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A review by jackiehorne
Always Remember by Mary Balogh
3.0
An eldest bastard son of an earl and the physically disabled daughter of a duke grow to be friends, and then more, during a big family get-together in preparation for a summer fete. In addition to Balogh's annoyingly repetitive internal monologue recaps of previous actions (which are taking up more and more space in her recent books), this story also contains a huge amount of narrative recounting of preparations for the fete, as well as forays into brief scenes with what seems like thousands of other family characters (if one actually counted, it might be closer to 20 than 1,000. But they're as distrating as 1,000...).
With so much filler, there's not much room for anything like a plot here, beyond Ben wanting to help Jennifer gain greater mobility through teaching her to drive a gig and thinking up the possibility of a shoe that will help her to walk better. The depiction of disability here isn't as cringe as in some of Balogh earlier books, but Jennifer's portrayal does come uncomfortably close to the edge of the "virtuous and courageous disabled" stereotype at times.
The only conflict in the story is over whether the two protagonists' families will accept their marriage. Which, of course, since this is a Balogh novel, they do by story's end, without much angst or even argument over the matter.
I enjoyed Ben, the male protagonist, a lot; his belonging-but-n0t-quite-belonging situation with his family struck a real emotional chord. Ever-cheerful disabled Jennifer I found a bit harder to take; the narrative endorses her decision to always put on a good face and never complain about the difficulties of her situation. Me, myself, I prefer a character who is allowed a little more anger, a little more frustration, when faced with life's difficulties.
At least Jennifer got to finally be a bit honest with Ben...
CPL borrow
With so much filler, there's not much room for anything like a plot here, beyond Ben wanting to help Jennifer gain greater mobility through teaching her to drive a gig and thinking up the possibility of a shoe that will help her to walk better. The depiction of disability here isn't as cringe as in some of Balogh earlier books, but Jennifer's portrayal does come uncomfortably close to the edge of the "virtuous and courageous disabled" stereotype at times.
The only conflict in the story is over whether the two protagonists' families will accept their marriage. Which, of course, since this is a Balogh novel, they do by story's end, without much angst or even argument over the matter.
I enjoyed Ben, the male protagonist, a lot; his belonging-but-n0t-quite-belonging situation with his family struck a real emotional chord. Ever-cheerful disabled Jennifer I found a bit harder to take; the narrative endorses her decision to always put on a good face and never complain about the difficulties of her situation. Me, myself, I prefer a character who is allowed a little more anger, a little more frustration, when faced with life's difficulties.
At least Jennifer got to finally be a bit honest with Ben...
CPL borrow