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A review by lucyhargrave
Spring Flowering by Farah Mendlesohn
4.0
I stumbled across Spring Flowering as part of my research into queer regency romances for my PhD. In particular I was looking for regency romances published by queer publishers or coming from a queer perspective, let me tell you there aren't many!
That being said I really enjoyed Spring Flowering. It falls very much into the Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer style of regencies, with a lot of focus on defining the society and following the main heroine's journey as she establishes her place in the world.
The historical details in Spring Flowering are clearly well researched and I did get a kick out of reading about Birmingham in a regency romance while being in Birmingham. Digbeth in particular is an area I know fairly well so it was fun to see it thrown back in time, so to speak!
Like other readers I would agree that it is only really at the 80% mark that the romance element of Spring Flowering gets started. Before that it is very much a novel about Ann Gray transitioning into a new life after the death of her father and moving in with her relatives. You can see hints of the romance but nothing is really acted upon until the 80% mark.
The romance between Ann and Louisa (her cousin) does happen quickly but it felt well-paced and considering all the build-up it also felt believable. I liked that Mendlesohn didn't show Ann and Louisa as being in an isolated bubble due to their sexuality, instead they both have previous same-sex experience and are even aware of other women in Birmingham who like other women. It made the society feel richer.
Overall I enjoyed Spring Flowering, but would have preferred a greater focus on the romance between Louisa and Ann. So for that reason I've given it 4*.
That being said I really enjoyed Spring Flowering. It falls very much into the Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer style of regencies, with a lot of focus on defining the society and following the main heroine's journey as she establishes her place in the world.
The historical details in Spring Flowering are clearly well researched and I did get a kick out of reading about Birmingham in a regency romance while being in Birmingham. Digbeth in particular is an area I know fairly well so it was fun to see it thrown back in time, so to speak!
Like other readers I would agree that it is only really at the 80% mark that the romance element of Spring Flowering gets started. Before that it is very much a novel about Ann Gray transitioning into a new life after the death of her father and moving in with her relatives. You can see hints of the romance but nothing is really acted upon until the 80% mark.
The romance between Ann and Louisa (her cousin) does happen quickly but it felt well-paced and considering all the build-up it also felt believable. I liked that Mendlesohn didn't show Ann and Louisa as being in an isolated bubble due to their sexuality, instead they both have previous same-sex experience and are even aware of other women in Birmingham who like other women. It made the society feel richer.
Overall I enjoyed Spring Flowering, but would have preferred a greater focus on the romance between Louisa and Ann. So for that reason I've given it 4*.