Gaffney, Patricia - Another Eden
Sun, Dec. 11th, 2005 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterIt was very odd reading this in conjunction with Lois McMaster Bujold's Komarr. as both of these books are about very unhappy marriages and the temptation to stray from them.
Sara Cochrane is a lovely, well-bred British aristocrat who married Ben Cochrane, a wealthy American with no class at all. Alex McKie is the architect in charge of designing and buiding Ben's dream house, Eden, which is, of course, absolutely monstrous and a hideous display of wealth. Ben and Sara's marriage is portrayed as awful, with Ben constantly keeping Sara under his thumb with their son Michael. Of course, Alex and Sara end up falling in love, blah blah romancecakes.
I started out liking this a lot because I could feel Sara's desperation, and Gaffney was managing the marriage in a way that didn't make me feel like I was being bludgeoned over the head. And I could understand why Sara was staying in the marriage, given the time and place and her own circumstances; getting a divorce in turn-of-the-century New York was probably extremely difficult, humiliating and socially unwise. Also, there's the whole financial thing to think of.
I also liked Alex to start out with, including his un-niceness. He's not an alpha bastard, though he's got the requisite tortured past that he must confront.
Unfortunately, as the book goes on, Gaffney starts pitting more and more against Sara, so much so that when one person in the book turns into a grasping, evil jerk, I was rolling my eyes in exasperation. Only Alex understands Sara! She is so delicate and well-bred! Witness how these people who only want money are! She's so misunderstood by the people at her charity! Ugh.
Also, Ben becomes a complete monster. I don't know. While Henry James does the poor, aristocrat British person having to marry a rich, boorish American very often, Gaffney doesn't do it a quarter as well, particularly since she's concentrating more on the romance than on the social commentary. Yes, of course we all know that the nouveau-riche had no taste. But it just seems anvillicious to have Ben demand a giant confection of a house, plus want to socially climb the ladder to eat with the Vanderbilt's, plus have Sara's delicate and oh-so-aristocratic sensibility, plus have Ben be so grasping that he invests money unwisely. It feels like a giant stereotype put into place just so Gaffney could have Sara and Alex get together without the reader feeling any guilt over the betrayal of wedding vows.
This is why I hate romantic triangles!
Anyhow. I was doing ok with this until scenes later in the book, where Alex starts pressuring Sara to run off with him. There are arguments, and of course he takes her refusal to mean that she doesn't love him. Also, when the circumstances change, while it does feel like she's somewhat making excuses, I think given the time and place, they're perfectly reasonable excuses. I wanted to bash him over the head for telling her that "if she really loved him, insert action here." Jeeeeeeeerrrrrrkkk!!! And of course (I hope this is not spoilery) she caves and goes back on her word and says she was just making excuses because *gasp* she was afraid of being happy.
EW.
Ok, thinking about this is making me want to chuck the book against a wall, so I'm stopping now.
Sara Cochrane is a lovely, well-bred British aristocrat who married Ben Cochrane, a wealthy American with no class at all. Alex McKie is the architect in charge of designing and buiding Ben's dream house, Eden, which is, of course, absolutely monstrous and a hideous display of wealth. Ben and Sara's marriage is portrayed as awful, with Ben constantly keeping Sara under his thumb with their son Michael. Of course, Alex and Sara end up falling in love, blah blah romancecakes.
I started out liking this a lot because I could feel Sara's desperation, and Gaffney was managing the marriage in a way that didn't make me feel like I was being bludgeoned over the head. And I could understand why Sara was staying in the marriage, given the time and place and her own circumstances; getting a divorce in turn-of-the-century New York was probably extremely difficult, humiliating and socially unwise. Also, there's the whole financial thing to think of.
I also liked Alex to start out with, including his un-niceness. He's not an alpha bastard, though he's got the requisite tortured past that he must confront.
Unfortunately, as the book goes on, Gaffney starts pitting more and more against Sara, so much so that when one person in the book turns into a grasping, evil jerk, I was rolling my eyes in exasperation. Only Alex understands Sara! She is so delicate and well-bred! Witness how these people who only want money are! She's so misunderstood by the people at her charity! Ugh.
Also, Ben becomes a complete monster. I don't know. While Henry James does the poor, aristocrat British person having to marry a rich, boorish American very often, Gaffney doesn't do it a quarter as well, particularly since she's concentrating more on the romance than on the social commentary. Yes, of course we all know that the nouveau-riche had no taste. But it just seems anvillicious to have Ben demand a giant confection of a house, plus want to socially climb the ladder to eat with the Vanderbilt's, plus have Sara's delicate and oh-so-aristocratic sensibility, plus have Ben be so grasping that he invests money unwisely. It feels like a giant stereotype put into place just so Gaffney could have Sara and Alex get together without the reader feeling any guilt over the betrayal of wedding vows.
This is why I hate romantic triangles!
Anyhow. I was doing ok with this until scenes later in the book, where Alex starts pressuring Sara to run off with him. There are arguments, and of course he takes her refusal to mean that she doesn't love him. Also, when the circumstances change, while it does feel like she's somewhat making excuses, I think given the time and place, they're perfectly reasonable excuses. I wanted to bash him over the head for telling her that "if she really loved him, insert action here." Jeeeeeeeerrrrrrkkk!!! And of course (I hope this is not spoilery) she caves and goes back on her word and says she was just making excuses because *gasp* she was afraid of being happy.
EW.
Ok, thinking about this is making me want to chuck the book against a wall, so I'm stopping now.
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