50books_poc | #9: Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas

With the main story set in 1893, Gigi Rowland and Camden Saybrook have been married for ten years. Society regards their marriage as courteous because they neither fight nor act too fond of each other. They’ve also been living on separate continents since the day after their wedding, for reasons known only to them.

Gigi, however, is through with that, and wants a divorce from Camden so that she can marry Freddie, a sweet but somewhat dense artist. He reminds me of a puppy, which I suspect is why Gigi liked him in the first place. Camden returns to England and agrees, on the condition that she agree to stay married for a year, during which time, they will try to produce and heir.

So, uhm, I hate this plot. Some of the most horrendous “alpha male who needs a restraining order” romance novels I’ve read over the years have had this plot, and in every one, it’s seemed to involve some poor woman forgiving the bastard for his horrible behavior due to good sex and angsty past (usually, he’s also been whoring his way through the world while she’s either been chastely wasting away at home, or dying of guilt due to one indiscretion), or getting blamed because of someone else’s manipulations. Thomas was recced to me by very reliable sources, and I thought it had to be the wrong author when I found the book at the bookstore. I was assured that it wasn’t what it seemed to be, and was actually pretty good, so I timidly went back and got it.

Thankfully, the reliable sources were right. The incident that drove them apart was actually Gigi’s fault, something that actually took me a while to get used to, as it defied every genre precedent I’ve encountered. And it wasn’t some Big Misunderstanding, but a terrible mistake that escalated, and the way things play out paints Camden in just as bad a light, and the outcome is as much his fault as Gigi’s. In fact, Thomas seems to be very aware of the inherent problems of this type of story, and strives to keep Gigi and Camden as close to equals as she possibly can at all stages, including their lives in the ten years they were separated.

The first two-thirds of the book alternate between the “present” and the events leading up their marriage ten years before. In a lot of ways, I prefer the flashback story, simply because of Gigi and Camden’s personalities there. There, Gigi is cynical and hardhearted and pragmatic, but still full of delight and able to fall headlong into love, while Camden is far too idealistic and noble, and yet grounded and in love with Gigi’s approach to life. In contrast, the “modern” Gigi is a tired, slightly watered down version of her old self, sometimes over the top, while Camden is largely angry, both at himself and at Gigi.

Despite some terminology that felt a bit too modern to me, the writing is excellent, as is the characterization. One thing I really liked was the positive portrayal of Gigi and her mother (who has her own romance that somewhat mirrors the courtship of Gigi and Camden), who would normally be the evil and conniving other women out to keep the lovers apart. The plot was mostly convincing, but a lot of the “modern” plot seemed to rely a lot on coincidence and misunderstandings, and the ending was far too easy. Still, it was an excellent first book, and I look forward to seeing what else Thomas comes up with.

Though the setting is England and all the characters are white, Thomas is Chinese, and her bio talks about how she and her English-Chinese dictionary plowed through the 600 page historical romances that were available when she was 13 and first moved to American soil. I wonder if they’re the same books my mother kept of the top shelf of our library at home, requiring me to climb on a chair and precariously stand tip-toe on one foot and brace myself against the bookcases to reach.