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it might as well be Wednesday reading
Jun. 11th, 2020 06:13 pmNora Roberts's Bride Quartet series: Vision in White, Bed of Roses, Savor the Moment, and Happy Ever After. There are a lot of things I don't like about these books. I don't buy any of the romances except for Mac and Carter's in the first book. The emphasis on the gender binary at best makes me head-tilt and at worst makes me feel like I fail at performing femininity. The scene in Bed of Roses where Del and Jack throw punches at each other over Jack's enthusiastically-consented-to relationship with Emma because Del takes a big brother role to all four of the women, not just his actual sister -- on my first read, that was nearly a book-against-wall moment. And reading about extremely wealthy people (even the poorer characters are financially better-off than I am) grates on me; I can understand how readers would vicariously enjoy experiencing that lifestyle, but it's not my catnip.
So why do I keep rereading them? First, because I really like Vision in White as a romance. Mac is interesting and has believable issues due to her narcissistic mother; Carter is an utter sweetheart; the two of them are clearly good for each other. And second, I love the friendship among the four women. They're best friends and business partners; they work well together; they have occasional conflicts which they resolve. They work their asses off, and they're proud of what they do. They're real enough to me that I wonder how they'd be coping with the hit to the business due to COVID-19, and I'm sure the answer is "admirably".
Maud Hart Lovelace, Emily of Deep Valley. This, on the other hand, is a book I wholeheartedly adore. Emily Webster, member of Deep Valley High's graduating class of 1912, struggles to find something to do with her life after high school. While her friends have gone away to college, she's had to stay home to care for her grandfather. She's coping with loneliness and isolation, an unrequited crush on a classmate who treats her inconsiderately, and the uncomfortable feeling of becoming out of step with her old friends. And then, she decides to do something about it. She finds ways to study and learn despite not being able to go to college; she makes new friends; she discovers a need in her community and advocates for meeting it. In the end, she's living an active, interesting life and is much happier. (Plus she meets someone much better for her than the high school crush -- but it's clear she'd still be happy without him.)
It's a wonderful story, and even though it's about an eighteen-year-old, the whole theme of figuring out what you can do with your life after one phase ends is timeless and certainly resonates with this thirty-plus-years-older reader.
So why do I keep rereading them? First, because I really like Vision in White as a romance. Mac is interesting and has believable issues due to her narcissistic mother; Carter is an utter sweetheart; the two of them are clearly good for each other. And second, I love the friendship among the four women. They're best friends and business partners; they work well together; they have occasional conflicts which they resolve. They work their asses off, and they're proud of what they do. They're real enough to me that I wonder how they'd be coping with the hit to the business due to COVID-19, and I'm sure the answer is "admirably".
Maud Hart Lovelace, Emily of Deep Valley. This, on the other hand, is a book I wholeheartedly adore. Emily Webster, member of Deep Valley High's graduating class of 1912, struggles to find something to do with her life after high school. While her friends have gone away to college, she's had to stay home to care for her grandfather. She's coping with loneliness and isolation, an unrequited crush on a classmate who treats her inconsiderately, and the uncomfortable feeling of becoming out of step with her old friends. And then, she decides to do something about it. She finds ways to study and learn despite not being able to go to college; she makes new friends; she discovers a need in her community and advocates for meeting it. In the end, she's living an active, interesting life and is much happier. (Plus she meets someone much better for her than the high school crush -- but it's clear she'd still be happy without him.)
It's a wonderful story, and even though it's about an eighteen-year-old, the whole theme of figuring out what you can do with your life after one phase ends is timeless and certainly resonates with this thirty-plus-years-older reader.