A review by carolhoggart
Enticing Benedict Cole by Eliza Redgold

5.0

“Love, A more ideal Artist he than all.”

So opens Enticing Benedict Cole – with a quote from the poet Tennyson. Lines from Tennyson’s “The Gardener’s Daughter” thread throughout this deliciously romantic tale of Victorian art, aristocracy, passion and repression. Cameo – real name Lady Catherine Mary St Clair – yearns to paint, but is barred from furthering her art by her aristocratic status. A Victorian lady may dabble in art, but she must definitely not associate with that scandalous Pre-Raphaelite set. Thus she seeks out in secret the tuition of artist Benedict Cole – which he refuses – forcing her to learn clandestinely by means of turning artist’s model in order to observe him at work. For Benedict Cole is painting a scene from “The Gardener’s Daughter”, and Cameo fits Tennyson’s description almost exactly.

What follows is a tale of secrets unpeeled and explosive artistic intensity. This is a Harlequin romance that breaks the mould – deeply embedded in the art world of Victorian London, well-researched, beautifully romantic, and threaded together with poetry and paint. Highly recommended.