Review of 'The Elopement' by Tracy Rees
The Elopement by Tracy Rees
Release date: November 10th, 2022 (UK), November 29th, 2022 (Australia)
Publisher: Macmillan
🌼
What the novel is about:
Tracy Rees's latest novel The Elopement is an elaborately imagined historical novel full of delight and temptation, spanning the luxury and poverty of late Victorian England.
A wealthy heiress . . .
1897. Rowena Blythe is wealthy, entitled and beautiful. As her twenty-fourth birthday approaches, she’s expected to marry – and to marry well.
An unsuitable match . . .
Her parents commission a portrait of Rowena to help cement her reputation as a great society beauty. However, Bartek, the artist’s young assistant, is unlike any man Rowena has met before – wild, romantic and Bohemian. While society at large awaits the announcement of Rowena’s engagement, it is Bartek who captures Rowena’s heart along with her likeness.
A scandal in society . . .
Rowena knows her parents would never approve of Bartek, who in their eyes is nothing but a penniless foreigner. As her feelings grow, she has no-one to turn to. Dare she risk everything for love?
🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸
MY REVIEW
Although I have read a couple of books by Tracy Rees (her feel-good romantic modern village stories), I had not yet read her historical fiction until now. And I am so glad I did! The Elopement, set in the year of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, is an incredibly fascinating story that reflects the times and trials women endured in the late 1800s. And what a delightful cast of memorable characters! I felt Tracy provided ample opportunity for the reader to get to know Rowena, Pansy and Olive, the voices of the narrative. These three strong, determined women from various backgrounds come together in the most unusual of circumstances but the events that occur provide some fascinating opportunities in how they are able to help each other.
Rowena Blythe is born into a very wealthy family. Her greatest virtue in their eyes is her beauty and her parents have big plans to marry her off by her twenty-fourth birthday to someone of great monetary value and position. She has been an obedient daughter but not necessarily the nicest lady to her servants. Yet, all that will change for she is heading toward a lofty fall, due to her limited experience with the greater evils of the normal world. She is bewitched through misguided passion. This encounter will change her and her life forever. It all begins when her parents commission a famous artist to paint her but he is unable to attend initially and sends his apprentice to make the preparations. Rowena becomes mesmerised by this ‘golden boy’ and embarks on a journey that will radically alter her known world.
Olive Westallen is an admirable character: a woman who carves out her own destiny and helps others who want to do the same. She is a gentle persuasion; never pushy but available to help any in need. She possesses a grace and kindness that are authentic and shine from her heart. Olive is featured in The Rose Garden which I own now but not read yet. I did not find it a hindrance that I had not read the previous book, as we still get a clear picture of her character and purpose in The Elopement. The good deeds she has done for others and the brilliant work she provides in her foundation are magnificent. Olive is a shining light for women from all walks of life. She is fortunate in that she has had support from her family to be herself—to follow her own calling. Such a rare and wonderful blessing for the day. Olive is one lady I would have wanted to know, if I had lived in her time. Her lines of wisdom ring out in so many areas of the story and even give Rowena strength when she needs it to endure and overcome her unexpected hardship.
Pansy, the third viewpoint, is a dedicated hard working servant in the Blythe residence. In the past, she has been subject to Rowena’s whims and less kind behaviour. She has no reason to like the spoiled daughter but when the time comes to make a difference, she will play a major role in Rowena’s ascension or journey into becoming a better person. The turning tide reveals Pansy’s glowing humanity and how she will step outside her justified anger to help others less deserving and fight against injustice. Her own rise is an intriguing one—for she is the smallest voice with the biggest part.
These three women affect each other in so many amazing ways. Olive examines her own life in the light of these other two women and the men that surround them and her own suitor. And she comes to some clear conclusions about her own path. Pansy learns what her true passion is and follows it with a new determination, thanks to Olive (and to a small part Rowena). And Rowena, finds what pure happiness is and is surprised by her own once hidden abilities. She also receives an unexpected gift that comes at the right time. Pansy and Olive play a huge part in her restoration—along with other dear friends she comes to know--including those in the foundation. And she will leave behind those who choose to remain blind.
One of the great messages in this book is that women are more than the men they are associated with: their value should not be tied in with how well they marry or if they marry or choose not to. And their outward physical beauty is not a measure of their real worth. Women have talents and abilities that they should be free to explore in any field of study.
I have not said too much about the men in this novel. They come off as a challenge with their backward thinking of the day but this, you might say, is realistic with each representing (in my mind) various degrees of good to bad. I found Rowena’s brothers quite a delightful surprise. There are others we expect to be better people but, as is often the case in real life, hide their true faces until something happens. Often the appearing golden apples are rotten ones: controlling male figures that place themselves above others, particularly women. These sorts will always come off negative. But in Elopement some of the male characters progress beyond their stubborn pride, while others who appear to possess understanding, do not. I loved that Tracy added quite a mix of men in varying shades from the staunch supporters of the age’s social norms, to those who strayed a little from that thinking, to those who moved a lot. This is a wise approach as it is a realistic view of the way it may have been. Everything is not just black and white. There are grey areas and there would have been those who would have reflected it.
The novel shows so much of the extremes in the class structure of the day, the huge gap between rich and poor, the horrible things women had to endure—even the scathing treatment that occurred between the same sexes. Many privileged women were among the worst and did not treat their servants well. There were those who used their money for selfish gain and others for the betterment of many. These elements of the story lift it from being just a regular historical romance to something special. And Rowena’s journey proved she had a lot ‘more-good’ in her than originally expected. Real transformation occurs in this novel and it has come through the trial of hardship. These were some of the elements I loved. Also, to learn about women’s positions of the day and how they sought to elevate their status through true giftings and callings. I particularly found one character to be a wonderful viewer of seeing the gifts women possessed and how they could be used to help others.
I received a review copy of The Elopement from the publisher, author (thank you!) and Netgalley. I sincerely appreciated this opportunity to explore Elopement. I am keen now to read Olive’s story in The Rose Garden and more of Tracy’s books. I am a newish fan but one that is here to stay. 5 Stars for this enlightening historical romantic tale. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
About the author:
Tracy Rees was the winner of the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition and the Love Stories Best Historical Read award and was shortlisted for the RNA Epic Romantic Novel of the Year. She is the author of seven bestselling historical novels and three contemporary novels.
Tracy was born in Swansea. She studied languages at Jesus College, Cambridge, then moved to London where she worked in medical publishing for years. She then did a second degree, in psychology, at London Metropolitan University before training and working as a counsellor for people with cancer and their families. She has also been a waitress, bartender, shop assistant, estate agent, classroom assistant, university lecturer and workshop leader.
Tracy and her partner divide their time between the Gower Peninsula of Wales and London.
Visit Tracy on twitter at @AuthorTracyRees