Tuesday 29 April 2014

Book Review #14: Claiming the Duchess by Sherry Thomas

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I know I haven't reviewed it yet, but Sherry Thomas' book The Luckiest Lady in London was the first of hers that I read. Now we received news of her new novella...and it is for free on Amazon!

In 'The Dark Knight', the Joker says "if you're good at something, never do it for free." Clearly, what the author wants us to do is to understand who she is as a storyteller, and Claiming the Duchess is a brilliant book to read, even if you are familiar with her other novels.

Given I have been in a heavy book edit / re-draft of my own, I'm slowly coming out of the haze and I am reading again. This was a quick read for me, one night and one morning...and it centres around our recently widowed duchess, Clarissa, who keeps sane with the correspondence of her long term friend Julia Kirkland, and hopeful of maybe finding a soul mate (are there ever more than one in your lifetime?) through Mr James Kingston.

The reveal is built up, slowly, carefully, steadily. When it came, I wasn't overly surprised, but that doesn't matter. The point is, Sherry Thomas is a joy to read. Sometimes, I read these kind of stories to fall in love again. Whilst that might sound soft, when you have been with the same person for a long time (over a decade in our case) sometimes you need that reminder that it is possible to keep the romance alive, and the magic of just being together a welcome release from the stresses of life (yeah, I'm talking about YOU...book writing!).

I think Sherry Thomas is an utterly brilliant storyteller. Predictably, her tales are set in London, but read the richness of her stories....enjoy her witty style and elegant prose....even if this isn't your kind of book, she is an excellent writer.

I liken her quality of writing to that of Anne Rice, who many of you will know is a horror writer. So it is not about genre, it is about enjoying an author at the height of their powers.

Claiming the Duchess is the (0.5) first story in the Fitzhugh series....I am seriously tempted to just blow the book budget and buy them all!

Happy reading!

   


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