Review of The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway, a time-travelling historical fiction novel set primarily in Regency England.
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Synopsis
In the early 1800s, Nick Davenant was the Marquess of Blackdown. Then he almost died at the battle of Salamanca but instead woke in 2003. For ten years, he has been cared for by The Guild, a mysterious organisation that provides new lives for time travellers.
When The Guild discovers that the future is turning back on itself, they break their own rules and send Nick back to 1815. He resumes his 19th century life easily enough, but struggles with following The Guild’s instructions.
Meanwhile, Julia (Nick’s neighbour and love interest) is struggling with her grandfather’s death. Soon, she is entangled in the manipulation of time and hiding her abilities is all she can do to keep herself safe. As Nick untangles the relationship between the Guild and their rivals (the Ofan), he and Julia grow closer.
Review
The River of No Return is a thought-provoking book with lots of twists and turns. There is some romance, but most of the story is about time travel and its consequences. It has adventure, passion, intrigue, and one crazy nobleman. The world was complex, clearly presented, and believable.
I loved the constant confusion over which side in the Ofan vs Guild conflict was good. Was The Guild good and the Ofan bad? Or was The Guild bad and the Ofan good? The Guild said they were keeping members ignorant for their own good, but is that really the right thing to do?
Nick was an intriguing character. He was intelligent, caring, and sexy (but not overwhelmingly so). I particularly enjoyed the internal struggles between his modern ideas and what is expected of him in the 19th century.
He could feel the ghostly marquess building up a head of steam, could even taste the aristocratic outrage in his mouth: rusted metal. It must have been that man’s outburst that Clare was expecting. He let his gaze rest on his elder sister … His anger dissipated as fast as it had built. ‘It should have been yours anyway,’ he said … ‘You are the eldest and, by God, I will sign it over to you in life as I did in death. Blackdown shall remain yours. It always should have been.’
I spent much of the book waiting for Nick and Julia to talk to each other about time-travel. They’re the two main characters, but don’t actually spend much time together or communicate about anything meaningful. This creates misconceptions between them and makes their romance feel underdeveloped.
The ending left me dissatisfied. Sure, Nick and Julia get their happily ever after, but so many other threads of the story remain unresolved. For instance, the mystery of Mr Mibbs isn’t solved, and Mr Mibbs himself has disappeared. Also, no one’s managed to mend the future or work out why it’s behaving so peculiarly. I hope Bee Ridgeway is working on a sequel.
Conclusion
Have you read The River of No Return? What did you think? Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Let me know in the comments.
If you haven’t, you can buy it at the following stores:
Review of The Duke and I, a regency era romance set in 1813 London by Julia Quinn.
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Synopsis
After two seasons of minimal success on the marriage mart, Daphne Bridgerton is uncertain if she will ever meet a man she can marry. Then she meets Simon Basset, newly minted Duke of Hastings.
Simon was rejected by his father for having a stutter as a child. Because of this, he is determined never to marry or have children to carry on the family line. He suggests to Daphne that they pretend to be courting. Hopefully, this will keep the Ambitious Mamas of marriageable-aged daughters from bothering him and make her more attractive to potential suitors.
However, Simon is increasingly attracted to Daphne, and Daphne cares more and more for Simon. And after they are found in a compromising position in a garden, Daphne’s elder brother demands they marry. Simon eventually agrees, but his constant dedication to spite his father comes between them. Can Daphne defeat Simon’s hatred of his father?
Review
The Duke and I is the first of Julia Quinn’s novels about the Bridgerton siblings. It tells the love story of how Daphne, the eldest Bridgerton daughter and fourth Bridgerton child. It is also the inspiration for the first season of Netflix’s fantastic new show: Bridgerton.
The first half of the story almost seemed like a different book to the second half. I think the author may have used the first half to set the scene for the rest of the series. She introduced the large and lively Bridgerton family masterfully. Aside from some serious physical attraction, the relationship between Simon and Daphne didn’t develop much. This made the kissing in the garden scene feel a bit sudden.
The chemistry between Simon and Daphne was beautiful. I just couldn’t help falling in love with them as a couple. I liked how they have vastly different backstories but still have a connection and common purpose. And the banter between them was fun and adorable.
“Sir! Sir!”
With great reluctance, he dragged his eyes up to her face. Which was, of course, delightful in and of itself, but it was difficult to picture her seduction when she was scowling at him.
“Were you listening to me?”
“Of course,” he lied.
“You weren’t.”
“No,” he admitted.
A sound came from the back of her throat that sounded suspiciously like a growl. “Then why,” she ground out, “did you say you were?”
He shrugged. “I thought it was what you wanted to hear.”
Daphne is such an amazing young woman. She’s intelligent, friendly, and clear-headed. She has a sly sense of humour and a fantastic grasp on how to deal with men. I loved how she wasn’t afraid to interfere in things that affected her even though the men tried to exclude her.
Some parts of the story were repeated a bit often. These include the fact that Simon’s stutter is brought on by stress and anger and that Daphne is from a large and loving family with overbearing brothers. It keeps things consistent, but gets a bit overdone.
The Controversial Scene
About 80% of the way through The Duke and I, there is a controversial, potentially triggering scene. Some people would say that Daphne raped Simon. I’m not so sure – it’s very much more complicated than that.
Because of his problems with his father, Simon has decided that he will never have children. So before agreeing to marry Daphne, he tells her that he cannot have children. Daphne takes this to mean that there is something physically wrong with him and because she’s so innocent, she doesn’t notice the little thing he does to ensure that she will never conceive.
Two weeks into their marriage, Daphne puts two and two together and realises what Simon has been doing. They fight about it, and after a failed reconciliation, Simon gets very drunk. After a short nap, they have some apparently mutually consensual sexy times that becomes less mutually consensual at the end. Simon (understandably) becomes very angry and leaves.
I’m not going to get into the debate of who was right or wrong. However, I didn’t like the way it was delt with in the story. Simon and Daphne separate for a time, but come back together fairly easily.
Neither of them acknowledges their mistakes or apologises to the other. There’s very little discussion afterwards, and what discussion they have is centred around having children, not the issues they’ve had. I find it difficult to believe that a couple could get over something so major so easily.
Conclusion
Have you read The Duke and I? What did you think? Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Let me know in the comments.
If you haven’t, you can buy it at Book Depository (they have free international shipping!) or Waterstones (free delivery on UK orders over £25, will ship internationally).
It is going to be tough,
writing a balanced review for this hostel: you have been warned. I stayed at Palmer’s
Lodge Swiss Cottage for a week and a half in December 2019. Overall, I had a
pretty bad stay, but I still think it’s probably a pretty good hostel (if
things go right for you).
The Good
The showers are divine. They
have excellent water pressure and aren’t on a timer or some kind of system
where you have to push a button every 30 seconds to keep the water running.
The internet was fast on
my phone. It was so good to be able to watch videos and video chat with my
mother without the picture continually stopping and starting.
Location: while Swiss
Cottage is a fair way out from the centre of London, it’s still within
transport zone 2 and is conveniently on the Jubilee Line (easy connections to
anywhere in town). The hostel is a short walk from the tube station with a
Tesco Express on the way and a variety of other shops (including McDonalds)
just across the road.
The Booking Fiasco
This is where it gets
rough. There was a mix up with my booking. I booked several months in advance to
ensure that I would be able to get exactly what I needed. Between then and my
arrival, they changed what many of the rooms were used for, resulting in the
room that I had booked (6-bed female dorm) no longer existing.
So they put me in an
8-bed female dorm; by the time I checked-in and found out, there was no way to
put me in a smaller dorm. The guy I spoke to arranged for me to receive free
breakfasts throughout my stay instead – very nice but didn’t actually help the
problem.
Anyway, about half-way
through my stay I had a midnight breakdown (full on shaking, head under the
pillow, etc.). In the morning, I went down to reception and told the lady there
that I wasn’t coping; she managed to put me in an emergency private room off a
back stairwell. It was tiny (little more than a cupboard with a bed in it) but
it was quiet, and I was able to struggle through the cold that I came down with
the next day without worrying about disturbing anyone.
Conclusion
I appreciate that the
staff did everything they could to help me enjoy my stay. However, it was still
pretty awful. I believe all these problems could have been avoided if they had
gotten in touch with me when they first changed the rooms. At that point, they
might still have had a bed in a smaller dorm that I could have been put in, or
failing that, I could have booked somewhere else that suited me better.
My first full day back in London was a busy one. I tried to do the Roads to Rome walk by City of London Corporation, but kept stopping to take a closer look at things along the way. Despite forgetting to book beforehand, there was space for me to see the London Mithraeum. The whole experience is very well done.
Me at the London Mithraeum
From there, I walked past the London Stone, down Fish Street Hill, to the Monument. Even though it wasn’t on the walk, I took the opportunity and went to the top. The stairs are extremely narrow, and the climb had my legs and lungs burning, but the view was so worth it.
At the bottom of Fish Street Hill is the church of St Magnus the Martyr. Not surprisingly, I went in. It was awesome, but not as awesome as the next church I visited: All Hallows by the Tower. One of the few churches to survive the Great Fire, it doesn’t have Wren stamped all over it; in fact, there is an arch inside that was built during the Saxon period, and the museum in the crypt houses all kinds of wonderful Roman and Medieval treasures found on the site.
Aiming for a bit of a slower day, on Saturday I wandered down to Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. It was very pleasant. I had picked up a brochure outlining a “Plants and People” walk through the cemetery, just to give my wandering a bit of direction; it did what I wanted it to, but it was impossible to actually identify the plants along the way (probably because it was winter). There was plenty of wildlife, though, and people walking their dogs.
Headstones crowded like teeth in a small jaw
Sunday
was the day I continued the Roads to Rome walk. Unfortunately, some of the tube
lines were closed, so I couldn’t get back to Tower Hill (where I left off on
Friday). I ended up at Bank station, tried and failed to exit at Monument, and
so caught the next train to London Bridge. It was quite the adventure.
Having crossed back to the right side of the river, I headed towards Tower Hill. On the way, I found St Dunstan’s in the East; there was more church ruins and less garden than I had expected (I loved it, until lots more people arrived and it got busy). Being near Tower Bridge, I went inside for the Tower Bridge Exhibition. It was cool to see the history of the bridge, but I don’t think I would pay to do it again.
I followed the walk through Leadenhall Market (rather unimpressive), past the Royal Exchange and Guildhall, to St Alphage Garden. St Alphage Garden houses a section of the old Roman wall, extensively repaired during the Wars of the Roses. Nearby are the remains of the tower of St Elsyng Spital (unexpected but cool to see). I finished the day with a couple of hours at the Museum of London (I have to go back – I only got as far as the Medieval gallery).
Resting at St Alphage Garden
On Monday I had plans to meet one of my sisters for lunch near her office. Since it’s only a couple of tube stops along from Cockfosters, I swung by to take a photo (it was too good an opportunity to pass up). After lunch, I went to the Guildhall. The art was a lot more interesting than that at Tate Modern, but the Amphitheatre was pretty unspectacular. I enjoyed seeing the Great Hall, and the police museum was worth a quick look.
Wednesday was a Southwark day. I started by walking across London Bridge (Monument was much easier to get to than London Bridge station). The first major thing I did was wander around the Crossbones Graveyard – so much history, but it seems to be all garden these days.
This skull is made of coins
From there, I made my way towards Shakespeare’s Globe, but decided that going inside was too expensive (even with the discount voucher I picked-up from the hostel), so I went to Southwark Cathedral instead. So much history!!!!!
This
last little while has been a bit of a bust – I’ve just spent three days in bed
with a dreadful cold (today makes day four).
Me at Tate Modern
Anyway, before I fell ill, I visited Tate Modern, the British Museum, and Hyde Park. Tate Modern was boring – might be alright if you’re into art, but there was absolutely nothing there that interested me at all. Look at the photo; you can see how bored I am, can’t you?
I spent two days at the British Museum (heaven!!!!!). Definitely need to spend more time there. After the first day, I spent the evening with my sister and her husband at a nearby pop-up theatre. It was set in an igloo with beanbags. We watched the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” (so many feels!!!).
Lining up my camera for a photo in front of the British Museum
This stunning piece is both a clock AND a salt cellar
I thought this Saxon bracelet in the Enlightenment Gallery was gorgeous
The highlight of my visit to Hyde Park was when a squirrel climbed my leg. Hyde Park also has the Winter Wonderland Christmas market (I had a hot chocolate and churros for lunch). I also enjoyed looking at the orphan elephants sculptures.
Planning to visit the UK
later this year, I’ve been researching what there is to see and do. The
following is what I want to do while I’m overseas, categorised by city. I might
not get to do all of it, but this list provided some small direction to my
trip. It also helps with looking forward to the trip (and I am so getting
excited for it!!!).
London
Big Ben seen through the London Eye
London is a brilliant
city full of history and culture. I would love to spend several days just
walking around, looking at things, discovering hidden gems that might not be in
travel guides and tourist brochures. However, I wouldn’t just wander around aimlessly;
I have a book (bought 2nd-hand) called “Walking Village London”
which details a selection of walks around different areas of London that I
would use as a rough guide.
I absolutely must go to The British Museum and The Museum of London. We did go to The British Museum in 2015 but couldn’t spend as much time there as I would have liked (I could spend a week in there, easily). Both museums are free to visit and I intend to spend a significant amount of time at them.
I would love to spend a day
at The Tower of London and another at Westminster. However, both places cost
quite a bit for a proper visit (£22.50 entrance to The Tower), so I might have
to content myself with walking around outside.
As a day trip from London, I would like to visit St. Albans. Apparently, St. Albans used to be one of Roman Britain’s largest cities. It is now home to St. Albans Cathedral and Verulamium Museum, both of which I would like to visit. I also wouldn’t mind a trip out to Windsor Castle, but that would cost a bit much.
Cambridge
One of the sisters I’m
hoping to stay with lives a short train ride from Cambridge. I’ve been looking
at what there is to do, both in and around Cambridge as well as at various
stops along the train line that runs past her place. If I can’t stay with her,
I will still spend a week or two in Cambridge (by the look of things, I could
easily find plenty of enjoyable things to do there).
Cambridge has a lot of
free churches, museums, and university colleges that sound interesting and that
I would like to look around. Of these, I particularly want to visit Little St.
Mary’s Church, Magdalene College, Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Polar Museum.
King’s College Chapel and Round Church aren’t free, but also sound like they
would be worth a visit.
When looking at the train
line, I looked at King’s Lynn, a coastal town at the end of the line with a
selection of interesting looking sites. While King’s Lynn doesn’t have a hostel
for staying overnight, I would like to visit, just as a day trip. I have always
wanted to see Ely Cathedral and when I looked, I found that Ely had other sites
that I would like to visit on a day trip. Another day trip that I might take is
to Bury St. Edmunds. There’s a church, cathedral, hall, and gardens that I
would like a look around.
Closer to my sister’s
house are the towns of Hertford, Hitchin, and Stevenage. Hertford (the county
town of Hertfordshire) has a castle and a museum that I would like to visit,
and a heritage trail that I might follow if the weather’s not too bad. Hitchin
is home to the North Hertfordshire Museum, along with cobbled streets and a
selection of historic buildings. Stevenage has Knebworth House and Park, and the
New and Old town centres. Other miscellaneous sites an easy train ride away
include Hatfield House and the International Garden Cities Exhibition.
Paris
Breakfast at a Paris cafe – 2015
I would love to duck down
to Paris for a week. However, such a trip would add about $1000NZ to my budget,
even with my cheepskate attitude to money (I’m looking into Lille instead: the
Eurostar also goes direct from London to Lille, and transport and accommodation
costs might be cheaper). If I do make it to Paris, there are several things
that I would like to do or buy.
One thing I would like to
do is to climb up the Eifel Tower during the day; when my family was in Paris
in 2015, we went up the Eifel Tower at night and the city lights that we could
see were pretty but indeterminate and it was
impossible to get a decent photo. (the Eifel Tower isn’t going anywhere; if I
don’t get to Paris this trip, I can always do it later)
Aside from that I really
just want to wander around, absorbing the ambiance, looking at things. I want
to practice speaking French, eat French food, and experience French culture (to
a degree). I can do that just as well in Lille as I can in Paris.
If I can find a decent
bookstore, there are some books that I would like to buy. I have been trying to
read books in French in order to improve my skills in the language. So far, I
have stuck to cheap books, but there are a couple of stories that I have read
(and loved and reread again and again) in English that I would like to try in
French, just because I already know the story really well. However, getting a
French copy in New Zealand costs too much.
York
York, in the north of
England, has a rich and fascinating history: from its foundation by the Romans,
through tussles between invading Vikings and the local Anglo-Saxons, to destruction
and rebuilding by the Normans. When thinking about possible places for a trip
within a trip, York really stood out.
York Minster is one of my
York must-sees; it’s the largest cathedral in Northern Europe and the centre of
Christianity in Northern England. Built on the site of a 7th century
wooden chapel, the current building is a spectacular Gothic style act of
worship. I particularly want to see the crypt and the Rose Window. Another
church that I might visit is the Church of the Holy Trinity (it’s free).
I also really must
explore the Museum Gardens. They contain several old buildings and ruins that I
want to look at, including the Multangular Tower (first built by the Romans),
St Mary’s Abbey (a Benedictine Monastery), and St Leonard’s Hospital (also a
church and a school). The Yorkshire Museum is found at the edge of the Gardens and
contains exhibits on Eboracum (Roman York) and other archaeology. I also want
to look at York Castle Museum (not in the Museum Gardens) and their exhibits on
every-day life in York over the centuries.
A walk around the York
City Walls is another thing I really must do. It still has several Bars (gates)
that are well preserved (or restored) and appear to be worth the visit. A
couple of the Bars (Monk and Micklegate) house small exhibitions dedicated to
Richard III (England’s final Yorkist king) and Henry VII (England’s first Tudor
king), both of whom I find interesting.
In July 2015, The
Salvation Army had a large international congress in London. My parents had
been expecting that one would be held in 2015 for over ten years, so we’d been
planning to go for a long time. Fortunately, the dates lined up with my
holidays from study, so I was able to join.
My family in front of the royal palace in Kuala Lumpur
Our flights to London
included a stop-over at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We spent the night at a hotel
at the airport, and the next day, took a taxi into KL city. The taxi driver
drove us around many of the popular tourist sights including some memorial
garden, the royal palace (Istana Negara), and lunch at the Petronus Towers.
The first week in London
was the week of the Congress. We had a small apartment that was about a ten
minute walk from the O2 centre where the events were being held. We attended great
meetings, listened to brilliant speakers, and went to fantastic band concerts.
Congress ended with a fantastic march down The Mall to Buckingham Palace.
After congress ended, we
moved from our accommodation in Greenwich to an apartment in the city. The day
we moved, we left our bags in storage until we were able to enter the
apartment, and went to see the Cutty Sark. It wasn’t something we had planned
on seeing, but we had time to kill and it was nearby. I was surprised by how
much I enjoyed it.
On the deck of the Cutty Sark
That week we saw several
of the touristy (and not so touristy) sites around London. My favourite was
probably the Tower of London. I also enjoyed Hampton Court and the British Museum.
However, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace was over-rated; it was
too crowded and there wasn’t all that much to see.
We also attended my
sister’s wedding. There was a tube strike on that day. The ceremony was held at
a cute little registry office with a lovely garden. It was a sunny day but
there was plenty of shade outside (really good, as there was a heat-wave on –
road-cones melted).
We spent the night before
we left at my eldest sister’s place in a village just north of London. It was
great to see the place where she lives and walk along the canal that she writes
about on her postcards.
Then we had a couple of
days in Paris. We did a river tour down the Seine and went up the Eifel Tower
for a night-view of the city. We took a bus tour around the city, saw all the
tourist sights, and ate at a French café.
Looking at the Petit Palais, Paris
My brother and I headed
back to New Zealand after Paris, while Mum and Dad went on to the Holy Land and
Istanbul. It was a memorable trip and unlikely to ever happen again. While I
might go back to many of these places, it is unlikely that any of it will be
with both my parents.
