Midnight Waltz

One reviewer here suggests that this unusual novel has "gothic" overtones but I think that is a little strong. Most "gothics" (especially those that I remember from the 1960s and 1970s) were normally imbued with more sinister, histrionic overtones than this novel. What I think the author has done here is to lift the veil of life as normally presented in Regency stories and allowed us a glimpse of life where things are not always sweetness and light and the dramatis personae have genuine human failings. Our heroine in this novel suffers at the hands of a disagreeable family composed of relatives who never have her best interests at heart and who, by nasty behaviour, dubious motives and indifference to the usual standards of morality succeed in overturning the "normal" expectations we have in this sort of story. Of particular interest is that one character is clearly mentally ill, possibly suffering from schizophrenic tendancies, and another is seemingly a manic depressive. A third is alluded to as a closet homosexual. So, lots of interesting and unusual ingredients make this novel move along at a rapid pace, making the reader wholly interested in some characters who are unsympathetic and unlikeable. This story is told in the first person - something I don't relish myself but it worked for this story because it allowed our heroine to comment honestly to the reader about her thoughts and worries. Unfortunately, because it's told in this voice, we never get inside the head of the hero and he emerges, sadly, as rather one-dimensional. For this reason, this very different story cannot be, for me, five star. Four stars because it was very much outside the norm for the genre and, as ever with this author, it's well constructed and highly entertaining.

Not only does Ms Hazard have a compelling plot, her characters are delightful, particularly her hero. While I always enjoy her books, this one is definitely a keeper. Emily Hendrickson