Watch the Wall, My Darling | Review

1.45/5.00

Published: 1966

Genre: Historical Romance

Goodreads

“As the carriage moved forward, Christina sank back against the squab and gave way, for a moment, to the great involuntary shivers that ran through her. Then, angrily, she steadied herself, sat upright, took off her bonnet and began to tidy her hair as best she could in the dark. It was over. She was safe. Think forward, she told herself, not back.”

I read this book through NetGalley for an honest review.

When her father dies, Christina visits family in England and meets her extended family, namely her grandfather, aunt and cousins. She soon becomes wrapped up in the pressures of marriage proposals. They talk about Napoleon Bonaparte’s war going on, so I assume the story takes place around the beginning of the 19th century.

Christina is a bit of a Mary Sue, albeit a tad smarter, or at least not too stupid to live most of the time. The other characters in this book are easily stereotyped, from the brooding man to the meek, overly formal aunt to the crotchety old man. Sophie is such a poorly constructed, stereotyped character that my eyes were tiring from so much rolling. At least she only makes a rather brief appearance in the story. Only stubbornness kept me reading to the end. Characterization is poor, and the plot is dull. The ending should surprise no one. This review sounds a bit cynical, but there was little I enjoyed about it.

With this book and Outlander, my experience with historical fiction hasn’t been the best. I won’t recommend this book, unless you are a die-hard fan of historical romance. Even then, you could probably find better candidates. I ranked it higher than Outlander here only because it’s significantly shorter. Why, then, did I pick up a book knowing I had bad experiences with historical romance? For a simple reason. The cover is gorgeous.

Jane Aiken Hodge was a British writer who kept writing up to her last book, Deathline published in 2003. She passed six years later.

“Happiness is transparent…That is its virtue.” –Jane Aiken Hodge