Regency romance review: ‘The Secret History of the Pink Carnation’ by Lauren Willig
This was recommended by a friend when I lamented the difficulty of finding decent Regency romances these days that have some modicum of connection to the actual era, and don’t play fast and loose with historical details. And it’s true enough that the historical details do feel very realistic. The author has obviously done her research. Unfortunately, while the settings are very credible, the characters simply aren’t. Now, this is partly my problem: I just find it very hard to read about Regency ladies clambering in and out of windows at night, and having almost-sexy-times with rakish blokes in masks and otherwise behaving recklessly, without comparing them with Jane Austen’s much more sedate heroines. Or even Georgette Heyer’s, whose characters were always spirited, but never, ever silly. So your mileage may vary, but for me I had trouble believing any of this. The premise: in an era of Englishmen secretly […]