The Rake's Protegee

I casually picked this book up and found a wonderful tale that I had to read in one sitting. Barbara Hazard is one of my favorite authors and her books weave locales and characters of such intensity that it is hard to go back to "real" life. As another reviewer says, it was truly hard to like and forgive the four men known as "Satan's Rakes" and I'm not sure I ever did! Two of the four are not redeemed, one dying at the hands of another of the four but on his way to a drunken finish anyway and the one who killed him is such a horrible villain, you are happy to see him gone. The two remaining, the leader of the pack Anthony (Hawk) Hawkins and Will Ashton one of Hawk's favorite yes-men end up at odds over a young woman they involved in a wager seven years earlier. Anne Ainsworth, unwanted, beaten and starved by her aunt and uncle becomes the "ward" of Hawk and has been raised as a gentlewoman in Yorkshire. Loved by all who know her, she is brought to Breden by Will, half in love with her himself, to be prepared for her season. The wager was that she be presented to the ton as a lady. Hawk sees only another woman he can use and abandon, but sets out to charm her so he can win his bet. Unfortunately, Anne finds out about the wager and runs from Hawk with her faithful maidservant and companion. I loved the resourcefulness of all the women in this book. Who will win her love in the end... will she become Hawk's mistress, Will's wife or will she be debauched by the horrible Sir Hartley? Wonderful storyline - interesting characters ... but I felt bad about King, her dog --

Barbara Hazard is what I call a "not so easy writer". By that I mean she introduces strong themes, three dimensional, very believeable characters and sets her protagonists on sometimes hard and difficult journeys through life. This novel was not by any means an easy read nor were all of the characters particularly sympathetic. Briefly, four friends have acquired the nicknames "Satan's Rakes" as a result of their debauchery, gambling, whoring and general insouciance towards accepted behaviour for men of their class and status in life. Thus, they have become so bored that one night, after finding nothing else to entertain them, their "leader" Anthony Hawkins, the Earl of Bredon, sets them a wager that he can find a low status, servant-girl and turn her into a young girl who can be successfully presented to the Ton as a lady. He settles on a young orphan, Anne Ainsworth, aged 11, and the wager is to run over a period of seven years. He sends her to the vicar holding the living on one his minor estates and he and his wife then educate and mould the girl into a young woman who has completely forgotten her past and who gives the appearance of a genuine, well brought up girl of the modish classes. When Bredon and one of his friends get sight of her seven years later, both are astounded at their immediate attraction to the lively, charming and friendly Anne. She, for her part, assumes she is Bredon's ward and that all of his motives are benign. Without giving the plot away, suffice it to say that she becomes a hit during the season but eventually discovers how her life is the result of a drunken wager. Fastidious Bredon can't quite credit the fact that he - who has become somewhat of a misogynist as the result of his rather off-hand upbringing - is actually falling in love with Anne. The four friends separate into two factions with the Earl gradually becoming aware of the harm he has brought about with his wager and behaviour in general and two other of the Rakes becoming completely debauched and so desperate to win the wager that one murders the other. Ultimately, of course, everything comes right but not until after three of our main characters must make difficult, and soul-searching progress in understanding themselves and their effect on others. This is a wonderful story. Barbara Hazard could write some incredible books - not your average Regency here - instead we have people who mature but not without facing up to the realities of life. At first I loathed Bredon: I could find very little about him that was redeeming but despite his faults, he grows, matures and finds the true meaning of love. Anne, for all her initial naivete, grows too into a mature and understanding woman. A strong marriage will no doubt result but both will continue to grow by being in a loving and happy relationship. Highly recommended - do search out a copy if you can.