April 13, 2021
Ah, Stratford, Ontario…how I miss you.
https://www.eloisajames.com/Up until a few years ago, one of my favorite activities, was to travel to Stratford Ontario with the bestest aunt and uncle in the world, and attend the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. I bet I’ve impressed you now. You probably didn’t know I was such a high-brow. Now, ask me just which of Shakespeare’s plays did you see. “Sidney Kay, which of the great Shakespearean plays did you see?” Well, I will tell you my little Petunia’s…none. The closest we ever came was a hilarious play called Tempest-Tost. Tempest-Tost is the story of an amateur theatrical group, and their backstage antics, as they struggle to put on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Don’t get me wrong. We saw numerous plays in Stratford, just no Shakespeare. You might think to yourself, that’s odd. Well, while we were all lovers of stage plays, none of us were extremely fond of Shakespeare. I was extremely fond of the giant chocolate-caramel covered apples, which were sold at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory…yum. Ah, memories. There is a reason I’m telling you my story about The Stratford Shakespearean Festival. On to Wilde Child by Eloisa James.
Shakespeare. In almost all of Eloisa James’ books, you can find references to the Bard. She is a professor of Shakespeare, so it is understandable that she loves the guy. Some of her books contain more Shakespearean moments than others. Wilde Child is deluged with Shakespeare. What does that mean to me? Well, my little Petunia’s, that means I had an issue with this story. If you don’t mind hearing about Hamlet and his victim, Ophelia, then this book is for you. Oh yes, I forgot. Not only is there a lot of Shakespeare, it is Hamlet. I hatesssssss Hamlet. Hamlet, an abusive bonehead jerk, and his victim, Ophelia. So, not only is it Shakespeare, but my least favorite Shakespearean character, Hamlet, and my least favorite Shakespeare female character, Ophelia. Ophelia, a character defined only by the men around her. Psssstttt! So, that’s more red flags…but there’s more. Our heroine wears pants! AAAkkk!
Yes, we have us a heroine in pants. I hear you trying to reason with me. I hear you saying things like, there must be a good reason a woman in the 1700s would wear pants. Oh silly, silly me, of course there is. She wants to play Hamlet. So, there you go. We have Joan Wilde, who has always felt like an outsider, even though the Wilde family has done nothing but give her love. Her father-not-father, the Duke, has encouraged her at every turn…but she wants more. She wants to be part of a traveling theater group. She wants to give up the world she’s lived in her whole life. She has been secluded in a protective, wealthy world, and now she wants to chuck it all in order to travel the countryside over bumpy roads; without any toilet, and become an actor. She has chosen as her break-out role Hamlet; because as we all know, any actor can do Hamlet. This premise was just waaayyyy toooo much of a stretch for me to become comfortable with, and all of my red flags were waving in front of my eyes. I had a very bad reaction to Joan, and all of her trivial boo-hoo-I-want-to-be-Hamlet. I was unable to identify with her character, and I found her mostly unlikable. Which is toooo bad, because I thought the hero, Thaddeus was great.
Poor Thaddeus, he’s been involved with two Wilde females, both of them dumped him for someone else. After all the dumping, he’s still hanging around the Wilde family, poor guy. He has tried to avoid Joan for years. She is nothing like the female he has in mind to marry. He wants a proper, upstanding, no-scandals female. Poor Thaddeus, Joan is no where close to any of his wife requirements. But for some reason, as hard as he tries, he just cannot keep away from her. Thaddeus was a great character, toooo bad Joan was such a twerp.
We all must remember that reviews are very subjective. There is always a lot that plays into the voicing of one’s opinion. There is a lot which influences how much we either like, or dislike a story. Sorry to say, there were just too many of my negative influences/red flags for me to enjoy this book. There were way too many Shakespearean references. I didn’t like Joan, I thought she was so self-absorbed with her weird plan, that she couldn’t see what was going on around her. I also didn’t buy into her desire to be a traveling performer. Sure, sure, people have dreams. But really, would an aristocratic woman of the 1700s even think about acting with a troupe? How could anyone as self-absorbed as Joan, see outside of her paradigm, and arrive at the conclusion, that an acting career, on the road was for her? I can accept a lot of things that are not historically correct, but those inaccuracies have to make sense. For me, Joan didn’t make sense.
As much as I love Ms. James, there were just toooo many things for me to overcome in order to relax and enjoy this story. Sorry to say, I cannot recommend Wilde Child. Now, I must go see if I can find some good chocolate/caramel covered apples to drown my sorrows in.
https://www.eloisajames.com/Up until a few years ago, one of my favorite activities, was to travel to Stratford Ontario with the bestest aunt and uncle in the world, and attend the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. I bet I’ve impressed you now. You probably didn’t know I was such a high-brow. Now, ask me just which of Shakespeare’s plays did you see. “Sidney Kay, which of the great Shakespearean plays did you see?” Well, I will tell you my little Petunia’s…none. The closest we ever came was a hilarious play called Tempest-Tost. Tempest-Tost is the story of an amateur theatrical group, and their backstage antics, as they struggle to put on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Don’t get me wrong. We saw numerous plays in Stratford, just no Shakespeare. You might think to yourself, that’s odd. Well, while we were all lovers of stage plays, none of us were extremely fond of Shakespeare. I was extremely fond of the giant chocolate-caramel covered apples, which were sold at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory…yum. Ah, memories. There is a reason I’m telling you my story about The Stratford Shakespearean Festival. On to Wilde Child by Eloisa James.
Shakespeare. In almost all of Eloisa James’ books, you can find references to the Bard. She is a professor of Shakespeare, so it is understandable that she loves the guy. Some of her books contain more Shakespearean moments than others. Wilde Child is deluged with Shakespeare. What does that mean to me? Well, my little Petunia’s, that means I had an issue with this story. If you don’t mind hearing about Hamlet and his victim, Ophelia, then this book is for you. Oh yes, I forgot. Not only is there a lot of Shakespeare, it is Hamlet. I hatesssssss Hamlet. Hamlet, an abusive bonehead jerk, and his victim, Ophelia. So, not only is it Shakespeare, but my least favorite Shakespearean character, Hamlet, and my least favorite Shakespeare female character, Ophelia. Ophelia, a character defined only by the men around her. Psssstttt! So, that’s more red flags…but there’s more. Our heroine wears pants! AAAkkk!
Yes, we have us a heroine in pants. I hear you trying to reason with me. I hear you saying things like, there must be a good reason a woman in the 1700s would wear pants. Oh silly, silly me, of course there is. She wants to play Hamlet. So, there you go. We have Joan Wilde, who has always felt like an outsider, even though the Wilde family has done nothing but give her love. Her father-not-father, the Duke, has encouraged her at every turn…but she wants more. She wants to be part of a traveling theater group. She wants to give up the world she’s lived in her whole life. She has been secluded in a protective, wealthy world, and now she wants to chuck it all in order to travel the countryside over bumpy roads; without any toilet, and become an actor. She has chosen as her break-out role Hamlet; because as we all know, any actor can do Hamlet. This premise was just waaayyyy toooo much of a stretch for me to become comfortable with, and all of my red flags were waving in front of my eyes. I had a very bad reaction to Joan, and all of her trivial boo-hoo-I-want-to-be-Hamlet. I was unable to identify with her character, and I found her mostly unlikable. Which is toooo bad, because I thought the hero, Thaddeus was great.
Poor Thaddeus, he’s been involved with two Wilde females, both of them dumped him for someone else. After all the dumping, he’s still hanging around the Wilde family, poor guy. He has tried to avoid Joan for years. She is nothing like the female he has in mind to marry. He wants a proper, upstanding, no-scandals female. Poor Thaddeus, Joan is no where close to any of his wife requirements. But for some reason, as hard as he tries, he just cannot keep away from her. Thaddeus was a great character, toooo bad Joan was such a twerp.
We all must remember that reviews are very subjective. There is always a lot that plays into the voicing of one’s opinion. There is a lot which influences how much we either like, or dislike a story. Sorry to say, there were just too many of my negative influences/red flags for me to enjoy this book. There were way too many Shakespearean references. I didn’t like Joan, I thought she was so self-absorbed with her weird plan, that she couldn’t see what was going on around her. I also didn’t buy into her desire to be a traveling performer. Sure, sure, people have dreams. But really, would an aristocratic woman of the 1700s even think about acting with a troupe? How could anyone as self-absorbed as Joan, see outside of her paradigm, and arrive at the conclusion, that an acting career, on the road was for her? I can accept a lot of things that are not historically correct, but those inaccuracies have to make sense. For me, Joan didn’t make sense.
As much as I love Ms. James, there were just toooo many things for me to overcome in order to relax and enjoy this story. Sorry to say, I cannot recommend Wilde Child. Now, I must go see if I can find some good chocolate/caramel covered apples to drown my sorrows in.
Time/Place: England 1784
Sensuality: Shakespearean
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