Shades of milk and honey

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Title:

Shades of milk and honey

Author:

Kowal, Mary Robinette, 1969- author.

Series:

Glamourist histories;

Series Number:

Summary:

Plain Jane Ellsworth, adept at the manipulation of glamour, an essential skill for young women of quality in Regency England, vies with her beautiful sister Melody for the attentions of men, but when she learns Melody is being pursued for her dowry, Jane's sisterly feelings emerge and she uses her talent to come to the rescue.

Audience:

Adult Follett Library Resources

General Note:

"A Tom Doherty Associates book."

Edition:

1st ed.

Physical Description:

304 p. ; 22 cm.

Genre:

Fantasy fiction.

Historical fiction.

Subject Term:

Sisters -- Fiction.

Young women -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Tor,

Publication Date:

2010

ISBN:

9780765325563

Publication Information:

New York : Tor, 2010.

Call Number:

KOWAL

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607002385428	Adult Fiction	KOWAL	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

The fantasy novel you've always wished Jane Austen had written

Shades of Milk and Honey is exactly what we could expect from Jane Austen if she had been a fantasy writer: Pride and Prejudice meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell . It is an intimate portrait of a woman, Jane, and her quest for love in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality.

Jane and her sister Melody vie for the attentions of eligible men, and while Jane's skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face. When Jane realizes that one of Melody's suitors is set on taking advantage of her sister for the sake of her dowry, she pushes her skills to the limit of what her body can withstand in order to set things right--and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.

Author Notes

Mary Robinette Kowal was the 2008 recipient of the Campbell Award for Best New Writer and a Hugo nominee for her story "Evil Robot Monkey." Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Asimov's, and several Year's Best anthologies. Mary is an active member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and currently serves on the Board of Directors.
A professional puppeteer and voice actor, she grew up in North Carolina and spent five years touring nationally with puppet theaters. She wrote Shades of Milk and Honey while living in Iceland and performing on the hit television show Lazytown . Mary currently lives in Portland, OR with her husband Rob and nine manual typewriters.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In Kowal's quasi-Regency fantasy debut, plain Miss Jane Ellsworth envies her sister's looks, while flighty Melody envies Jane's talent with magical glamour. Rude, mysterious Mr. Vincent, a brilliant glamour artist hired to create living murals in a nearby mansion, shows little interest in the niceties of society, and none (it seems) in Jane. As Jane shyly seeks Mr. Vincent's tutelage and approval, Melody pursues a disastrous romance. A sprinkling of Jane Austen's idiosyncratic spellings (shew, teaze, etc.) doesn't hide the lack of her trenchant wit or distinctive characters, and period errors abound. Despite the tremendous potential in the magical manipulation of light and temperature, glamour is used solely for decoration and entertainment, with implausibly little effect on history or culture. The story plods at a wooden pace until the climax, which achieves a sprightly comedy-of-errors froth. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Library Journal Review

In this alternate history of a Regency England, a lady's chance at a good match improves with her every talent: good taste in the arts, a deft hand at pulling images from the ether, and proper conduct in polite society. Miss Jane Ellsworth was born with gifts of a keen artistic eye and creating mesmerizing glamours, but her sister, Melody, was born with the gift of physical beauty. In the end, which is truly the more desirable? A series of romantic misunderstandings, poorly expressed feelings, and purposeful deception lead Jane and Melody into a better understanding of their own views on the topic. Verdict Readers will be disappointed only when they finish this enchanting story, which is suffused with genteel charm. The author's judicious and effective changes to aspects of daily life clearly communicate how similar but different this world is from ours. With the grace of Sense and Sensibility, a touch of classic fairy tale magic, and an action-packed ending, this debut novel by an award-winning fantasy short story writer will appeal to fans of Jane Austen, Jane Yolen, Patricia Wrede, Susannah Clarke, and even Jasper Fforde.-Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.