Book squeeing: 'Lord John and the Private Matter' by Diana Gabaldon

[alex_beecroft]

I don't know why I didn't post an entry about this book when I first read it, because I was impressed enough at the time to make an icon :)  But today I've ordered the sequel; 'Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade', so it seemed appropriate to catch up with a review of the first one.  dauntless_2005 I think this is definitely one for you!



When Lord John Grey accidentally discovers that his young cousin’s fiancé has the pox he must discover a way to break off the engagement without causing a scandal.  This task is made more difficult because the fiancé is a very powerful man.  As if this was not enough, he must also solve the mystery of the murder of Sergeant Timothy O'Connell – a member of his own regiment – who looks increasingly as though he might have been a spy.  The deeper he looks into the murky underworld of Georgian London, the more the two problems become entangled – and the more he risks exposing his own criminal secret; he is a gay man in a society where this can get him hanged. 

I freely admit that I am not a fan of Diane Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander’ novels.  Gabaldon is a very good writer – her prose is strong and elegant and reads like a joy.  But I find the characters and plots of the Outlander series overwrought, and it irritates me that everyone; male and female, good and bad alike, instantly falls in love with the hero, for no discernable reason other than his lovely hair.  So I was not expecting a great deal from this.

How wrong I was!  I loved it instantly and re-read it often.  Lord John himself is my favorite sort of hero – quietly witty, intelligent, cultured but not squeamish, well dressed and gay.  He is lower key than the characters of the Outlander series, and is thus, to me, more likeable.  Similarly, all the other characters are beautifully drawn, complex and intriguing; believable as real people but never boring.  Lord John’s mother in particular is delightful, but then so is his valet!

The setting is impeccable; from the snuff boxes to the Molly Houses everything is almost tangible, and it was a complete treat to be taken on such an intricate tour of parts of Georgian London no other book has dared touch.  If you ever wondered about the homosexual subculture of the 18^th Century, this book is for you.  John’s time in Lavender House in particular is a gorgeous, slow, constant escalation of sexual tension that ends with a fade to black more sensual than many sex scenes I’ve read.

The plot is easily involving enough for me, though it is the weak point of the book.  I guessed the identity of the lady in the green dress long before John did, and I tutted in exasperation when John employed the time honored Bond method of solving the crime.  Namely, getting captured and having the villain explain everything, before staging an implausible escape.

But to be honest I wasn’t reading it for the plot.  It was a total immersion in a time more elegant than our own, and with people who I really enjoyed being around.  I love Lord John, and I can’t wait for the sequel!

Comments

[mrs-norrington.livejournal.com]

Oh, that does sound interesting. I'll add it to my 'to read' list.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Yay! I think you'll like it. It's so much a navy-boy novel, only without the Navy, that I couldn't resist it myself :)

[oneiriad.livejournal.com]

You're not the only one looking forward to the sequel. Lord John is great fun, although I must admit that the Outlander series doesn't even sound interesting enough for me to try out. But Lord John, on the other hand - have you read the couple of short stories with him that's also out there?

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I read 'The Hellfire Club' but I didn't know there were others! I just found her website so I must go over there and see if I can get them too. (Though the ending of the Hellfire Club was *yet another* 'villain tells all to captive hero, who is then conveniently rescued' moment. I hope the next one doesn't do that or I will throw it at the wall :)

I read the first three or four Outlander books, so it's not that they're bad, it's just that I don't like the hero or the heroine or the setting, or the stories, and I found all my sympathies were with the villains. (I mean 'shall we rape her then?' 'No, there isn't time', wasn't a dialogue that *I* found helped me to have any sympathy with the 'good' guys!)

[oneiriad.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Diana Gabaldon does seem to like that particular dramatic turn, doesn't she?

The first time I encountered Lord John was in a short story collection, that among other things contained "Lord John and the Succubus", a delightful tale of an investigation of strange deaths in a military camp, in which Lord John has a very nice German sort-of-boyfriend. After that, I went actively looking for him. But what I found about the actual Outlander books simply never really appealed to me...

I think the short stories are being published in a collection soon-ish, I seem to remember reading somewhere...

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds good! Thanks for the heads up!

I'll definitely go looking for that - and if there is a collection I'll buy it. I think, if it's the only flaw, I can cope with John's strange ability to helplessly charm villains into soliloquizing about their plans until he escapes :)

[oneiriad.livejournal.com]

If you like 18th century gay men, you should try and track down "Love Letters Between a Certain Late Nobleman and the Famous Mr. Wilson". It's an anonymous work from the first half of the 18th century (personally I suspect an early slash fangirl) and a very interesting read, even if it was probably supposed to scandalize people...

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Yay! I've found a second hand copy of that on Amazon.co.uk and have ordered it. (New = £140, used = £20!) I've been reading Henry Fielding's books and have become very fond of the 18th Century style, with its Random and Ubiquitous Capitalization. And the prospect of reading authentic 18th Century slash is very appealing!

There are so many more interesting books out there than I ever suspected! Thanks for mentioning this one!

[hms-dauntless.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the rec ! ! :)

I read some books of the Outlander series and the Private Matter just a few weeks ago, and I've just finished reading Rictor Norton's Mother Clap, so you could not mention a better topic. I've lots to say about Lord John, whom I like very much, and the redhaired Mr Fraser, about whom I share your perplexities.
Just let me resuscitate from this blasted day (see my last LJ post for details) and I will flood you as usual ;)

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Ooh, do tell all about Rictor Norton's Mother Clap, as I hadn't heard of that before :)

LOL! I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds Jamie Fraser's universal popularity a bit unsubstantiated. I mean I think you know that I have a fondness for red haired men myself, but not when it's the entire basis of their character! Still, lots of people clearly love the books, so perhaps I'm just missing something.

I'm sorry to hear about your terrible day! At least it's slowly drawing to a close now, and hopefully tomorrow will be better :)

[hms-dauntless.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you know Rictor Norton's website http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/
Mother Clap is the book in which he collected all his research about homosexuality in 18th century England. It's very informative and written in a spirited and amusing way, but always with the greatest respect for the original sources that are carefully catalogued, reported, and explained. Great research performed by someone who clearly like his job. Of course, most of the book focuses on molly houses, how the worked, who went there, how mollies talked, dressed, and behaved during their meeting. But there are also lots of information about homosexuality across all the social strata. Sort of a "all you'd like to know about a 18th century gay person but would never dare to ask" ^^. Included fav sex positions and behaviours. *G*
I'm finding it very useful for Conversation in Port Royal.

Jamie Frasers and his would-be-doctor wife are a prototypical example of fictional characters triggering my worst instincts: there is something deeply wrong when you delight in the main characters' misfortunes and side with their enemies.
My first Outlander book was Dragonfly in Amber and, already bored to death by the endless dove-like cooing of Jamie and Claire, I almost screamed aloud in exasperation when I read the Versailles chapters and how the (pregnant) heroine obviously conquered the whole French Court . I discovered only at the end of the book that Dragonfly in Amber was actually a sequel to another novel and I decided it was unfair to pass judgment without reading it. So I swallowed the whole Cross-Stitch and discovered how Claire succeeded in getting her hailing hands under the kilt of the mytical, perfect, over-manly Jamie Frazer. Must confess the only parts I really liked where those involving the "evil sodomite" Randall. A villain, but at least, a gentleman of fashion. *G* Not that I approve of a man beating the man he (allegedly) loves. But I think it's only fair to extend my disapprobation to a man who beats the woman he (allegedly) loves.

Lord John and the Private matter and Lord John and the Hell Fire Club, on the contrary, were a delight with their ironic and unassuming major character and their vivid portraits of 18th century England. :)

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd seen the 18th Century part of that website, but none of the rest. Thanks for that! I'll have to read it all now :) Also I've just ordered the book, because it seems like something I can't do without. Oh, and now you're just teasing me because I want to read the rest of Conversations and can't!

LOL! I'm so glad it isn't just me who conceived an instant dislike for both Jamie and Claire! I think that possibly Claire is just another victim of the baleful curse of Jamie Fraser, in that she falls for him hopelessly and eternally, for no good reason and against her better judgement, and then behaves towards her own much more deserving husband abominably because of her true love and we're expected to like her for it.

*g* And I liked Randall too :) Partly simply because I knew I wasn't meant to, and partly because he was a tortured bastard who deserved a break. Though he was another notable victim of Jamie's irresistability, poor man! Yet another one who finds that Jamie Fraser has stolen their soul and they can't get it back no matter what.

I think it's only fair to extend my disapprobation to a man who beats the woman he (allegedly) loves.

Oh, damn right! I know that scene was supposed to be sexy but it turned my stomach. And I just hate Fraser's - I'm sure quite historically accurate, but horrible nevertheless - attitude towards women. But on the other side I also hate Claire's 'I'm a plucky heroine so I'm not going to tell you anything before I do something stupid' behaviour too. They probably deserve one another ;)

[hms-dauntless.livejournal.com]

Mother Clap is all an historical textbook should be: entertaining, educational, and very original in its POV. I'm sure you will not regret the time spent on it. What I found particularly inspiring was the part where Norton talks about the attitude of 18th century gay men about themselves and their sexual practices. There was no "gay pride", of course, but there was also a substantial number of persons who thought their sexual preferences were just their own business. This is an attitude my Andrew is very willingly to share. :)

Yes, I think in the end what annoys me most in the Jamies/Claire turbulent lovestory is this idealization of "true love" as something that make you deny your own previous allegiances and beliefs, "frees" you of yourself, and trasform you into an entirely new and different person. My take of true love is of a relationship that helps you to *develop* yourself, with development intended as strengthening what was already there, not breaking and replacing it with worse features. And this happens because you meet someone who support you in the qualities you already possess and lends you the qualities you lack. My characters do not love each other against their own better judgment and because their mutual attraction and sexual chemistry leave them no other choice. They love each other because the know that their love is the better option of their whole life.
It must be one of those New World/Old Europe divergencies... :)

LOL, I'm feeling very relieved you liked Randall too !!! I was mildly worried about my choice of fav characters :DD

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I think what annoys me is just the violence of it, though that might be an aspect of the same thing. There doesn't seem to be much discernment going on. Obviously they're violently physically attracted to each other, but what else are they seeing in each other? And why are those qualities ones that they particularly admire?

I admit that my characters tend to fall in love from the head first, and be just as moved by moments when their beloved displays a fine characteristic (is kind or brave or whatever) as they are when they look good. And this means that my stories also tend to be much more about revealing character and less about tapering waists and bulging muscles. But that makes them very different from the majority of the romance books I've been reading recently - where it really is all about the instant physical attraction. There seems to be an assumption that instant physical attraction = proof that the two are soulmates.

My characters may have instant physical attraction, but that only alerts them that the other person might be important to them, at which point they start looking at character, and only after they're happy that the other person's character will be one they can live with do they actually get involved. I just wonder if that seems like too cold a process for the majority of readers, and they prefer 'swept off his feet and learning to like it'.

Maybe it's because being swept off your feet doesn't involve any effort on the part of the person who's being swept. They don't have to think and observe and restrain themselves if necessary - and act intelligently - the happy ever after just arrives one day and all they have to do is accept it.

I don't know whether it's an Old World/New World thing, or whether it's just that the naval part of the AoS attracts people who already admire things like self-restraint and coolness under fire.

*g* On a related subject, I bought 'The Jane Austen guide to dating' for my daughter a couple of months ago, because it is packed with useful hints such as 'if he annoys you now, imagine how much worse it will be when the initial attraction wears off - maybe he's not the one for you.' There doesn't seem to be any cool-headed advice around for young women at all, these days, except for Jane :)

Oh, if I can't stand the heroes, I automatically start liking the villains. If I can't stand the heroes *or* the villains, I can't finish the book at all :)

[hms-dauntless.livejournal.com]

I think what annoys me is just the violence of it , cut There doesn't seem to be much discernment going on.
I agree. But probably that's the reason this sort of lovestory are so popular. The make the readers dream - at least for the space of the novel - that you can be happy and have all you want without any responsibility and effort at all. Much like the romanticized idea of piracy... *G* Probably there is nothing wrong with dreaming. Provided you *know* it's just a dream.

I admit that my characters tend to fall in love from the head first, and be just as moved by moments when their beloved displays a fine characteristic (is kind or brave or whatever) as they are when they look good
Which is precisely I why I love your characters and your stories, and think they're wonderful explorations of the human soul. :)
Personally, my first impression is usually a mix of both looks and behaviour and this is what I tend to traspose in my fics. Good looks alone are wasted on me, and I fear I'm mean enough to require lots of time and occasions to have tender feelings for someone I do not find physically attractive. But - as probably my choice of sexy men already told you better than any explanation ! - I've very peculiar standards about physical beauty, and an old-fashioned gentleman-like behaviour - self-restraint and coolness under fire. - is enough to win me. :DDD

Maybe it's because being swept off your feet doesn't involve any effort on the part of the person who's being swept.
And no effort on the part of the person you're being swept for. *G* She/he can be the worst scoundrel on earth, yet... oh, she/he so awesome she/he has no need to become a better man/woman !!!

LOL, the Jane Austen guide to dating seems a very brilliant book for women of all ages !

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Good looks alone are wasted on me, and I fear I'm mean enough to require lots of time and occasions to have tender feelings for someone I do not find physically attractive.

LOL! Yes, but on the other hand I also find very good looks offputting. I automatically distrust people who are too good looking, and feel that they must be self-absorbed and shallow. Which is why I too tend to go for the more quirky type :) I do worry sometimes that I am finding it harder and harder to find any actors attractive at all, but perhaps that's just a normal affect of age :)

I just find that I can't respect these characters who hate someone but find themselves obsessed with them at the same time. I know there's an element of Pride and Prejudice about the idea of the brooding, dark, unpleasant hero who turns out to be perfect at the end, but most books seem to miss the fact that in P&P's case the brooding hero realizes he was a bit of a cad and takes steps to reform *before* the heroine accepts him.

Sadly the 'alpha male' hero appears to be incredibly popular in all the romances I'm reading, which is very offputting. But I suppose that if Romance is a genre of escapism, then the idea that it also involves making difficult decisions is anathema to it :)

[joyful-molly.livejournal.com]

*ads to "must read" list*

Thanks so much, I'm really, really grateful for recommendations. It's so difficult to find your way through this mountain of books out there, and this sounds very intriguing. :)

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I was really lucky to find it, to tell the truth - I hadn't met Lord John in the Outlander books (where he's a minor character) so I didn't know anything about him. But I read the blurb and thought 'ooh, 18th Century amateur sleuth? Sounds fun!' And then when I got it home and found he was a gay 18th Century Amateur sleuth my cup ran over :)

[corrielle.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you for this! The Outlander novels were, I believe, one of my first exposures to sex scenes in writing (if I'm remembering correctly, Claire and Jamie did much more than fade to black), and I remember the entire series with the fondness of a 12-year-old reading about such things for the first time. (So much so that when I went to Scotland, I, having no Scottish heritage myself that I am aware of, the scarf and a wool blanket I bought because they had the tartan for one of the families in the book.)

I know the Lord John novel was connected to the original series in some way, but I haven't had the time to pick it up. Based on your comments, though, that has been a sad bit of neglect on my part.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

*g* Yes, the innumerate het sex scenes between Claire and Jamie were another of the things that put me off. I really seem to be hardwired to find het sex (in books or movies) quite offputting. I used to think I was prudish - but then I discovered slash and realized that was very much not the case! :) Infact I felt a bit aggrieved that John only gets the fade to black in comparison, but I'm guessing that's to comply with USA law and/or sensibilities.

Yes, Lord John features in the Outlander series as originally the governor of a prison into which Jamie is put. Naturally John falls deeply and unrequitedly in love with Jamie, but is a thorough gentleman about it, and when he gets transferred back home he rescues Jamie from the prison while he's at it.

But he's better in his own books, I think, where his character has space to blossom :)

[pearly-dreams.livejournal.com]

Oooh, definitely a 'must-read'. I've been absorbing in as much as I can about Georgian England as of late, and that would definitely make the perfect fictional companion to those old non-fics. ^^

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely! And for slash writers all that background on the homosexual subculture of Georgian London is invaluable. (Though I don't know if you've seen this (http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/eighteen.htm)?

Plus, I have to approve of a hero who goes out slumming it in a suit of ice-blue silk, with a walking stick with a sword inside it. The boy has style :)

[pearly-dreams.livejournal.com]

Yes! I had seen that, though apparently not bookmarked it. Once I've made it through the the "basic" (600 pages about the political situation isn't exactly basic...) bits from the local library, I'm going to attempt to hunt down some of the books related to the subcultures- homosexuality in particular.

Ta! That he does. I'm liking him more and more. ^^

[esteven]

I'm afraid I was so taken against Gabaldon's Outlander series, that I neglected Lord John, now I may have a look and give the book a try.

Mother Claps is really a comprehensive book on Georgian gay subculture....and I was no end delighted to read of situations and names I had come across in O'Brian. *g*

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

From what I've seen, many of the readers who loved the Outlander series didn't like Lord John in his own book, whereas the readers who loved Lord John tended not to like the Outlander series. So you should be safe enough to try it :) (It certainly worked that way with me, anyway!)

'Mother Clap's' sounds like my next book to buy, after I've read the 'Love letters between a certain late nobleman' book which I've just splashed out on. I seem to have no moderation when it comes to buying books :) I've just realized that the author of the book is the same person who put up this site (http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/eighteen.htm), which I refer back to a lot. So that's definitely a must buy too. Thanks for the rec!

[esteven]

Oh, it is very difficult to moderate oneself when it comes to books. :D Now I'll have to go take a look at the book you have just bought, and I'll also give Sir John a try.

many of the readers who loved the Outlander series didn't like Lord John in his own book, whereas the readers who loved Lord John tended not to like the Outlander series.
I wonder why? ;D

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

*g* I read a review on Amazon.co.uk complaining about the 'revolting' sex scene in Lord John - which is frankly only a sex scene in the imagination, as it fades to black before they've even laid a hand on each other - and this is despite that reader loving the Outlander series with its PWP graphic het sex scenes. I had to laugh - their reaction tells you more about the reader than about the book, I think :)

[esteven]

their reaction tells you more about the reader than about the book, I think :)
LOL. I really am not surprised. *g* I have come across the Love Letters Between a Certain... at abebooks.com for £ 2.26 (plus postage), so thanks again for drawing my attention to it. :D

Now I can go looking for Lord John. :D