A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower, by Patricia Bernstein - DEC2022 LTER
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1LyndaInOregon
The Jacobite Uprising of 1715, that doomed romantic effort to put the Catholic James III on England’s throne, has spawned many stirring and dramatic tales.
This is not one of them.
Patricia Bernstein’s fact-based novel follows Bethan Glentaggart, Countess of Clarencefield, in her attempts to save the life of her husband, Gavin, the Earl of Clarencefield, whose adherence to the Jacobite cause has landed him in the Tower of London, under sentence of death. Bethan’s desperate horseback journey from her Scottish Lowlands home to the city of London during a monumental blizzard, her struggles to finance a legal defense for her husband, and her daring plan to smuggle him out of the Tower when that fails, have great potential for drama, but Bernstein’s writing just never engages the reader emotionally.
The point of view remains totally with Bethan throughout the story, and she comes through as an emotionally distant narrator who might as well be relating the inventory of her 18th century larder. There is a great build-up early in the book about the deep enmity between Bethan and her sister Aelwen, but when circumstances drive Bethan in desperation to seek help from the spiteful sibling, Aelwen immediately repents, offering her considerable financial resources and, ultimately, the key assistance needed to rescue the Earl. The rescue itself is certainly the most interesting portion of the novel, followed by a disappointing few pages dealing with the aftermath.
There are interesting glimpses throughout of details of everyday life in the era. It’s obvious that Bernstein has done her homework. But knowing how the ladies of King George’s court were expected to navigate wearing the cumbersome formal wear of the day isn’t enough to save this debut novel from its lack of heart.
This is not one of them.
Patricia Bernstein’s fact-based novel follows Bethan Glentaggart, Countess of Clarencefield, in her attempts to save the life of her husband, Gavin, the Earl of Clarencefield, whose adherence to the Jacobite cause has landed him in the Tower of London, under sentence of death. Bethan’s desperate horseback journey from her Scottish Lowlands home to the city of London during a monumental blizzard, her struggles to finance a legal defense for her husband, and her daring plan to smuggle him out of the Tower when that fails, have great potential for drama, but Bernstein’s writing just never engages the reader emotionally.
The point of view remains totally with Bethan throughout the story, and she comes through as an emotionally distant narrator who might as well be relating the inventory of her 18th century larder. There is a great build-up early in the book about the deep enmity between Bethan and her sister Aelwen, but when circumstances drive Bethan in desperation to seek help from the spiteful sibling, Aelwen immediately repents, offering her considerable financial resources and, ultimately, the key assistance needed to rescue the Earl. The rescue itself is certainly the most interesting portion of the novel, followed by a disappointing few pages dealing with the aftermath.
There are interesting glimpses throughout of details of everyday life in the era. It’s obvious that Bernstein has done her homework. But knowing how the ladies of King George’s court were expected to navigate wearing the cumbersome formal wear of the day isn’t enough to save this debut novel from its lack of heart.
