust into the role of sleuth as she is sent a series of mysterious and threatening letters, along with a bracelet including a deadly message, that threatens her family. To save all she loves, she must purge her family of this long-buried secret.
Dorothy Love’s novel is set against the backdrop of Antebellum-era Georgia. In other words, it’s set against the years of rising political tensions between the North and South regarding the abolition of slavery, before Abraham Lincoln’s election as president, and before the Civil War. Sprinkles of these historical moments find their way into the story, and it provides a lot of atmosphere–albeit a romanticized version of the South at this time–to the novel and characters’ lives. As I read with this in mind, with the feeling this historical background provides, I couldn’t help but recall Margaret Mitchell’s iconic Gone With the Wind; yet, this novel is more simple and on the surface than what makes Mitchell’s novel a permanent fixture in the American subconscious. I don’t know how else to explain it. At the same time, you can tell the author did her research to set the novel up in this historical framework. This research and accuracy adds a tone of realism to events in the novel.
I had problems with the dialogue and character development in this novel, mainly that I didn’t believe most of it. While I sympathized with Celia, not wanting her family to be ruined, I felt that the characters overall were surface characters and could have been “fleshed out” more in terms of their emotions, interactions, and so on. I didn’t feel the raw authenticity or depth in any of this that made the characters feel like the real people that they were in history. Also, there was no tension and depth to the romance between Celia and Sutton either. From the beginning of the novel, it is understood and stated that the two are betrothed and will marry, and that’s that. This part of the story doesn’t delve deeper into the bond between the two. So, if you are a reader looking for a developed romantic story-line, you won’t find that with Celia and Sutton. This was disappointing. I wasn’t looking for a romance novel, and I don’t seek that out at all in novels, but it would have helped in at least knowing more and in feeling more connected with the characters in this book. Overall, I felt distant from the novel’s cast. However, it does get better as it goes on, but the narrative still remains mostly on the surface.
I also didn’t feel like the dialogue, or voice, was authentic to the time and how people of that era would have spoken to each other across classes. I had one particular problem with the way the housekeeper would talk to Celia, calling her “daft” at one point. No housekeeper, or servant of any kind, would talk to a lady of the house s/he serves in that manner. Servants were employees and nothing more, and while servants in a higher position like that of housekeeper/butler, lady’s maid, or valet would have been able to exercise more freedoms than a parlor maid or kitchen maid, they still would speak with respect and reverence to their master or mistress. So, the few inconsistencies that there were in this novel really jerked me out of being immersed in the mystery, which is the heart of this book I think.
The mystery itself is well-done, and though readers will find out who the villain is well before the final chapters, this doesn’t detract from wanting to get to the end. I figured out who the villain was quite early on, but I found myself wanting to keep reading to understand the “whys” of it all, and I was eager to see how it resolved. And we as readers will keep reading because we still want to know how Celia and her family will fare. There are enough twists, turns, and mysterious events to keep the plot moving, and the Love’s narrative becomes a well-paced and easy read. Her language and style is simple, straight-forward, and makes no demands on the reader.
Overall, this is a good, easy historical murder mystery, and it was a fun alternative to the more serious reading I’ve been doing recently. Escapes are good. I would definitely read this again, and I do recommend it. The story, characters, style, and content are all likeable and solid aside from my few gripes above. Last, I was pleasantly surprised that though this was marketed as “Christian Fiction” it is not at all overtly religious; in fact, I didn’t realize it was categorized as that on NetGalley. The family goes to church and that’s about it. As a non-Christian, I found this an extremely likable quality, the fact that it wasn’t “preachy.” In fact, I’d probably just categorize this novel as Historical Fiction. So, don’t be deterred by the categorization in your local bookstore if you’re in the same boat as me.
This is a solid book.