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A review by lgpiper
Desperate Remedies by Mary Rimmer, Thomas Hardy
3.0
Ambrose Graye fell hopelessly in love with a young woman named Cytherea. But, then suddenly, Cytherea disappeared without a trace. Ambrose mourned her loss his whole life. He did, however, get married a few years after Cytherea's disappearance and had two children, a son Owen and a daughter, whom he named Cytherea.
Ambrose was an architect and took Owen into business with him. But, when Ambrose died, his business was in a shambles and Owen and his sister Cytherea fled to another part of the country. Ambrose apprenticed himself for a short time to another architect. One of his coworkers was a young man named Edward Springrove. At some point, Springrove and Cytherea became hopelessly in love with each other. But, the course of love, at least in olden times, was not smooth.
Cytherea needed some occupation because Owen wasn't making all that much money. She eventually became a lady's maid at the manor of Miss Aldclyffe, apparently a spinster of about 46. There were some issues, but Miss Aldclyffe fell in love with Cytherea and converted her to a companion. There's an actual lesbian love scene in the book (seemed weird to me for Victorian times, but what do I know?)
Well, it turns out that Edward Springrove lives in the neighborhood, and Miss Aldclyffe doesn't want him attached to her Cytherea. That's sort of solved because Edward is sorta engaged to a cousin, Adelaide Hinton.
Miss Aldclyffe has other plans for Cytherea. She goes into an extended system of selecting a new steward to overlook her estates. Although Edward Stringrove is clearly the most promising of the candidates, Miss Aldclyffe picks another, one Aeneas Marston. Actually, she went to great lengths to get Marston to apply for the job and then accept it.
But, things aren't smooth. It turns out that Marston might have a wife already. Then, said wife may or may not have died. Well, lots of things happen. The book is full of spooky foreboding, dark shadows, sounds in the night, mysterious appearances and disappearances, and so forth. For some reason, I found it to be quite engaging. I suppose it's not quite up to a 4* book, but I'd likely give it 3*+, were GoodReads to allow such.
Ambrose was an architect and took Owen into business with him. But, when Ambrose died, his business was in a shambles and Owen and his sister Cytherea fled to another part of the country. Ambrose apprenticed himself for a short time to another architect. One of his coworkers was a young man named Edward Springrove. At some point, Springrove and Cytherea became hopelessly in love with each other. But, the course of love, at least in olden times, was not smooth.
Cytherea needed some occupation because Owen wasn't making all that much money. She eventually became a lady's maid at the manor of Miss Aldclyffe, apparently a spinster of about 46. There were some issues, but Miss Aldclyffe fell in love with Cytherea and converted her to a companion. There's an actual lesbian love scene in the book (seemed weird to me for Victorian times, but what do I know?)
Well, it turns out that Edward Springrove lives in the neighborhood, and Miss Aldclyffe doesn't want him attached to her Cytherea. That's sort of solved because Edward is sorta engaged to a cousin, Adelaide Hinton.
Miss Aldclyffe has other plans for Cytherea. She goes into an extended system of selecting a new steward to overlook her estates. Although Edward Stringrove is clearly the most promising of the candidates, Miss Aldclyffe picks another, one Aeneas Marston. Actually, she went to great lengths to get Marston to apply for the job and then accept it.
But, things aren't smooth. It turns out that Marston might have a wife already. Then, said wife may or may not have died. Well, lots of things happen. The book is full of spooky foreboding, dark shadows, sounds in the night, mysterious appearances and disappearances, and so forth. For some reason, I found it to be quite engaging. I suppose it's not quite up to a 4* book, but I'd likely give it 3*+, were GoodReads to allow such.