Getting a Read on Ashley: And Only to Deceive
And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander
It’s my firm belief that when a person recommends a book to me, they’re handing me an inside look at their soul. In this series, “Getting a Read,” I try to uncover truth about books and their recommenders. For Christmas, I’ve asked Alyssa Krueger (who previously recommended Elantris) to turn the tables on me and one of my favorite series. I’ve recommended And Only To Deceive to her. Read on to see what she says about me and my book.
THE RECOMMENDER
Ashley Johnson, your lovely host on this blog! My writing buddy in grad school and, it turns out, one of my “people.” We’ve seen each other through hard times and laughter, and come out of it all saying, “You’re stuck with me.” So when she mails me a box containing two novels, I definitely crack those babies open, because, as I hope you’ve noticed, she’s excellent at reading to the heart of both books and people.
HOW TO READ IT
Always read this book (and every book in this series, please) with a glass of port in your hand, preferably in an armchair by the fire. Alternatively, you can read this after days spent wandering ancient Greek ruins, getting lost in Venice, or strolling the streets of Paris – but seriously, don’t forget the port. I’m with Lady Emily on this – port is truly a superior drink.
REVIEW: And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander
When Ashley recommended Tasha Alexander’s And Only to Deceive to me a year ago, I was addicted so quickly that I read all 12 currently-published books in the series within a couple of months, and as soon as the 13th book was released, I downloaded it on Kindle and started it the first night of my vacation. Let me tell you, reading a Victorian mystery romance novel on Thanksgiving day in a country hotel in Inverness, in an armchair by a sleepy, crackling fire, is a practice in coziness and pure enjoyment that I wish I could live daily.
The Lady Emily series fits somewhat neatly into several genres – mystery, historical fiction, historical romance – but the combination of these and other elements makes these stories stand out for me. Each of these genre labels are often dismissed as “fluff” or “un-literary” (particularly in the academic fields, where I spend much of my time nowadays, and much like Lady Emily’s own guilty pleasure reads), but Tasha Alexander brings meticulous historical knowledge and character development to lovely effect in these by-some-too-easily-dismissed novels.
Let’s get the weaknesses out of the way. To do that, I’ll move out of fangirl mode for a moment and honor the critical practice behind Ashley’s blog by putting on my scholarly hat.
In preparation for this blog post, I read these books a second time. During this reading, I found that I would prefer Lady Emily not be like so many other heroines – apparently so beautiful that any single (or perhaps not), red-blooded man she meets either falls head over heels in love with her or wants her as his mistress. I’ll admit that part of me cringes at this fairly unrelatable lifestyle. On the other hand, Emily’s character development more than makes up for this “not”-flaw.
Emily begins as a typical Victorian-era woman, behaving superficially due to the suppressive nature of her upbringing. Her life consists of reading the Victorian version of trashy fiction and being catty with other catty high-society women. As she begins to learn more about her dead husband’s intellectual interests, however, her natural curiosity, and the freedom provided by wealthy widowhood, push her down a path of education, creativity, and growth – parts of which I envy, and parts that deeply resonate. She starts to learn ancient Greek, makes friends with intellectuals and artists, and explores museums for hours on end. She also allows herself to follow her suspicions and intuition as she tries to solve the mystery of her husband’s antiquities dealings. Her frequent jumping to conclusions can be annoying to endure, as Catherine from the Silver Petticoat Review points out, but for me, this aligns well with her lack of worldly (and criminal) experience. (Spoiler alert: Her sleuthing skills improve significantly throughout the series, although she always maintains her sensational imagination.)
Beyond that, she learns about herself: no longer is she content with the superficial activities and interests expected of a Victorian woman. Although some may find the feminist message of this book cliché, I find it refreshing. While we need the people who consistently and brazenly break the rules and flout society’s expectations, I also love reading about the women who change society from within. Lady Emily does sometimes flout social rules, but she consistently learns lessons about how far she can push before she causes harm and further entrenchment rather than progress. She toes the line, acting as a model for new types of femininity while maintaining enough “respectability” to enact the power that comes with such status. She works both from outside and inside structures, drinking men’s port but knowing when to step back and let her companions find comfort again in the separation of the sexes. This type of feminism also satisfies my desire for historically accurate narratives, revealing the limitations of Victorian expectations. (Aia A. Hussein also addresses this issue of creating a heroine who is simultaneously historically accurate and sympathetic for the modern reader in her Austenprose review.) The novel is refreshing in the way it offers women a model for ways to smash the patriarchy even when they’re not interested in being on the picket lines. Lady Emily shows us that everyone can fight prejudice, even in the smallest of ways.
Beyond this, the novels are simply fun. Lady Emily’s naivete can be so relatable, and you feel yourself joining her in trying to solve the mystery of her husband’s death and his role in the underworld of black market antiquities. And as for the romance(s) – well, I won’t deny enjoying a fluffy romance from time to time. In this way, I find myself in good company with Lady Emily, as she returns again and again to sensational Victorian author Mary Braddon, despite her growing (and eventually obsessive) love of ancient Greek poetry and art. Tasha Alexander’s books are certainly a long way from my current scholarly interest, James Joyce, but I truly feel we need books like this just as much as we need boundary-shattering modernist literature.
THE RECOMMENDER IN REVIEW
I love getting recommendations from Ashley, because, as we’ve realized over the years, we are so incredibly similar. I suspect Ashley loves this book for many of the same reasons as I do. Ashley regularly pushes against society’s expectations; she is fierce when she needs to be, but she also knows when to be gentle. She has also, like Lady Emily, pursued her own path towards self-actualization, and she relentlessly pursues her goals despite the limitations placed on her by circumstances. And to top it all off, she epitomizes the same dichotomy as Lady Emily – she’s one of the most intelligent (and intellectual) people I know, while simultaneously finding joy in the fun of so-called “fluff”. She’s the type of friend who can geek out with you about historical romance or fantasy novels and then turn right around and conduct an equally-geeky conversation about classic literature and literary theory.
WHERE TO FIND IT
I honestly didn’t have to look for this book, as Ashley sent me her copy (which I, to honor her tradition, sent to my sister-in-law), and I bought the e-book of every other book in the series. But if you can, I highly recommend stopping by a bookstore (used or otherwise) and picking up one of these paperbacks so you can experience these books as Lady Emily would have read her sensational novels - the low-tech way. Just don’t forget the port.
