Happy publication day to this book in hardback!
I do love historical fiction and the promise of a book set around high society in the 1700s including a Grand Tour of Europe really appealed.
This novel follows twins Edgar and Benjamin Bowen as they attempt to ingratiate themselves into high society by making connections on a Grand Tour. The narrator, Benjamin, is a much more reluctant participant on this quest than his brother but, armed with their mother’s guide book of Europe and their extensive education, off they go. It’s only when they get to Paris that they realise they aren’t ever going to be accepted – a revelation about their family history and society’s snobbishness about their business background see to that. Then Benjamin meets the eponymous Mr Lavelle and his world is turned upside down by the experiences of first love.
This is well written and an engaging read. Although Horace Lavelle is infuriating (a kind of pretentious Sebastian Flyte figure – and I mean that in a good way!), the book is more about Benjamin and his maturation away from the suffocating influence of his mother. I’d have liked a bit more historical colour to the book personally – a lot of the characters felt quite modern, but I can’t really put my finger on why I felt this. I’d have also loved to hear more about the varied and glorious settings.
Overall, this is an engaging and well paced read. The experiences of an intoxicating first love affair are well portrayed and the book certainly raises some ideas for further reflection. The sense of the persecution of gay men in that historical period is shocking and certainly makes the reader think about how far society has come since then: sadly, not as far as we should have.
I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst
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