Private Arrangements Book

Jane Feather called this book, "enchanting...An extraordinary, unputdownable love story." You would think a fellow author could conjure up better praise than "unputdownable," but Mary Balogh puts it better. She calls Private Arrangements "a love story of remarkable depth," and that's certainly true.

In fact, the first half of Private Arrangements reads very much like a beautiful, artistic indie film. The first moments glimpsed between Gigi and Camden are intimate and sweet and summon a tone of magic. From the moment these two meet we feel the impression that they are soulmates, the kind of kindred spirits who finish each other's sentences and share silent exchanges. Sherry Thomas skillfully conveys their bond by capturing the real life nuances between a man and a woman, the instant connection that a man and a woman feel when they can share a joke in a glance. The silences are as telling as the words. This act in the story is possibly the most romantic I've seen in a romance. So I loved these flashes back. They're integral to the rest of the story, and they were placed ideally in the book to describe current events. (Don't worry, the flashbacks stop, they're not endless, LOL.)

So it's all the more tragic when that communion is shattered. Both parties are to blame, but when we see, as we must, the sad straits to which the Tremaines come, two people once in love now unable to stop hurting each other, we feel the pain that Gigi and Camden must feel.

Again, the author is brilliant at proving all her claims (aka "showing"). Gigi is meant to be intelligent and strong, and we see this in her actions and words, in the vulnerable heart of her that she protects so carefully. She is a real woman that we have all met at one point, not a manufactured heroine too stubborn or stupid to live or ridiculously naive. She is a proud woman, at once her strength and weakness. Likewise, we come to know Camden with his intelligence and calm, his humility and humor, his quiet dignity and strength. He's not arrogant or overbearing (though he can surely be aggressive/firm when the needs calls for it) and not led by the nose into the heroine's tricks or drama. At one point, he even makes light of a man flying into a jealous rage when a rival for the heroine's attentions is dangled before him-- which I found amusing, because we all have seen that device in historical romance. He is a very real hero, whom we probably all have met at one point or another. He makes mistakes and despite himself he's not invulnerable, though he's not a rake or resistant to love for the sake of resistance. Their histories have made the characters who they are, and they are not overdramatic or contrived.

The ice between Camden and Gigi, the cold, polite relationship is Victorian British to the core and the barbs traded between them intelligent and biting. This is the first time I've seen this done right. This is the cut direct delivered with a smile, but the book is prevented from becoming too bleak or depressing because not only we do read about the longing and undying attraction, despite all, between these two, but we're promised an end in sight, a HEA.

Needless to say, Thomas has done her research-- if you need proof, she drops a paragraph on the economics of the times, the only point in the novel where she reveals her research outright. She also roots us in the period with little windows into the time in a way that we can relate. We read a telegram from Camden to his mother-in-law, and it is as long-suffering as any modern man could be. At another point, instead of a description, we read a building plaque directly, Thomas illustrating the story herself.

However, she remains firmly in the period. I particularly like that she doesn't try to make Gigi a modern woman from 2008 suffering the 1800s. In fact, Camden even looks back at medieval times as we would his time, saying something along the lines of, "Too bad we've made so much progress." That was a brilliant touch. Gigi exploits her advantages as much as he. Thomas also reminds us that the Victorians were human. Many authors research the strict accepted social norms of the times, but few realize they were flaunted just as the norms of today are. They laughed, they loved. Oscar Wilde would have approved.

Thomas' style is another point in favor. She has a very elegant, spare style that suits the story far better than the purple prose we often find in romance. She is concise without verging into colloquial or informal, she's succinct in the way that Hemingway was, never too wordy. I also loved her physical descriptions of the characters because instead of using vague descriptors like "deep-set eyes" or a "bright eyes," she tells us a character has a chin like "Michelangelo's David" and we immediately have a concrete visual. She writes clever dialogue too, if I haven't mentioned that yet, that modern readers can understand without feeling dumbed down or too anachronistic.

As for the plot, this is a relationship drama. There is no suspense or action to power the plot, but Thomas makes smashing-good drama of these characters' lives. The book is emotional not because of any manufactured devices, but because of the real pains that these characters suffer, the depths to which they plumb the human character when they're breaking up, when they're loving, hurting, parting, all of it, almost like Susan Wiggs if she wrote historical.

In short, Thomas brings subtlety, a touch of realism, and human drama back into romance. She's a breath of fresh air in the romance genre, and I just hope I enjoy her next book as much.

I should also mention that there's a current of heated tension between Gigi and Camden. However, while there are bedroom scenes, they are short and sensual. They are definitely not pages long, but enough details are conveyed to move the story as they are meant to do (and satisfy most readers, LOL). ;)