Earlier this week I wrote about Shades of Milk and Honey, the first book in Mary Robinette Kowal’s Glamourist Histories series. The basic premise of the books is a version of Jane Austin’s Regency England, with the addition of a decorative magic known as glamour. Shades of Milk and Honey follows Jane Ellsworth as she overcomes her own beliefs that she is accomplished but too plain to find love, saves her sister from a dubious suitor who would ruin her reputation, and (spoiler alert!) finds the love of her life in the professional glamourist Vincent.
Shades of Milk and Honey is a delightful Pride and Prejudice style romp that ends with the proposal. After that, Mary Robinette Kowal wrote four more books that chronicle the first four years or so of Jane and Vincent’s marriage. It took me about two and a half weeks to read all 5 books, so I thought I would write a sort of collective review and overview of the rest of the series. The basics are that if you loved Shades like I did, you’ll probably enjoy Glamour in Glass, Without a Summer, Valour and Vanity, and Of Noble Family.
The second book, Glamour in Glass follows Jane and Vincent on what is supposed to be a working honeymoon to Belgium. They quickly run into two big problems. The first is political as Napoleon escapes from his first exile and brings fear and danger to the continent. The second is more personal as Mrs. Kowal introduces one of the more interesting twists in her magical universe: glamour is considered a womanly art, but it’s dangerous for a woman to work glamour while in the family way, so to speak.
A book by a modern author about the Regency era with a female protagonist is automatically going to run into questions about the rights and place of women in society. One of the overarching themes of the series is Jane finding a way to work side by side with her husband in a profession they both adore at a time where the political and social norms make that very difficult. Adding in the physical manifestation of pregnancy and glamour not mixing heightens and complicates that theme in ways I found fascinating.
Glamour in Glass is less of a direct Jane Austin homage and more of an adventure novel than its predecessor. Here we leave the drawing room behind and find Jane and Vincent doing more hands on work. There’s also a healthy dose of espionage and straight up action as the danger from Napoleon becomes more and more real.
The third book, Without a Summer, returns to the romantic intrigue that made the first novel so unique. This installment finds Jane and Vincent taking Jane’s sister Melody to London to help her secure a good husband. But their work becomes entangled with plots that will endanger Melody’s prospects and their lives. This book delves much more deeply into Vincent’s troubled past. He gave up a life as the son of a powerful and hyper-strict Earl to become a working artist. But family doesn’t let go that easily, and Without a Summer explores his troubling family dynamic with intrigue to spare. This book also starts a trend in the series where it seems like the author was trying out different genres. Without a Summer is a little bit of a court room drama, which is fun to read.
If the third book is a courtroom drama, the fourth, Valour and Vanity is a heist book. Here Jane and Vincent are back on the road, this time in Venice. They find themselves swindled and have to try to swindle the swindlers to get back their lives and livelihoods. This book was the weakest in the series because while it’s a little fun to stretch the characters beyond their comfort zones, without the aristocratic drama of the earlier books, a lot of what makes these books unique disappears. Sure there’s some nice character development for Jane and Vincent, but it wasn’t as compelling as the previous books.
Finally the series finishes with Of Noble Family which finds Jane and Vincent journeying to Antigua to take care of affairs on Vincent’s father’s estate. This book wraps up the series with more of Vincent’s drama with his father, as well as Jane and Vincent finally undertaking the terrifying journey of starting a family of their own. This book is also the longest and most ambitious as Mrs. Kowal tries not only to finish the series, but to take on the issue of slavery on a Caribbean plantation. That’s a lot to accomplish in one book, but it does wrap up the series nicely while continuing the trend of expanding the scope of the books.
The series has several really interesting arcs that are certainly fun to follow and explore. At its heart the series is truly about the romance of Jane and Vincent as they work together to create art and a life that makes them both happy. Tied into that is the aforementioned struggle for Jane to build a satisfying life as a smart, independent woman in a society that did not value women. It’s a delight to watch the characters learn and grow through their struggles.
It’s also interesting to see a modern take on the Regency period for other reasons. There’s more racial and socio-economic diversity that one would expect from books on the period. It helps that Mary Robinette Kowal is a self-professed nerd. She worked hard to make sure that she kept the historical detail ridiculously accurate and authentic, which also means acknowledging the many strata of society present in the time, not just the ones we’re used to hearing about. The author’s notes at the end of each book are full of fun historical tidbits. There’s also the revelation that there’s a Doctor Who Easter egg in each book. I told you the author was a nerd. Fun, easy reading adventures with a complex female lead written by a detail loving nerd. It’s no wonder I enjoyed this series so much.
Nerd Academy 