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Almost-Wednesday Reading
Nov. 16th, 2017 05:53 pmWhat did you just finish?
How to Create the Perfect Wife: Britain’s Most Ineligible Bachelor and His Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate by Wendy Moore. A nonfiction book about the true story of Thomas Day, an 18th century lawyer/philosopher/poet/generally useless dude, who was repeatedly disappointed in love and came to the conclusion that the problem wasn’t him, but that no woman he’d ever known met his high standards. Since his ideal married life involved living in a rural cottage with no social contacts, bathing, modern conveniences, or other distractions from “virtue”, I'm unsurprised that he had difficulty finding a woman to agree to this. Inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s novel “Emilie” (a novel about raising the perfect child by teaching them to fend for themselves in the forest, and not really intended to be taken as a education manual), Day decided that the only way to find his perfect wife would be to create her himself. He therefore acquired two young girls from an orphanage (got to have a backup in case the first turned out less than perfect, see), spirited them over to France where they would be isolated from all help due to not speaking the language, and proceeded to subject them to a years-long experiment in schooling, frugal clothing, submissive behavior, and training in fortitude that extended to spilling hot wax on their bare skin or shooting at them with unloaded guns.
It’s a story that is so crazy it almost doesn’t matter how good of a writer Moore is – the subject matter is so compelling that provides all the tension and interest on its own. She is a very good writer, though, as well as a researcher. I was particularly impressed by her efforts to reconstruct the lives of the two girls before and after they lived with Day, a subject that had all but faded out of the historical record and often been allowed to remain in obscurity. She also does an excellent job of connecting this story to larger historical currents – the role of orphanages in 18th century London, the philosophical debate on how best to raise children, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s exile from France and journeys across Europe, Enlightenment philosophy, Day’s participation in the anti-slavery movement and the American Revolution (he was a prominent progressive, despite his obvious lack of interest in women’s rights), and Day’s friendships with other important historical figures such as Anna Seward (a poet and important letter-writer) and Erasmus Darwin (a natural philosopher and leader of a group of scientists and industrialists). She also points out that Day’s experiment was likely at least part of the inspiration behind ‘My Fair Lady’, as well as several other similar novels of the 19th century.
The book becomes a bit less interesting after the girls separate from Day, though that’s not Moore’s fault; what could she do when the truth simply becomes less balls-out insane? But even if every chapter isn’t quite as great as the premise makes it sound, the early parts are beyond compelling, and the background details of women’s lives in Georgian England make for a satisfying read.
Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold. Another in Bujold's series of novellas about Penric, a young man possessed by an ancient, female, mischievous demon named Desdemona. Hey, in this fantasy world, that's not so unusual – demon possession is more or less the only way to have magical powers – but most sorcerers, as they're called, are the result of careful choice and training, while Penric acquired Desdemona by accident and treats her with much more respect and affection than is generally recommended.
In this novella, a police detective (well, the fantasy equivalent) requires Penric's help to hunt down a man named Inglis, who not only murdered a young lord but stole his soul as well. How and why he did so is as much an open question as where he's fled to. The real fun of this story isn't so much the mystery but the world-building of the rules of magic; Inglis, it turns out, is a shaman, and his powers share a tantalizing similarity to Penric's own.
This is a charming, enjoyable novella, but one I wouldn't recommend if you haven't read a story with Penric before. It's a bit forgettable, but it's certainly a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
What are you currently reading?
Everfair by Nisi Shawl. A fantasy re-imagining of the Belgian colonization of the Congo. That's such a wonderful idea, and I've been meaning to read this for ages.
How to Create the Perfect Wife: Britain’s Most Ineligible Bachelor and His Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate by Wendy Moore. A nonfiction book about the true story of Thomas Day, an 18th century lawyer/philosopher/poet/generally useless dude, who was repeatedly disappointed in love and came to the conclusion that the problem wasn’t him, but that no woman he’d ever known met his high standards. Since his ideal married life involved living in a rural cottage with no social contacts, bathing, modern conveniences, or other distractions from “virtue”, I'm unsurprised that he had difficulty finding a woman to agree to this. Inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s novel “Emilie” (a novel about raising the perfect child by teaching them to fend for themselves in the forest, and not really intended to be taken as a education manual), Day decided that the only way to find his perfect wife would be to create her himself. He therefore acquired two young girls from an orphanage (got to have a backup in case the first turned out less than perfect, see), spirited them over to France where they would be isolated from all help due to not speaking the language, and proceeded to subject them to a years-long experiment in schooling, frugal clothing, submissive behavior, and training in fortitude that extended to spilling hot wax on their bare skin or shooting at them with unloaded guns.
It’s a story that is so crazy it almost doesn’t matter how good of a writer Moore is – the subject matter is so compelling that provides all the tension and interest on its own. She is a very good writer, though, as well as a researcher. I was particularly impressed by her efforts to reconstruct the lives of the two girls before and after they lived with Day, a subject that had all but faded out of the historical record and often been allowed to remain in obscurity. She also does an excellent job of connecting this story to larger historical currents – the role of orphanages in 18th century London, the philosophical debate on how best to raise children, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s exile from France and journeys across Europe, Enlightenment philosophy, Day’s participation in the anti-slavery movement and the American Revolution (he was a prominent progressive, despite his obvious lack of interest in women’s rights), and Day’s friendships with other important historical figures such as Anna Seward (a poet and important letter-writer) and Erasmus Darwin (a natural philosopher and leader of a group of scientists and industrialists). She also points out that Day’s experiment was likely at least part of the inspiration behind ‘My Fair Lady’, as well as several other similar novels of the 19th century.
The book becomes a bit less interesting after the girls separate from Day, though that’s not Moore’s fault; what could she do when the truth simply becomes less balls-out insane? But even if every chapter isn’t quite as great as the premise makes it sound, the early parts are beyond compelling, and the background details of women’s lives in Georgian England make for a satisfying read.
Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold. Another in Bujold's series of novellas about Penric, a young man possessed by an ancient, female, mischievous demon named Desdemona. Hey, in this fantasy world, that's not so unusual – demon possession is more or less the only way to have magical powers – but most sorcerers, as they're called, are the result of careful choice and training, while Penric acquired Desdemona by accident and treats her with much more respect and affection than is generally recommended.
In this novella, a police detective (well, the fantasy equivalent) requires Penric's help to hunt down a man named Inglis, who not only murdered a young lord but stole his soul as well. How and why he did so is as much an open question as where he's fled to. The real fun of this story isn't so much the mystery but the world-building of the rules of magic; Inglis, it turns out, is a shaman, and his powers share a tantalizing similarity to Penric's own.
This is a charming, enjoyable novella, but one I wouldn't recommend if you haven't read a story with Penric before. It's a bit forgettable, but it's certainly a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
What are you currently reading?
Everfair by Nisi Shawl. A fantasy re-imagining of the Belgian colonization of the Congo. That's such a wonderful idea, and I've been meaning to read this for ages.
