Recommendations: Have Mercy by Shelley Ann Clark, The Bluestocking and the Rake by Norma Darcy, An Unexpected Song by Rika, The Luxury Gap by Sharla and Echoes of Pemberley by Cynthia Ingram Hensley

Song Credit: “Oh, Mr. Darcy” by The Doubleclicks

They also discuss Austen’s lasting legacy and untraditional variations of Pride & Prejudice.

Recommendations for this episode: A Searing Acquaintance by J.L. Ashton, and the many works of Abigail Reynolds, Lady Bridget’s Diary by Maya Rodale, At the Edge of the Sea by Karen M. Cox

This week’s recommendations:

A Will of Iron by Linda Beutler

The Improvement of Her Mind by Ayden (available on the JAFF index – password required)

Linda and Beau discuss the latest release from Joana Starnes, The Unthinkable Triangle. They discuss the changing face of the Austenesque genre, emerging authors, and recommendations for your next Mr. Darcy fix.

Louise Bourgeouis Boursier, 1563 – 1636

Much like Agnodice before her she was a practicing physician that specialized in childbirth. She took childbirth from rudimentary practice into a fully developed science. Most of what we know about her life is from her defense in a court case in 1627. She was born into a middle-class family. She married an army barber surgeon, Martin Boursier. During their marriage they had 3 children. Henry IV, the French King at the time, attacked Paris. Martin was away with the army forcing Louise and the kids to flee Paris. She had to sell off nearly everything the family owned to make ends meet for a while. She learned midwifery from Martin and applied a methodical approach to it. Some sources cite she attended a school for midwifery but regardless she learned it from someone.

She was officially licensed to practice in 1598. After moving to Saint-Andre-des-Arts Louise established a practice and quickly built a wonderful reputation. In 1600, Henry IV was seeking a quality mid-wife. Louise was highly recommended and selected. She delivered 6 out of 6 of the king’s children. In 1609, she released her first book of several books on midwifery, Diverse Observations on Sterility; Loss of the Ovum after Fecundation, Fecundity and Childbirth; Diseases of Women and of Newborn Infants. It utilized common sense and basic knowledge that we don’t think twice about now. She was sued in 1627 after the death of a noblewoman in childbirth. She was blamed by numerous doctors for this. Louise didn’t take any of this and fought back. Her career continued and pushed the boundaries of midwifery.

Marie-Anne Pierette Paulze, 1758 – 1836

Her accomplishments are debatable given she was primarily just an assistant but she helped her husband Antoine Laurent Lavoisier. Her father was a lawyer whom when was of age to marry, went on the hunt for her future husband. Initially it was the ripe 50 yr old Count d’Amerval but her father declined. A young colleague of her father named Antoine Lavoisier, requested her hand in marriage and allowed it. She assisted her husband throughout his career and life but he was executed during the first French Revolution. She married another scientist in 1805, Benjamin Thompson. They divorced four years later. Allegedly she poured boiling water on his garden at some point. Not much is known about her after this.

Her exact role regarding her first husband is not clear. She was taught by him and learned the various sciences he employed. However, it is not explicitly recorded that she did actual the science. Regardless she has a place in the history of science that more people should know about.

Emilie Du Chatelet, 1706 – 1749

In a world where it was frowned upon for women to be educated and rise above, Emilie Du Chatelet was a broke through the atmosphere and kept going. Her father was a Baron and they lived a lavish high-class life. Young Emilie loved it. Like most children of royalty she was educated in a variety of subjects. Her passion was always mathematics even though she exceled in languages. She married Marquis Florent-Claude de Chalelet-Lomont in 1725 at the age of 16. They had 3 children. Their third child died after a year. During all this she pursued mathematics, science, and philosophy professionally. She had the best tutors teach her plus an innate interest and love for the subjects thus she was a natural.

In 1733 she took Voltaire as a lover. He first met her when she was still a child. They remained close friends and lovers until her death. In 1742, she had a 4^th baby from her other lover Jean-Francois de Saint-Lambert. She died in childbirth having Jean-Francois’s second baby. Her most famous work the Fiundations of Physics was completed in 1740. It was briefly in circulation but she did a major overhaul making it as perfect as she could. It covered God, metaphysics, and a variety of other subjects. It helped bring introduce Newtonian thought into the French Intelligentsia. Du Chatelet in short time became one of the top scientists of her era.

Ellen Hutchins, 1785 – 1815

Even though her career was very short she left a big impact in botany and bryology. Ms. Hutchins spent her school years with family friend Dr. Whitley Stokes. This is where her love of botany was fostered and grew into a career. She was introduced to other prominent botanists of the era who encouraged her further to pursue being a full-fledged scientist. Ellen specialized in cryptogams, plants that are non-flowering. She was an expert in mosses, seaweed, lichens, and ferns. Many new and rare species were discovered by her but she did not want her name attached to the discovery. So she didn’t get much credit for her years of work. She discovered half of the species identified in British Jungermanniae (1816). Some of her discoveries are featured in Smith and Sowerby’s English Botany volumes. Through her brother she is distantly related to Florence Nightingale. Due to illness she rarely left Bantry Bay. It’s believed she died of tuberculosis a few weeks before her 30^th birthday.

Jane Marcet, 1769 – 1858

Most of the people in this series were/are scientists or assisted scientists. Jane Marcet is an outlier. She wrote introductory books on science and politics. She was raised in wealthy Swiss family, the Haldimands that resided in England. Due to this Jane was able to receive an equal education to her brother. She was lucky enough to also learn mathematics and science. Jane married Alexander Marcet, a Swiss doctor. They attended lectures of Humphry Davy which inspired her to write Conversations on Chemistry. Her name didn’t appear on it until 1832. In this she simplified complex scientific principles. It was aimed at girls initially but children of all ages read it. It went through numerous editions and printings through the years. It was first used as a textbook in 1865 by the Boston Girls’ High and Normal School. Michael Faraday cited this as the reason he wanted to be a scientist. The book was followed by others on other subjects. She lived out her years with her daughter in London.

I remember looking at the cover with some pretty heavy skepticism. It didn’t seem likely that there would be any Babysitters Club type adventures in this book. It looked scary. Dangerous.

The story was High Fantasy, so it was easy for me to get into, even moreso having young characters like Peter and Thomas who were close to my own age.

And that’s how it started for me. Reading Eyes of the Dragon opened my eyes up not just to horror and fantasy, but to reading in general. It did for me what Harry Potter has done for Millennials. After that I was hooked. I read every book I could get my hands on, including some I really shouldn’t have read until I was older. I remember a day when I was 12 my mother coming up to my room one afternoon. “We haven’t seen you all day,” she said. “Have you been up here reading this whole time?” Reading is what lit my creative fire, and it all started with Stephen King. So today Skinner and Gg joined me to talk about King and his influence on pop culture, from Walking Dead and Lost to Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place. We discuss the best and the worst, the trouble with endings, and a lengthy discussion on The Dark Tower series.

Mr. Burgess was born in the Manchester suburb of Harpurhey, United Kingdom on February 25, 1917. He was born John Burgess Wilson. Anthony was his confirmation name. During the midst the 1918 flu pandemic, his mother, Elizabeth Burgess Wilson, and sister, Muriel Wilson, died. He was left with his father, Joseph Wilson, who wasn’t around too much. So his maternal aunt raised him until his father remarried. Anthony’s step mom was  Margaret Dwyer, a publican (pub owner). They moved to an apartment above her pub. His father was a music hall/pub pianist and beef market cashier. He was also allegedly a heavy drinker. Given this Anthony’s step mom raised him primarily.

His first love wasn’t writing. It was music. His father frequently took him to concerts but hearing a Claude DeBussy flute solo on the radio solidified his lifelong affinity for music. He attended Catholic schools and eventually attended Xavierian College and University of Manchester graduating with a degree in English Literature in 1940. He entered the Royal Army shortly afterwards. Burgess had a reputation for being difficult and never stayed with a squadron for too long. He would frequently prank the commanding officers and just be a little anarchististic rapscallion. A couple years into the war he married for the first time. Her name was Llewela Jones (Lynne). Her cousin was George Patrick Dwyer, Bishop of Leeds 1957 – 1965 and Archbishop of Birmingham 1965 – 1981. She was pregnant and visited Anthony during the war but a blackout happened. Lynne was raped by a group of AWOL American soldiers and had a miscarriage. They recovered from this event afterwards.

His earliest known piece of music composition, Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, dates back to this time. Post-war he started teaching at Wolverhampton and Bamber Bridge colleges and Banbury Grammar School. In 1951, Burgess wrote his first two novels, Worm and the Ring and Vision of Battlement, but they weren’t published until 1960s. Three years later, he became an education officer stationed to Malaya and Brunei. He was fluent in 9 languages so he was prepared. His first published book, Time for a Tiger, came out in 1956.

While teaching in Malaya he was either in his office and collapsed or was mid lecture in class and collapsed. He returned to England and was promptly told by a doctor that he had a year to live due to a brain tumor. This story might be bullshit. This event doesn’t show up in his medical records. Either way, something fueled him write like a madman for a year. He produced five and a half books that year while averaging 3,000 words a day (if you’re a writer you know insane that is). He didn’t die but ended up having 11 books published over the next 5 years. His marriage wasn’t going so well by this point. Lynne’s drinking was becoming a problem and it only got worse from here. Anthony started an affair with an Italian literary agent and editor, Liana Macellari. They initially bonded over disdain for the Catholic Church and Italy. Lynne never found out about them or their baby. In 1964, Liana got pregnant and Anthony is a daddy. He didn’t get divorced because Lynne’s cousin was the Bishop of Leeds. He and Liana broke it off for the time being. Liana had a baby boy named Paolo Andrea. She listed his father as Roy Halliday, her partner at the time.

Lynne died from alcohol induced cirrhosis in 1968. Six months later Anthony married Liana and renames his son Andrew Burgess Wilson. From this point on, Anthony never lived in England again. The family moved around the world as his career expanded. It crossed the tipping point in 1971 when the film, A Clockwork Orange, was released. He thought it was good at the time (Later on he thought it was snuff trash) but didn’t get a cut of the profits. Liana sued for 10% of the profits from the film and won. His most critically acclaimed work, Earthly Powers, was published in 1980. That same year he’s voted Sexist Pig of the Year by the Female Publishers of Great Britain. He was a self-described conservative anarchist.

He passed away from lung cancer on November 22, 1993 at the age of 76. He had over 30 books published in his lifetime among many other career achievements. He died a self-made millionaire with a never-ending work ethic. Also he was a drinking buddy of William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch, Queer, and The Last Words of Dutch Schultz).

He was primarily known as a writer but was always upset by that. His first love was music. He wrote operas, musicals, concertos, symphonies, you name it he wrote it. By his death he had over 250 compositions accredited to him. His music career lasted over 50 years. He wanted to be known as a world renowned composer but unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet. When little Anthony fell in love with music he taught himself piano and violin. While in the Royal Army he was a band leader briefly. His very first compositions are lost to time sadly. It wasn’t until 1974 that his music was performed publicly for the first time. It was titled, Symphony No. 3 in C, and commissioned by the University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra. He was even hired to write music for television, theatre, and movies.

His career spans not only novels and music. He was a journalist, critic, screenwriter, playwright, and regular on the talk show rounds. Dick Cavett had Burgess on his show several times. His suits on that show are grotesque to say the least. Albert R. Broccoli (Producer of the James Bond film series) ordered a script for, The Spy Who Loved Me, but rejected it ultimately. That year however, 1977, the BBC mini-series, Jesus of Nazareth, debuted and a few years prior, Moses the Lawgiver, TV mini-series starring Burt Lancaster debuted. Both of these biblical series were penned by Burgess, whom had lost his faith in his teens. Most of his scripts weren’t made but he was frequently hired to write teleplays and screenplays. As a critic once, he reviewed one of his own books. This book was written under his other pseudonym, Joseph Kell. Anthony thought it was a joke but the editor had no clue Joseph Kell was his very own literary critic. He gave himself a bad review and was found out and fired. His journalism career however wasn’t hurt by this and he quickly found another writing job.

Here are two of his appearances on the Dick Cavett Show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Vieqsh4K8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ps_q9ycuDw

With all this said, I need to address the elephant in the room. I’ve only read Burgess’ early work. When you read it now decades years later you notice things like casual homophobia, racism, and sexism. It’s not Lovecraft or Fleming levels but it’s still noticeable and can turn off some modern audiences. His later books may be different and the various -isms aren’t as prominent. It doesn’t take away from the stories themselves to me but it is rough in patches. I personally feel that Anthony Burgess was a product of his time. I won’t defend or explain why it’s there in the first place. The only person that could has been dead for over 20 years. With that said I can tolerate it because of his skill as a writer. He has a very strong, distinct voice that’s also very satirical, poignant and funny. To me he manages to be very real, grounded, and ultimately has point to make. I don’t always agree with it but what he wrote served a purpose. He could organically inject humor into almost any situation and it’s actually funny and fits the scene. This may be biased given he wrote my favorite book, A Clockwork Orange. Burgess had a reputation for being very blunt and divisive. Basically he was an asshole. Despite his polarizing personality I don’t let that taint his work for me.

Today John Anthony Burgess Wilson would have been 98.

I first came across him through a movie. Spoiler alert, it’s not Blade Runner (starring Harry Ford). If you think it’s Total Recall (starring A. Schwarzenegger) or Total Recall (starring Jessy Biel) or Next (starring Nick Ca-age) you’re wrong. The year is 2006. The big movie coming out that summer was Transformers. I was looking forward to it for some reason I still don’t understand. Then saw the trailer and changed my mind. I had already started watching indie and art house movies by then and learned Richie Linklater had a film coming out with Keanu called A Scanner Darkly. Since I lived in central Delaware I assumed a small artsy movie like that would play there. Well, it didn’t. I rented it from Blockbuster ASAP and loved it. From there made the mistake of showing it to my friends that loved Transformers and no one liked it. PKD’s books came a few years later but the seed had been planted in my sub-consciousness.

Philip Kindred Dick was born December 16, 1928 in Chicago. He had a twin sister, Jane, but she died 41 days later unfortunately. His parents were Dorothy Kindred Dick and Joseph Edgar Dick. Joe’s job had them moving around and they ended up in San Francisco. Shortly after Joe was transferred to Reno, Nevada but Dorothy wanted to stay in California. They divorced. Dorothy won custody and raised Phil as a single mom. They moved to Washington D.C. Phil attended Quaker schools for a few years. They moved back to California in 1938.Two years later, when he was 12 he discovered a science fiction magazine called, “Stirring Science Stories.”

His high school years were spent at Berkeley High School with fellow legendary science fiction writer Ursula K. LeGuin. They didn’t know each other at the time however. Phil graduated and very shortly went to University of California Berkeley in 1948. He dropped out for medical reasons and married for the 1^st of 5 different times. His marriages were the following Jeanette Marlin 1948, Kleo Apostolides 1950 to 1959, Anne Williams Rubinstein 1959 to 1965, Nancy Hackett 1966 to 1972, and Leslie Busby 1973 to 1977. Also he has three children, Laura Archer, Isolde Freya, and Christopher Kenneth.

Kleo was heavily involved with liberal activism to the point, an FBI agent started stopping by and inspecting the young couple. They ended up being good friends with the FBI agent for the next few years.

He sold his first short story in 1951. Four years later he sold his first book, The Solar Lottery. He attempted to break into mainstream fiction. No one wanted any of it. Science fiction on the other hand fully embraced him and couldn’t get enough. In 1963 he won his only Hugo award for The Man in the High Castle. By this point he was done with mainstream fiction. He continued writing at the rate of a book or two published per year.

In the early 1970s, a woman delivered a package. It was analgesia for a dental procedure. She was wearing a Christian fish necklace. He opened the door and saw the fish or as he called it the, “vesicle Pisces.” This caused several months of visions that inspired the VALIS trilogy.

After an interview in 1982, he was hospitalized after having a series of strokes. March 2, 1982 life support was cut. He was the first science fiction writer published by the Library of America, a nonprofit publisher of American classics. His library colleagues include Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, W.E.B. DuBois, and Willa Cather.

PKD’s drug habit and addiction is pretty well-known. During the 1960s his home became a haven for counterculture hippies and whatnot. Apparently his drugs of choice were amphetamines and speed. After years of using he sobered up and wrote A Scanner Darkly based on his last few years of drug use. In 1970, his 4^th wife, Nancy Hackett, left him. He was lonely in a four bedroom home so he had teenage and college age hippies hang out at his home and get high. There was a regular crew of people that are represented in A Scanner Darkly. His writing output slowed down post going sober but his ideas remained just as bizarre and insightful.

Overall his career wasn’t amazing. He was a successful writer that made a living off it but was never fully appreciated until after he died. Phil didn’t live to see Blade Runner, which came out three months after he died. He saw special effects tests and loved it. It was apparently exactly how he envisioned his book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? If you look at a lot of PKD’s short stories and novels, they follow a similar formula. A regular man is caught up in a crazy situation where there’s heavy drug use that manipulates reality or perception of reality where the governing body of some kind is corrupt in some way. In addition there are two other storylines that may or may not interact with the core storyline but the central idea is fascinating and engrossing. Also the main characters have crazy names for example; Eric Sweetscent, Herb Lackmore, Lars Powderdry, Elvira Funt, and Reese Verrick.

The first PKD book I read was The Zap Gun. It was the wrong book to start with. While it’s enjoyable it’s a deep cut for a reason. Shortly after that I read Now Wait for Last Year and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. These hooked me for life.

Phil approached science fiction from a psychedelic, relatable and philosophical point-of-view. They manage to be very weird and out there yet feel grounded, real and human. PKD changed the scope of science fiction. There aren’t majestic chosen ones bound by fate. There aren’t giant space battles. There aren’t colossal space monsters. He wrote about mind-bending, reality-altering concepts that affect a person’s life and environment. The concept and themes fully engulf and consume everything in the pages. You see how it affects and morphs every aspect of that world. He plunged into your consciousness and challenged everything you knew and assumed to be real and tangible.

He tragically never got to see his work change the world. Let’s celebrate the life of Philip K. Dick, pick up one of his books and question your reality. You won’t regret it.

The Best:

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, 1974

The VALIS trilogy, 1978-1982

The Man in the High Castle, 1963

Where to Start:

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, 1964

Now Wait for Last Year, 1963

A Scanner Darkly, 1977

The Deep Cuts:

Counter-Clock World, 1965

The Zap Gun, 1965

The Crack in Space, 1963

The Solar Lottery, 1955

Rurik, 830-879, founder of the House of Rurik and basis for the name Roderick

The specific details surrounding his life are vague. What is known however; is that he was a Varangian prince from the Rus clan. The Varangians were a tribe of Vikings that many years before migrated to the northern coast of the Black Sea. During a turbulent time in Kiev where several clans were feuding, they invited the Rurik led Varangians to stabilize the situation. Rurik did the thing everyone does in that scenario. He took over Kiev and established a dynasty that lasted nearly 700 years. Most famous of his lineage is Ivan IV aka Ivan the Terrible.

Elizabeth I, 1533-1603, English queen, the last Tudor

She did too much to mention here. She was amazing.

Antonio Vivaldi, 1678-1741, Italian composer

Antonio was sickly as a child and had ‘tightness of the chest,’ which is believed now to be asthma. He learned violin from his father and early on they knew he was an amazing musician. He was known as Il Prete Rosso aka the Red Priest however he was absolved from religious duties due to poor health. He worked as a freelance musician, teacher, and composer throughout his life. Later in life however his career dwindled. He died poor and forgotten.

Svetlana Stalin, 1928-2011, Josef Stalin’s daughter

She famously defected to the United States in1967 and became a successful writer with the book, Twenty Letters to a Friend. In 1984, she returned to the Soviet Union but left for the United Kingdom after the Soviet Union dissolved. She died in Wisconsin in 2011.

Ismail I, 1487-1524, Shah of Persia, Poet, and Warrior

Ismail’s father, Shah Shaykh Haydar, died when he was 1. The family went into hiding in 1494, when the Aq Qoyunlu Turks, who killed his father, conquered his home. He was educated and trained as a soldier and tactician during this time. At 12 he recaptured home with help from other armies.

In the following years he had enough support to take what the Aq Qoyunlu conquered. It worked and in 1501 Ismail was crowned, Shah of Azerbaijan. A year later was named Shah of Persia. He was 15. Eight years later conquered all of Persia. Ismail had Muhammad Shaybani, the Uzbeks’ Chieftain, body severed into several parts. They were displayed across the Persian Empire and had Shaybani’s skull turned into a jeweled goblet. 1514, the Ottomans defeated Ismail and he turned to drinking a lot.

Aside from that, he was a prominent poet during his time. He wrote under a pen name and was very successful and influential to Persian literature for the next centuries. Ismail had an interesting life.

Cleopatra, 69-30 BC, Pharaoh

Cleopatra VII Philopator was born to the Ptolemy XII Auletes of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Most agree her mother was Cleopatra V Tryphaena. Political corruption wreaked havoc during her life and through a series of events she became joint ruler with her father at 14 in 55 BC. Four years later her father died and she co-ruled with her 10 year old brother Ptolemy XIII, whom she was married to. She didn’t care for this and stopped using his name in official documents and removed him from coins. This got her exiled in 48 BC.

Her brother became the sole ruler but, he messed with Julius Caesar. Cleopatra took advantage of this and got Caesar’s support for her to take what she deserved. She got her throne back and co-ruled with other siblings. A few years later she met Mark Antony and we know what happened after that.

Boudicca, ?-61 AD, Warrior

Not too much is known about her. She was married to the King of Iceni, Prasutagus. The Iceni were a British tribe in Eastern Britain. She was apparently tall, had extremely long, bright red hair, and a powerful presence. Her husband died and the Romans took over Iceni territory. They were banished from their home to Mona, an island of Wales now known as Anglesey, with other refugees. Boudicca was not going to let this happen. For now, she had to wait.

In 60 AD the Romans began a campaign on the inhabitants of the Mona to finally conquer Britain. It was a refuge for the locals that the Romans kicked out of their homes. Boudicca became their leader. She led an effective rebellion to an extent until the Battle of Watling Street. Her forces outnumbered the Romans but Boudicca’s army was slaughtered. She allegedly poisoned herself in the defeat.

Margaret Sanger, 1879-1966, Social Activist

During her time and still now she’s a controversial figure. Ms. Sanger was number 6 out of 11 children. She initially wanted to become a nurse but had only limited formal training.

Sanger in her lifetime became a vocal and influential feminist icon. She focused on expanding birth control and providing basic sex education to the public. This, of course, was met with great resistance. She also founded Planned Parenthood. However, she also supported Eugenics. Despite that she achieved a lot left her mark on history.

Ramesses II, 1303-1213 BC, Pharaoh

This guy did a lot. First he had 60 daughters and 96 sons. That’s 156 children. He ruled the Egyptian empire for 66 years. He led many military campaigns famously against Syrian and expanded Egypt’s empire and influence. He’s the Pharaoh with the most monuments of himself. This was done so his legacy would always be remembered. It worked.

Lady Emma Hamilton, 1765-1815, Socialite and Model

Her early life is mysterious until the age of 12. She was a maid for various people. She ended up in London and worked with a young actress, Jane Powell. This got Emma interested in acting. She became a maid for actors. This led to her becoming a dancer, model and actress. She was 15. Shortly after this she took a lover, Sir Harry Featherstonhaugh, which fizzled out quickly.

She eventually met George Romney, a prominent painter of the era. He was immediately struck by her and became the subject of many of his most famous works. After this she met Sir William Hamilton and continued modeling for Romney. She was entwined with royalty from across Europe. As a result she met Horatio Nelson. She became his mistress while married to Sir Hamilton. Shortly after he died, Nelson died. Her life spiraled downwards from there and died in poverty.

When I was about 14 years old my parents took my brother and I on a fishing trip, where we spent a long weekend in a friend’s cabin in the middle of nowhere. There was TV, but no cable, which meant nothing but fuzzy baseball games and public access church to watch. There were a few board games, which we tired of quickly. My brother soon decided he’d rather be fishing with my parents than stuck inside with his grouchy sister, leaving me to my own devices for entertainment.

What this cabin did have, I soon discovered, was a copy of Frank Slaughter’s The Scarlet Cord: A Novel of the Woman Of Jericho. Yes, folks…my first romance was Biblical in every sense of the word. This book novelizes the story of Rahab, the harlot who helped the Israelite spies in Jericho during the Israelite conquest. And to my teenage brain, it was the sexiest thing I’d ever read. 

After that I was hooked. My Aunt Betty, thrilled I’d finally put down Stephen King in favor of more “appropriate” novels, put copies of Jude Deveraux’s A Knight In Shining Armor and The Duchess into my hot little hands. To this day they’re still some of my favorite books of all time, period.

I was drawn to Claire, the main character of The Duchess, because she defied my expectations of what a woman in a Romance Novel should be like. Claire loved to read as much as I did. She was the Edwardian version of a total nerd. She had everything, but all she wanted to was to learn and grow as a person. Wait, I thought. Aren’t these women supposed to be wilting flowers?

Granted, my expectations for this type were very, very high. I thought all women in Romance Novels should be a grown-up version of Laura Chant from The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance, which I have called out several times as being one of the finest Young Adult books ever written.

What I found was that, while the women in these books oftentimes embraced their femininity, they were painted as strong individuals who wanted love and pleasure in equal parts. They wanted it all, and they weren’t afraid to go after it. (Well, sometimes they were, but they always seemed to get over that fear by the end of the book)

I can’t help feel that steeping myself in Romance Novels in my teens and early twenties help me to mold many aspects of my personality from my self esteem to my independent nature.

What I enjoyed so much about Have Mercy is how much I related to Emme, the female lead. I won’t say “main character” because both Emme and Tom are given equal time and equal measure in this book. Neither one is relegated to “main character” and “love interest.”

Emme is driven. Her life isn’t perfect, but she knows how to roll up her sleeves and take care of business. Maybe it’s just me, but that happens to be the #1 thing that draws me to a character. Other examples would be Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson, Diana Gabaldon’s Claire Beauchamp  or even Margaret Hale from Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South. These women have their wants and their needs, but are driven and practical by nature. Shit has got to get done.

And then there’s Tom…smart, talented, opinionated Tom whose sexiest trait is his respect for Emme. Yeah, he’s insanely attracted to her. Yeah, they both have baggage, but Tom is always ready to step in and support her. Tom doesn’t want to sweep Emme off of her feet and rescue her, because he knows she can rescue herself. His emotional awareness fits beautifully with the strength of Emme’s personality.

I wouldn’t hesitate to say that a Romance Novel can be feminist (and I’m not alone!) and that this book is one of the better examples of feminism in a romance novel. Emme and Tom find themselves fully embracing their own sexuality in a way that neither ever had before, and there’s nothing more empowering than that.

Also, it’s sexy as hell. Now go get it.