Reviewed by Elizabetta

TITLE: Think of England

AUTHOR: K.J. Charles

PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing

LENGTH: 194 pages

BLURB:

Lie back and think of England…

 

England, 1904. Two years ago, Captain Archie Curtis lost his friends, fingers, and future to a terrible military accident. Alone, purposeless and angry, Curtis is determined to discover if he and his comrades were the victims of fate, or of sabotage.

 

Curtis’s search takes him to an isolated, ultra-modern country house, where he meets and instantly clashes with fellow guest Daniel da Silva. Effete, decadent, foreign, and all-too-obviously queer, the sophisticated poet is everything the straightforward British officer fears and distrusts.

 

As events unfold, Curtis realizes that Daniel has his own secret intentions. And there’s something else they share—a mounting sexual tension that leaves Curtis reeling.

 

As the house party’s elegant facade cracks to reveal treachery, blackmail and murder, Curtis finds himself needing clever, dark-eyed Daniel as he has never needed a man before…

 

REVIEW:

 

Think of England. What Archie Curtis (Curtis) must do to defend God and Country. He’s returned home from fighting for His Majesty in the far-off Boer Wars— now healing ghastly injuries sustained there— and he finds himself deep in intrigue, deep in the English countryside.

 

A pleasant stay with acquaintances at their incredible country estate— a house party. The manse is full of guests, refined pillars of society. But all is not as it seems.

 

Set in the late nineteenth century England, we get a look at some of the social pitfalls of that era: sexism, racism, classism, homophobia, xenophobia… it’s a salty mix, and central to the plot especially in the treatment of one of its main characters. One of the house guests, Daniel da Silva, comports himself with such abandon— swishy and handsome, brilliant and foppish, poet and pansy— so much so that all the stiff-upper-lipped masculine guests get their hackles raised.

 

Yet, Curtis, straight-as-an-arrow ex-soldier, finds himself at a loss, questioning all those exclusively male “encounters,” schoolboy and adult, that he’s used to “let off steam”. It’s great fun to watch Curtis come undone with this newfound knowledge about himself, triggered by Daniel; to see him unravel into reexamining his sexuality, and his awakening into a new sensuality. So. Delicious.

 

The social interactions caught my fancy (obviously), but this is also a freaking good story of betrayal, dirty secrets and deception. All under the veneer of new money and good old-fashioned greed.

 

I love Daniel da Silva (yes, Curtis is cool, too, but he’s the straight-man to Daniel’s bent awesomeness). Daniel is such a richly complex character: multilayered and enigmatic, prickly and tough. Imagine being (seemingly) effeminate and Jewish and from the lower class, and enduring a lifetime of “dago” and “Yid” by those same sneering upper-class acquaintances.

 

But we can just feel Curtis being pulled into Daniel’s web, eyes opening wide…

 

“… this was not Curtis’s line at all, but even he could see that the dark eyes on his were taking him in, the gaze sliding over him with clear appreciation. He was alone in a room with a chap who preferred men, and the fellow was looking at him.”

 

I love this mixture of moral and sexual awakening. Of course the sex is hot, but it’s the dialogue between them that wins me over— sometimes sarcastic, sometimes tender, full of sweet innuendo. Loved it.

 

God, but this author knows how to spin a story (and knows how to make proper, judicious use of a semicolon). This historical has it all: a bit of mystery, lots of intrigue and a tempestuous romance. I never doubted that this would be great fun. Please, Ms. Charles, let there be more of Curtis and Daniel?

 

RATING:

 

BUY LINKS:

Samhain Publishing

Amazon