Books We Love (Or Not)

Greetings to all my dear readers!

My blog has relocated to my new website at www.LauraNavarre.com In addition to new blog entries, you’ll also find there chapters and excerpts from my coming releases, and even an early draft chapter from my work-in-progress. Please stop by and take a peek!

XOXOXOXO,
Laura Navarre
LauraNavarreAuthor@yahoo.com

I don’t often blog about series books, but this is the Egyptian-set historical mystery series that singlehandedly introduced me to the genre and made me love it, and I devour these books with such unabashed pleasure! Amelia Peabody is a redoubtable Victorian spinster on her first tour of Egypt when she meets fiery Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson in a Cairo museum, and sparks fly. While the reluctant companions excavate an intriguing Egyptian ruin, a murder is committed, and Amelia must work with Emerson to solve the crime. Of course they fall in love, and the remaining books in this glorious series of twenty or so contain the tales of their archeological, romantic, and crime-solving adventures from Victorian through 1920s Egypt.

These books are EXQUISITELY well written, interweaving danger and mystery with Egyptian culture and some absolutely fascinating archaological explorations. The whodunits are so well developed you can NEVER guess who the real villain is. And the chemistry between the well-bred Victorian Peabody and the tempestuous, devil-may-care Emerson is written with Victorian restraint, yet makes the page smolder! Speaking as an explorer who’s spent a fair amount of time in Egypt myself, I can say Elizabeth Peters does a brilliant job of evoking the dusty mystique of this exotic land.

I’ve also recently discovered the author’s Vicky Bliss mystery series, which is a bit lighter but positively charming and effervescent, featuring a contemporary art historian, the brainy but beautiful Miss Bliss, and her crime-solving adventures through Europe.

Anyway, Elizabeth Peters has singlehandedly transformed me into a lover of mysteries, though my tastes remain highly selective. I need a deeply sympathetic sleuth, an evocative setting, and not too much graphic violence or…God forbid…police procedural. A dash of history and culture is always welcome. So a hearty, enthusiastic recommendation from me for these splendid books. The first Amelia Peabody mystery is CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK, which is a great place to start. Trust me. You’re going to want to read all of them.

This science fiction novel is imaginatively set on Halley’s Comet in the near future. When racial tensions and environmental disaster threaten to destroy Earth, a small but intrepid group of explorers is launched into space on a suicide mission: intersect with Halley’s Comet as it swings away from its flaming perihelion, tunnel into the comet’s icy core, and ride through its frozen aphelion back to Earth orbit–eighty years later–with a precious cargo of desperately needed water and gases for the homeworld’s depleted atmosphere. When the colonists touch down and burrow into the comet’s barren core, they encounter a brace of dangers from primitive life-forms they never expected, and ethnic tensions between “orthodox” humans and the genetically-modified Percells spiral out of control. When the war-torn homeworld turns against the Halley expedition and seeks to destroy the colony, the tattered remnant of the Halley crew must shape an alternate future—if they can survive that long.

As you my faithful readers know, I gulp down novels at a gluttonous rate, usually about three per week. In general, I tend to gravitate toward historical, paranormal, or contemporary romance, historical fiction, and well-paced epic fantasy, pretty much in that order. Every once in a while, something else snares my interest: a good literary novel (if it ends well), a thriller, urban fantasy, or exactly the right science fiction. The sci-fi has to match my mood (which is often not something I can articulate very well) EXACTLY, with the right sort of characters (and not too many of them either), an accessible yet intriguing setting, drum-tight pacing, and a voice that’s neither too dryly scientific nor too slangy. Usually, I tend to feel drawn to stories of isolated small groups penetrating some remote, hostile, exotic vista. HEART OF THE COMET fed my craving for that perfectly. It’s gorgeously written prose, tightly plotted, and revolves around three unusual and flawed yet sympathetic characters. The comet was splendidly evoked, and despite having to bridge an eighty-year timespan, the pacing stayed brisk.

This is an older work, pubbed in 1986, but it still felt contemporary, not a bit fusty or dated. HEART OF THE COMET is a true classic in the genre, and comes with my fervent commendation.

This paranormal Gothic romance is set in coastal Victorian England. All her life, psychic Gemini Andrews has hidden her uncanny ability to see and channel ghosts from her superstitious community. When she stows away on sexy Captain Deverill Jansen’s ship in her quest to stop a killer, Gemini finds she can’t conceal either her presence or her secrets from Dev.

This story has all the elements to satisfy a lover of classic Gothic romance—a dark and dangerous hero who’s rumored to be a killer, a haunted heroine in jeopardy, lots of fog and spooky atmosphere, and a real Jack the Ripper-style killer who’s stalking Gemini’s sisters. For anyone who’s curious about this shadowy sub-genre of historical romance called the Gothic, a la the style of Bronte’s JANE EYRE but with a paranormal twist, this story and others in St. Giles’ series are good ambassadors for the genre. Not for the reader who’s looking for a light, sparkling read, but it’s a wickedly good escape all the same. If the thought appeals, take a look and let me know what you think!

Happy reading from
Xenia

This is an annotation I wrote for my mentor, suspense author Mike Kimball, at the Stonecoast MFA program at University of Southern Maine. I’m analyzing the elements of successful thrillers and romance novels in order to write more effective romantic thrillers. Please feel free to cite my work, with attribution, if it’s useful for your own efforts. Let me know if you find it useful!

Happy writing,
Xenia

THRILLER AND ROMANTIC ELEMENTS IN EYE OF THE NEEDLE, A FILM WITH DONALD SUTHERLAND

Last month, I analyzed the elements of romantic suspense, drawing from my recent class in the genre taught by Harlequin romantic suspense editor Leslie Wainger. This month, as agreed with my mentor, I analyzed the 1981 movie Eye of the Needle, starring Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan. I have concluded that this story succeeds fully as a thriller with a strong romantic subplot, but cannot be termed romantic suspense.

As discussed in previous annotations, the Romance Writers of America defines romance as a story that centers around two individuals who fall in love and overcome insurmountable obstacles to achieve a “happily ever after” ending. Romantic tension arises from the mounting obstacles that seem increasingly more likely to prevent the hero and heroine from achieving that happy ending. In the World War II-era thriller Eye of the Needle, the story involves a forbidden romance between a ruthless German spy/assassin and an unhappy English housewife on an isolated British island. The dark hero, Henry Favor, also functions as the villain, which is a frequent trope of romance novels. Henry transitions from villain to hero status after he is shipwrecked on the island—a climactic scene which I would argue functions as the first act climax. When this murderous German spy meets gentle heroine Lucy, a lonely housewife and mother burdened with an embittered cripple for a husband, Henry’s kindness toward Lucy and the tender love between them transform Henry from an unsympathetic villain to a sympathetic—if flawed—hero.

Alternately, one might also argue that Lucy is the real protagonist in Eye of the Needle. In Lucy’s story, Henry begins as a romantic hero whose gentle courting captures her heart. But he becomes the villain when Lucy discovers his brutal murder of her husband David—whom, despite his selfish and sometimes monstrous behavior, Lucy nonetheless continues to love.

Leslie Wainger’s argues that, in romantic suspense, the romantic and suspense plotlines should be braided together, each an integral part of the other, forming a harmonious whole. Eye of the Needle achieves this objective by braiding together the story of Henry’s espionage work for Germany with the love between Henry and Lucy. Henry’s primary goal is to prevent the Allies from a successful invasion of Normandy—an event upon which the fate of Germany and the free world hinges. In my view, the story’s global scope is another key element that elevates this story beyond personal and psychological suspense to thriller status. In the first act, Henry’s external conflicts range from British counterintelligence efforts and pursuit, to the storm that prevents his rendezvous with a German U-boat, to the difficulty of making contact with his German would-be rescuers on this remote island. The story’s first act focuses on overcoming these external conflicts.

Henry’s internal conflicts only emerge in the second act, when he falls in love with Lucy, and delays his departure and the completion of his mission in order to prolong his romantic interlude with Lucy. Thus, the second act focuses largely on the romantic and sexual tension between Henry and Lucy. This tension revolves around a compelling reason (the island’s isolation and the inability to escape it) that forces the romantic hero and heroine into prolonged proximity, and makes it impossible for either character simply to walk away. This second act therefore meets the conventions of a romance, albeit one with suspense elements. The second act climax, I would argue, occurs when David discovers Henry’s nefarious deeds, and Henry is forced to kill him.

When Lucy discovers the murder, her goal becomes to escape from Henry, save her son from this cold-blooded killer, and ensure Henry’s arrest by the British authorities. Thus, in Henry’s story, Lucy is transformed from an internal obstacle to an external one, set in direct opposition to Henry. The romantic stakes have risen from psychological (i.e. the emotional risks of falling in love and destroying a marriage) to physical danger for both characters. Henry’s obvious love for Lucy remains an internal obstacle, because clearly he does not wish to kill her. Yet her escalating resistance forces a series of physical confrontations between the couple that can only end in violence.
The third act climax occurs when Lucy is forced to kill Henry, thereby preventing the completion of his mission, and enabling the Allied invasion of Normandy to proceed. Therefore, the thriller is satisfactorily resolved, but this is hardly a happy ending to the romance.

Because one of the defining characteristics of a romance is a happily-ever-after ending, Eye of the Needle ultimately does not succeed as a romance novel. Nonetheless, the strong romantic subplot elevates this thriller to a story that transcends its genre, and makes it relevant and compelling for a romance-focused audience.

Copyright 2009 by Xenia Navarre