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sophia_sol) wrote2019-03-22 07:31 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2019-03-22 07:31 pm
Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure, by Courtney Milan
This is a historical f/f romance novella set tangentially in Milan's "Worth Saga" series. One of the two lead characters, Mrs Martin, shows up briefly in a previous book in the series as a minor character, but this book stands on its own.
Featured: Mrs Bertrice Martin, an elderly widow who is entirely out of patience with men and has no more fucks to give but also nothing left to live for, and Miss Violetta Beauchamp, an impoverished "surplus woman" who's recently been let go of her boarding-house-manager position after 50 years and is desperate to get a bit of money so that she has something to live on. They are united in their desire to get back at Bertrice's Terrible Nephew who is a tenant in arrears at the boarding house in question.
This book is extremely good for an extremely specific mood, and that mood is "MEN ARE THE WORST." It is not a subtle book. But you know, sometimes you don't need subtle! Sometimes you need elderly lesbians getting a thorough comeuppance on terrible men and then making a happy life together.
It does do other things too. It's a lovely look at the realities of aging, of grief, and of what it means to be part of a demographic lacking in social power in the world which you live in. And all of that is very good! And I really love seeing how both Bertrice and Violetta find themselves so affected by each other's regard, so protective of each other and so inspired by each other.
But above all it is a book created to hit the spot just right when you cannot even with men anymore. So let that be both a warning and an enticement to potential readers.
On another note now really I want to know what the minor character Molly does with all the money at her disposal from Bertrice's fortune, and I really hope Courtney Milan sees fit to tell us in a future book.
(Disclosure: I received a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The book is currently available for preorder and will go on sale on March 26.)
Featured: Mrs Bertrice Martin, an elderly widow who is entirely out of patience with men and has no more fucks to give but also nothing left to live for, and Miss Violetta Beauchamp, an impoverished "surplus woman" who's recently been let go of her boarding-house-manager position after 50 years and is desperate to get a bit of money so that she has something to live on. They are united in their desire to get back at Bertrice's Terrible Nephew who is a tenant in arrears at the boarding house in question.
This book is extremely good for an extremely specific mood, and that mood is "MEN ARE THE WORST." It is not a subtle book. But you know, sometimes you don't need subtle! Sometimes you need elderly lesbians getting a thorough comeuppance on terrible men and then making a happy life together.
It does do other things too. It's a lovely look at the realities of aging, of grief, and of what it means to be part of a demographic lacking in social power in the world which you live in. And all of that is very good! And I really love seeing how both Bertrice and Violetta find themselves so affected by each other's regard, so protective of each other and so inspired by each other.
But above all it is a book created to hit the spot just right when you cannot even with men anymore. So let that be both a warning and an enticement to potential readers.
On another note now really I want to know what the minor character Molly does with all the money at her disposal from Bertrice's fortune, and I really hope Courtney Milan sees fit to tell us in a future book.
(Disclosure: I received a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The book is currently available for preorder and will go on sale on March 26.)
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"Men are the worst" is indeed a very specific mood, and honestly (as furious as I get at individual men and the collective reality of the patriarchy) one I'm very seldom in, and more often frustrated by celebrations of. But, on the other hand, elderly lesbians and books about aging and grief and negotiating social power(lessness) are MY JAM. SO VERY MUCH MY JAM. So I will ponder, and perhaps save this book for a time of especial frustration!
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