Flowers from the Storm

The first 100 pages or so made my brain hurt from all the math, but hang in there. This book is SOOOO worth it. It made me a fan of Laura Kinsale. It's the book that started it all. I have now read and own all of her works. She's an amazing author.

I was very surprised that once I got into the story how captivating it was to read. Most historical novels usually focus on how beautiful the woman is or how handsome the man is:which is stated on every page This author focused on thickening the plot of the story. This was one of the best novels I've read.

Read over 15 yrs ago and still on my "keeper shelf". Fave LK book!

You know a book has a lot to live up to when you read things like "One of the world's most cherished love stories!" and "Probably the best historical romance ever published" and "One of the greatest love stories of all time" not to mention "A watershed in romance fiction". This book and this author (whom I've never read) seem to be much revered by readers and authors alike, so when this book was re-issued in June, I was glad of the chance to read it and see for myself what all the fuss was about. And let me tell you I was not only blown away, but I'll be searching out Ms Kinsale's other books for sure! A great book, compelling characters and a story to make you smile and weep and worry and hope that all will be well in the end!When first we meet Christian Langland, Duke of Jervaulx, he is too handsome and charming for his own good, dissolute, completely reckless and full of hubris. He also happens to be a mathematical genius. He is working on a paper detailing a new mathematical theory with an unlikely partner - blind Quaker John Timms whose daughter Archimedea (Maddy) is his eyes and caregiver. Maddy is both fascinated and repulsed by the duke and his wild, worldly ways (he actually flirts with her!). When word comes that he has perished in a duel, both the news and her reaction to it shock her, as she weeps for this man she thought she did not even like!Months later, Maddy and her father find themselves at Blythedale Hall, an insane asylum for the well to do where Maddy will assist her Cousin Edward who runs the place. On rounds to meet the patients, she is stunned to discover a disheveled, wild-eyed Jervaulx among the inmates! Before the duel could even commence, Christian was struck down by a stroke and is left unable to communicate, with damage to his motor skills and memory. In his frustration, he lashes out like an animal but when he recognizes Maddy, he calms. She is allowed to be his daytime caregiver and he latches onto her like a lifeline. His fear and frustration were nothing short of heartbreaking and the treatment and humiliation he endures from his "attendants" borders on cruel and masochistic - simply horrifying.Maddy devotes herself to easing his fears, helping him to communicate and, when she learns that he must face a competency hearing (instigated by his greedy brothers-in-law) or lose his title and his freedom for good, she resolves to do what she can to prepare him. But all sorts of misadventures, manipulations and deceptions follow with Christian keeping a death-grip on Maddy while Maddy is torn between helping Christian and keeping to her father and her faith. I won't say more about the plot, but the characters are so well written that they will make you laugh, cry, and bite your nails with anxiety for them. This book must have been exhausting to write! The author deftly conveys Christian's frustration, broken language and motor skills as well as his needy attachment to Maddy as it grows to love. And Maddy

First, Kinsale can write with depth, complexity, beautiful language--and all this from (dare I say it) an English professor. I rarely read romance or mystery, only by recommendation. I have read this particular book three times now, and each time I read it I find more detail, more of Kinsale's fine characterization, more nuances I glossed over at first. The tale is the story of two characters becoming through unbecoming, and the smart reader will notice that Kinsale foreshadows much of her characters' fates all throughout the novel, in splendidly subtle asides. The novel, though it alludes to classic romances, such as Jane Eyre, never becomes a parody itself, and the story is heartfelt, emotional, and satisfying. A duke, both a rake and a mathemantical genius, suffers a stroke when he encounters the husband of his lover in the husband's own hall. The duke manages to present a breakthrough geometry he has authored with a blind Quaker before his collapse. The Quaker's daughter, who has helped her father with this paper, is told the next day that the Duke is dead. Later, she encounters the self-same duke at her cousin's asylum, where the duke is taken for mad. Naturally, a cautious relationship ensues when the Quaker girl realizes that the Duke is not insensible, only aphasic, or damaged in his capacity for speech. She becomes his "nurse". At times hilarious, at times heartbreaking, this book stands as the ultimate romance experience. And do read it a few times and watch for those hints Kinsales drops throughout...

I read Flowers from the Storm after reading about 20 other romance novels. What impressed me about Flowers was that for the first time in a romance novel, I encountered an author who assumes that romance readers have intelligence. Not only does she challenge her readers to follow the Quaker thee/thou speech, she also puts her readers inside of Jervaulx's mind and forces us to see and hear the world through his stroke-damaged perceptions--a world where simple English words have little meaning. She then takes this one step further, challenging us to follow along with her, by letting us feel Jervaulx's frustration and rage and letting us hear what he hears as he tries to understand Maddy's thee/thou Quaker speech. Ingenious! I've read somewhere that Kinsale's greatest skill is in taking a hero that no one could love and making you want to lick his boots by the end of the story. This is never truer than in Flowers from the Storm. This book needs to be reprinted!