Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily #1)

by Tasha Alexander (Goodreads Author)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 5,607 ratings · 937 reviews

From gifted new writer Tasha Alexander comes a stunning novel of historical suspense set in Victorian England, meticulously researched and with a twisty plot that involves stolen antiquities, betrayal, and murder. For Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to escape her overbearing mother, who was set on a grand society match. So when...more

Paperback, 321 pages

Published October 10th 2006 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published October 1st 2005)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

Best Historical Mystery

32nd out of 738 books — 1,610 voters

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Favorite Historical Mystery Series

9th out of 419 books — 402 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 02, 2007 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those who like historical fiction, particularly Victorian-set mysteries

Shelves: mysteryhistoricalfiction19th-centur

While in Borders, I picked up Tasha Alexander's And Only to Deceive. I quickly was drawn into the opening chapters: Alexander's given her heroine, Emily Ashton, a wry, crisp tone that is enchanting. In that sitting, I could see the mystery part of the book approaching, but was much more interested in Ashton's intellectual awakening as she found herself suddenly in a position of increased social power and financial independence. At home that evening, I kept regretting not buying it and wanting to...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jul 03, 2008 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

This book started out very promising. As historical fiction, the author gets it right - enough detail for interest but not so much to bog down the story. She does not take too many liberties with the time period or setting. As a "novel of suspense" it is an engaging story... not really a page turner but enough suspense to keep me anxious to read on.

Where this book suffers most is with its heroine, Lady Emily Ashton. She is a young widow, a social station which makes her believe herself to be mor...more

10 likes · like · see review

Oct 19, 2012 Susana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, historical-romance

An engaging historical romance, with an interesting plot and a diverse number of well constructed characters.

I loved the first page of the book,(as well, as the following's of course...)but that one did an amazing job at catching my interest, presenting a character, with a very dry sense of humour...

When Lady Emily finds herself widowed, she cannot in thruth, consider herself saddened by her husband's demise.

In fact, her husband's death, will give Emily, something she has longed for a long tim...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 30, 2012 Lisa Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lisa Kay by: Sandy

Shelves: genre-historical-fiction-101, genre-mystery-historical, buddy-read-w-sandy, 2012-in-2012-group-challenge, reviewed-by-me, authors-a, authors-t, vocation-archaeology-anthropology

★★★★✩ I enjoyed this historical mystery very much and will definitely continue with the series. I’m glad I did this as a “buddy read,” as we were able to “dig” for clues together – making it all that more enjoyable. It connects with the Iliad and Greek artifacts in an engaging way, turning this novel into sophisticated fun for the mystery or suspense fan, with a touch of romance that is strictly “one foot on the floor.” Pictures pertaining to the book, that I found helpful, are below.

Some of the...more

14 likes · like · see review

Apr 04, 2009 Ana T. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2008, victorian, e-book

When I read the back cover of this book I was immediately interested. There's something very appealing and romantic about getting to know someone by his letters and personal papers. Unfortunately for Lady Ashton her husband is already dead when she starts to get to know him that way.

For Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to escape her overbearing mother, who was set on a grand society match. So when Emily's dashing husband died on safari soon after thei...more When I read the back cover of this book I was immediately interested. There's something very appealing and romantic about getting to know someone by his letters and personal papers. Unfortunately for Lady Ashton her husband is already dead when she starts to get to know him that way.

For Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to escape her overbearing mother, who was set on a grand society match. So when Emily's dashing husband died on safari soon after their wedding, she felt little grief. After all, she barely knew him. Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that Philip was a far different man from the one she had married so cavalierly. His journals reveal him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with his wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and she immerses herself in all things ancient and begins to study Greek.

Emily's intellectual pursuits and her desire to learn more about Philip take her to the quiet corridors of the British Museum, one of her husband's favourite places. There, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artefacts from the Greco-Roman galleries. And to complicate matters, she's juggling two very prominent and wealthy suitors, one of whose intentions may go beyond the marrying kind. As she sets out to solve the crime, her search leads to more surprises about Philip and causes her to question the role in Victorian society to which she, as a woman, is relegated

I found this one a very enjoyable story. I liked to know how Emily starts to admire her husband and is curious enough about his personal hobbies to start making inquiries, read the Iliad and studying ancient Greek. I particularly enjoyed the part about the British Museum and the gentlemen interest with classic sculpture that seemed to lead to multiple copies of the objects in exhibition. One strong point was how Alexander starts all chapters with an entry of Phillip's diary. It made it all the more poignant.

However this interest and the fact that she finds many original pieces in her country house lead her to believe Phillip may have been involved in illegal activities of exchanging the original pieces in the museum for copies. She decides to investigate further and develops a personal interest in the art.

At the same time Emily, a young and now very rich widow, learns to enjoy the freedom she now has and her behaviour sometimes shocks her mother whose biggest ambition seems to be for her daughter to get married again. Emily has one suitor almost from the beginning - Andrew Palmer - and also develops a friendship with the man who was her husband's best friend - Colin Hargreaves. They will both influence her in different ways. She also has strong female friendships with whom she will attempt some rebellious gestures, like drinking port with gentleman after dinner.

I liked the Victorian world portrayed here and the mix between mystery, historical fiction and romance.

Grade: B

(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 25, 2007 LJ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, suspense, england, france, victorian_1837-1901

AND ONLY TO DECEIVE (Suspense-England/France-1887) - Ex
Alexander, Tasha – 1st book
Morrow, 2005- Hardcover
Emily had only known her husband a very short time when he died during a hunt in Africa. But over a year later, she discovered his journal and found he had loved her and learned of his passion for antiquities. In her efforts to learn more, she learns about stolen and forged artifacts and fear her husband may have been involved in a fraud on the British Museum.
*** I started this one evening...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 16, 2008 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have a soft spot for historical novels like these, pseudo-romance, pseudo-suspense, not wholly one, but also not wholly the other. I'm in a generous mood with the rating because I enjoyed the unique premise of the heroine falling for her late husband through his letters and scholarly pursuits. I'm also a sucker for women who buck the established social conventions in order to live an independent life--unrealistic or not.

The mystery was a bit lame, and this supposedly insightful woman certainl...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 22, 2007 Lynn rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Elizabeth Peters fans

Shelves: british-history, historical-fiction, mystery

This one was a complete impulse buy. I picked it up because the jacket copy promised "a cauldron of intrigue, scandal, and danger" set in the British Museum and said it would be the result "had Jane Austen written The Da Vinci Code."

What hyperbole. It was none of those things. But it was a delightful, little, romantic Victorian cozy mystery. If anything, it reminded me of the Amelia Peabody mysteries - except instead of tracking down Egyptian artifacts in the field, the heroine of this novel tr...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 31, 2013 Kaesa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-mystery, fiction, historical-fiction, romance, to-be-rehomed

This book? It was not my thing.

It was certainly readable enough -- nice and popcorny and fun -- but the thing about popcorn reading is that suspension of disbelief with regard to anachronisms kind of relies on a certain kind of lightheartedness, at least for me.

So when the narrator started going on and on about how she was now Free From The Bounds Of Society, my disbelief went crashing to the ground. Sure, I wouldn't want to have lived back then, but I feel like there's a way to do this kind of...more This book? It was not my thing.

It was certainly readable enough -- nice and popcorny and fun -- but the thing about popcorn reading is that suspension of disbelief with regard to anachronisms kind of relies on a certain kind of lightheartedness, at least for me.

So when the narrator started going on and on about how she was now Free From The Bounds Of Society, my disbelief went crashing to the ground. Sure, I wouldn't want to have lived back then, but I feel like there's a way to do this kind of thing a little more subtly, whereas the narrator acts kind of like a stereotypical teenager, rebelling for the sake of rebelling. She goes around shouting "HA, LOOK AT ME, I AM DRINKING PORT, HOW DARING!" apparently without experiencing any of the doubt or worries of a woman experiencing a sudden feminist awakening in a profoundly patriarchal society.

We are also given to understand that she did not have much of an interest in obtaining a wealthy husband before her marriage, and that her overwhelming passion for ancient Greek literature and art developed only after her husband's death. Both of these I could easily believe. But what on earth were her interests before her engagement? Before her husband's death? There's some mention of Silly Novel-Reading, which is of course something I enjoy too, but that's really it. Most of what we know about is what Emily isn't interested in: Society, girly things, her husband, etc. It all seems very hollow. So I was just not sold on her character at all, neither in her interactions with society nor her hobbies and interests.

And then there's her husband. He goes on and on about how beautiful his wife is, yet she fails to notice anything about his interests or life until he is dead? And she finds this incredibly romantic of him? No. No, if I found out someone I barely knew, who barely knew me, was madly in love with me, I would be a little freaked out. Even if it was my husband. His love of Emily's "innocence" was, though period-appropriate, very creepy to me, and it made it much, much harder to sympathize with her as she fell for him.

And now I am going to get very petty: I feel like for all the book talks about the Iliad as if it is a BIG IMPORTANT THING, it was treated very shallowly in the text. Now, I am more of an Odyssey fan, and love Greek mythology generally, so I was kind of disappointed that Emily apparently doesn't realize there is more to Classical Greek literature than the Iliad (or even Homer) but the book's characters seem to reduce the Iliad to Team Achilles versus Team Hector, which is kind of horribly simplistic, to me, and was yet another obstacle to me liking any of the characters in this book.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 02, 2007 Twiggy Strauss rated it 2 of 5 stars

Was looking to add on to my love of Ann Perry/Elizabeth Peters Victorian mysteries. This, by first time author Tasha Alexander, was like a romance novel without the good romance parts. The "mystery" was lacking, solved within a few chapters. Characters were inconsistent, and our heroine was very flat for me.

3 likes · like · see review

May 03, 2010 Nan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: no-longer-own, never-again, neo-victorian, romance

As the novel opens, Lady Emily Ashton is horrified. She's a recent (and young) widow, and her period of half-mourning is not yet over. She's entered the stage where it's acceptable to participate in limited social events, and her mother plans to use these occasions to relaunch Emily into the marriage market. Emily had chosen to marry her husband to get away from her mother's matchmaking; apparently, even her status as a widow is not enough to protect her from her mother, now.

Her husband died whe...more

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 28, 2009 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this read! It combines many of my favorite elements: history, mystery, a strong female protagonist and a splash of romance for fun. I feel as though Emily is a new friend of mine, and cannot wait to see what she does next. There are so many lovely characters in this book, I enjoyed them all very much, except for Emily's mother, who is a bit of a shrew. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys the Victorian era, or is interested in antiquities as well as romance and mystery fans. Ha...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 15, 2012 Grace rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, romance, mystery

I thought this book, at least the beginning portions, pretty decent, but this is not a genre I am very familiar with, aside from Marion Chesney's Edwardian murder mysteries, so I may not be the greatest judge. It flowed easily and the writing style was easy to get into but not stilted. The setting was beautiful, and the author knows something about period art, so that part was already better than average.

BUT it was easy to guess what was going to happen. (view spoiler)...more

1 like · like · see review

May 26, 2008 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, historical

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. It was certainly an enjoyable enough read but looking at Amazon the books in this series are getting 4 and 5 stars – I mean REALLY? Did I think this book was above the ordinary historical mystery?

It is a historical mystery set in Victorian England with a young widow, Emily Ashton at its core. As we learn, Emily just wants to be left to her own devices. She wants to do what she wants to do and has very little interest in marriage and a great weariness with...more I’m not sure how I feel about this book. It was certainly an enjoyable enough read but looking at Amazon the books in this series are getting 4 and 5 stars – I mean REALLY? Did I think this book was above the ordinary historical mystery?

It is a historical mystery set in Victorian England with a young widow, Emily Ashton at its core. As we learn, Emily just wants to be left to her own devices. She wants to do what she wants to do and has very little interest in marriage and a great weariness with Victorian cultural expectations. But as a well to do young woman in Victorian England this is impossible, particularly when one has Emily’s Mama from hell. So after a particularly nasty nagging attack by her mother, the obliging Viscount Philip Ashton shows up and proposes marriage to which Emily agrees in order to get away from her mother. Emily doesn’t care a fig for Philip and is rather relieved when 6 months after they are married he dies on a safari in Africa. This is where we find Emily, a rather happy wealthy widow, with more freedom than an unmarried single girl and whose only complaints are the boredom of 2 years of required mourning and having to pretend that she knew and cared for Philip better than she did.

A twist comes when she learns that her husband had been very interested in greek antiquities and mythology and she decides to relieve her boredom by learning a little bit about this herself. She becomes very interested and this leads to reading Philip's journal where she finds much to her shock that Philip was not only a really kick-ass guy but that he loved her quite passionately. She heartbreakingly proceeds to fall in love with her dead husband. But she also discovers a conspiracy of antiquities fraud, which her husband may have been involved in. She sets out to find the truth of the matter and hence the mystery. During all of this she is helped/hindered/courted by two of Philip’s eligible friends, Colin Hargreaves and Andrew Palmer and she befriends an avant garde middle age french woman Cecile du Lac who helps with her inquiries.

All in all a pretty interesting plot – I liked the parts concerning ancient Greece and the idea of Philip and Emily’s relationship was interesting and provided a clever way of revealing the real problems, particularly for women, in Victorian culture where strong emotion was rather taboo and not encouraged. However much of the book felt heavy-handed to me with the strictures of Victorian culture everywhere apparent. Emily really does undergo a transformation in the book from a rather silly, thoughtless girl who just wants to rebel to a woman who knows she has no idea what she wants and craves the freedom to find out. But even with this she didn’t feel entirely real to me - there wasn’t enough depth. And the other characters in the book don't escape the one-dimensional plane.

Overall it was good read and I will seek out the next books in the series but I did not find it to be exceptional.
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 18, 2007 The Book Maven rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historicalfiction, mystery

Wheeeeeee! I loves me some Victorian mysteries!

Emily, Lady Ashton, finds herself in the enviable position of being widowed scarcely after she was marries an almost complete stranger. Fortunately for her, her now-deceased husband left her a huge fortune, and so now the world is an oyster for her.

As the months of "mourning" pass, Emily finds herself daydreaming about the time when she is no longer required to sequester herself away. What will she do with her freedom and her money? Her daydreaming...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 16, 2008 Katy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-mystery

This book disappointed me, but fingers crossed for the series. I'm persevering and will read the next in the series hoping it will get better.

I felt that the characters were not fully developed and frankly almost unlikeable. Even by the end of the book I did not have a clear vision of the characters in either appearance or personality. The heroine even became mildly annoying by the end and her romantic counterpart appeared in and out randomly throughout the story and suddenly they're in love?!

Fo...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 25, 2009 Lois rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wonderful book (1st in a series of 3) about a Victorian era woman who is independent, intelligent and free thinking. The story was full of mystery, intrigue, romance and the awakening of a young woman's spirt.

1 like · like · see review

Dec 17, 2007 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Tasha Alexander is a local Nashville author - I read an article about her in the Scene and requested her first book from the library. Loved it! It's a historical fiction - mystery deal. The main character is a spirited woman whose husband dies shortly after the wedding, leaving her well off and independent. As a widow, she's free from having to find a suitable husband. So she solves mysteries, all while (sort-of) fitting in to Victorian society. Author Alexander fits in some Greek art and litera...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 07, 2008 Craig rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: desperate romantics

Recommended to Craig by: my mother in law

This book is kind of embarrassing. It's totally fluffy and an obvious Jane Austen rip off, specifically the same characters and situations from Pride and Prejudice. If you've read all of Austen, this might be worth your time as you wish desperately that Jane could rise from the dead and write again. This book is only a very brief, and totally guilty, pleasure.

I did like it though. But I took my kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks the other day, and I liked that too. So that's where I'm coming f...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 24, 2009 Angie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-uns

I must confess. I feel a little bad about my relationship with Lady Emily Ashton. I came across her adventures in the wake of Lady Julia Grey's escapades and I fear I won't be able to do Emily justice, that she will always be overshadowed by Julia. And, um, Brisbane. Do not mistake me. I like Colin Hargreaves very much. He is a delight and I hope Emily never throws him over. But he's not....well. He's not Brisbane. There. I've said it. We can move on. If you haven't guessed by now, AND ONLY TO D...more I must confess. I feel a little bad about my relationship with Lady Emily Ashton. I came across her adventures in the wake of Lady Julia Grey's escapades and I fear I won't be able to do Emily justice, that she will always be overshadowed by Julia. And, um, Brisbane. Do not mistake me. I like Colin Hargreaves very much. He is a delight and I hope Emily never throws him over. But he's not....well. He's not Brisbane. There. I've said it. We can move on. If you haven't guessed by now, AND ONLY TO DECEIVE is the first in Tasha Alexander's series of Victorian mysteries featuring Lady Emily Ashton. A series that has a fair bit in common with Deanna Raybourn's Julia Grey novels.

Emily, like Julia, is made a young and rather sudden widow at the start of the story. The thing is, she never much cared for poor, dead Philip. He was simply a way of escaping her overbearing mother. To the cynical Emily, he represented the lesser of all the evils courting her. After his death, however, Emily is shocked to discover her husband was wildly, irrevocably in love with her and she had no idea. Through his journals, letters, and stories told by his closest friends, she comes to know and love her late husband. As she embarks on a study of ancient Greek language and sculpture (in memory of Philip who was something of an afficionado), Emily becomes involved in a ring of forgeries leading back to Philip and his friends. It seems she has a few more things left to learn about the man she married.

The best thing about AND ONLY TO DECEIVE is the wonderful immersion in all things Greek. I was instantly taken back to my history of civ classes and what a wonderful experience I had reading The Iliad for the first time. Emily, too, had the good sense to prefer Hector to Achilles. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Emily fall in love with her husband and struggle with the fact of coming to know him secondhand and all too late. I loved the way she embraced the life of the scholar as a tribute to him and how she tried to move on despite the ever-constricting mourning requirements imposed on all sides. Unfortunately, her loyal love for her husband soon becomes a bit ridiculous as it is clear he is dead and was not, perhaps, the capital fellow his friends made him out to be. Emily also suffers a few TSTL moments with regards to the merits of her two suitors as well as her endeavors to unmask the villain. As a result, I grew a bit impatient on the whole. Not enough to deter me from the next installment, as I did enjoy many things about this light and charming mystery. Here's hoping things pick up a bit in the next one. (less)

6 likes · like · see review

Jan 23, 2009 Bibliophile rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, 19th-century, mystery-and-suspense, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. And Only to Deceive is billed as a novel of suspense set in the 1880s (though mostly I’m in suspense as to whether the heroine will do some other wildly anachronistic thing!) Emily Ashton marries Philip Ashton solely to escape her mother’s nagging; he dies in a hunting accident shortly after their marriage and its only after his death that she realizes he was a man of hidden depths, which she begins to explore. There’s a mystery involving forgeries and stolen antiquities from Greece and a buddin...more And Only to Deceive is billed as a novel of suspense set in the 1880s (though mostly I’m in suspense as to whether the heroine will do some other wildly anachronistic thing!) Emily Ashton marries Philip Ashton solely to escape her mother’s nagging; he dies in a hunting accident shortly after their marriage and its only after his death that she realizes he was a man of hidden depths, which she begins to explore. There’s a mystery involving forgeries and stolen antiquities from Greece and a budding romance with Philip’s best friend, but mostly we follow Emily on her rounds through various European cities.

Since I found this in the laundry room of my building and didn't spend any money on it, I feel a little bad being quite as harsh as I am, but ... This book really had very little to recommend it - the plot was not particularly interesting; the characterization was poor - I couldn't keep some of the characters differentiated because they seemed so similar to others; and the writing (especially the dialogue) was mediocre.

First of all, I find it completely unbelievable that Emily hasn’t even got a passing acquaintance with the myths enshrined in the Iliad - Bulfinch’s mythology came out in the mid-1850s and this story is supposedly taking place in the 1880s. So I’m expected to believe that someone who is characterized as very bright is completely ignorant of the story of Helen of Troy? That’s a bit much! Of course, I find it equally implausible that her deceased husband was so in love with her as we are told he was! She doesn't seem any more interesting - at least at first - than any other woman whom Philip encounters!

Moreover, Alexander falls into the standard trap of historical fiction which is that she plops characters who think and feel exactly like 21st century people into the nineteenth century with a few descriptions of clothes so that we know they’re really in the nineteenth century. But there’s nothing Emily does or says that sounds remotely like she was raised in the 1880s – and even more bizarrely, the only people who seemed perturbed by her unconventionality are her mother and some fussy older lady friends of her mothers. Moreover, I see no evidence of Emily’s vaunted intelligence - she actually seems quite remarkably thick about people, though she is apparently so beautiful that everyone around her falls madly in love with her.

Lastly, there's the anachronistic language. At one point, one of the servants tells Emily that everyone below stairs was "rooting for" her in a conflict with her family. Now, first of all, I highly doubt that any kind of trained staff would have been that forward with their mistress; and secondly, "rooting for" something is totally anachronistic if they mean "cheering for" Emily. Has Ms. Alexander ever read a 19th century novel? (This was just one egregious example - there are many others!)

I won't be reading any more of what is apparently a series!
(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 09, 2009 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historicalfiction, mysterythriller

Lady Ashton is in morning after losing her husband to illness on a hunt in Africa. She hardly knew her husband as they were only married for a matter of months before he left on his final expedition to Africa. As time goes on, Emily learns more and more about her husband and his love of all things Greek. She herself becomes quite the scholar and delves deep into the subject. As she does this, she learns more and more about her husband and eventually falls in love with him. Meanwhile, she has two...more

like · see review

May 09, 2013 Callixta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Perfect mix between mystery, history and a lit of romance.

http://www.blue-moon.fr/spip.php?arti...

Décidément la période victorienne, ses turpitudes, ses passions et ses femmes inspirent les auteures. Tasha Alexander, comme d’autres, s’est penchée sur cette époque et a créé un personnage récurrent, Emily Ashton, une jeune veuve, qui va prendre sa vie en main et résoudre des mystères qui la touchent de plus ou moins près. L’auteure, avec talent, va exploiter le contexte historique passionnant, exp...more Perfect mix between mystery, history and a lit of romance.

http://www.blue-moon.fr/spip.php?arti...

Décidément la période victorienne, ses turpitudes, ses passions et ses femmes inspirent les auteures. Tasha Alexander, comme d’autres, s’est penchée sur cette époque et a créé un personnage récurrent, Emily Ashton, une jeune veuve, qui va prendre sa vie en main et résoudre des mystères qui la touchent de plus ou moins près. L’auteure, avec talent, va exploiter le contexte historique passionnant, explorer la vie d’une femme de cette époque qui n’a pas envie de céder aux exigences de la société et essayer de devenir libre. Cela donne un récit passionnant à plus d’un titre.

Le roman s’ouvre sur le veuvage d’Emily, alors que son mari, épousé un peu par lassitude, pour ne plus être harcelé par sa mère est décédé depuis de longs mois. Engoncée dans ses vêtements de veuve, Emily attend impatiemment que la société la libère de ses obligations, cette période de deuil et demi-deuil qui emprisonnait les femmes très longtemps à cette époque, sur le modèle de la reine Victoria elle-même qui pleura des dizaines d’années son époux et ne quitta jamais ses vêtements noirs. Emily a envie de vivre, d’explorer le monde et découvre, en rangeant des affaires de son époux, de vastes pans qu’elle ignorait dont la passion de celui-ci pour les antiquités grecques. D’abord, par curiosité, elle va commencer à s’y intéresser et se trouver confrontée à de nombreuses questions personnelles et à un mystère qui s’épaissit.

Il n’y a qu’un seul défaut dans ce roman, c’est quelques longueurs dues au soin que Tasha Alexander prend à nous parler de l’Iliade et de l’Odyssée, de l’art grec. Mais Emily se pique d’explorer ce monde qu’elle ignore et l’auteure sait faire preuve de bien des connaissances dans ce domaine.

Ce qui est le plus passionnant est sans contexte le très beau portrait de femme qu’elle nous offre. Emily est fascinante de bout en bout et illustre bien la situation des femmes à l’ère victorienne.Pressées à se marier, la liberté vient de façon inattendue dans le veuvage qui souvent donnait aisance financière et liberté à ses femmes que leur entourage voulait remarier très vite comme si on craignait qu’elles échappent au contrôle. Emily, plus mûre, qui a eu un mariage sans relief, cherche à s’émanciper, à apprendre ce qui est normalement réservé aux hommes, à se comporter comme eux. Ce n’est pas évident. Elle le fait, entourée d’autres femmes, dont son amie Ivy, bien plus conventionnelle mais bienveillante et d’autres rencontrées au cours du roman, une Américaine et une Française, très atypiques. Ce petit groupe aura l’occasion de se rencontrer souvent et de s’aider dans les difficultés qui se présentent.

Car difficultés, il y aura. Plus Emily explore le monde des antiquités grecques et de ses passionnés, plus des choses étranges se produisent ou lui apparaissent. Et nous voilà, sans que rien ne le laisse présager dans une belle intrigue autour des faux, des imitations et des trafiquants d’art de cette époque. L’intrigue est bien menée, menée sans accentuer le mystère, comme si ce qui se produisait n’était qu’un épisode de la vie d’Emily.

Il reste l’amour, important pour la jeune femme qui pourtant avait accepté un mariage de raison et va vraiment connaître son époux qu’après sa mort à sa grande honte. C’est une très belle et triste idée qui illustre bien ces mariages de convenance où chacun s’ignore ou semble le faire. C’est aussi une très romantique idée de voir Emily se laisser séduire par un homme qui n’est plus et qu’elle idéalise. Heureusement, elle ne s’abime pas seulement dans des souvenirs malsains, plusieurs personnages commencent à graviter autour d’elle et l’un d’entre eux saura toucher son cœur et devrait réapparaître sans aucun doute dans les prochains tomes.

Ce roman plante superbement le décor : une jeune femme libre, qui aime voyager et se cultiver et va résoudre des énigmes dans l’Europe victorienne. L’intrigue solide est parfaite, la vie personnelle et sentimentale de notre héroïne bien présente. Un vrai bonheur !(less)

like · see review

May 03, 2013 Maggie Boyd rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

I am fairly certain this is a re-read for me although I will admit I had forgotten large chunks of the book. When my book club chose it I began a second reading, an experience which left me feeling that same lack of interest.

My main problem with the book is Lady Emily, a woman whose mother was anxious to marry her off. This horrible situation, clearly never experienced by modern women whose mothers would never say anything like "Seeing anyone? Are you trying?" etc., is so horrific it is meant to...more I am fairly certain this is a re-read for me although I will admit I had forgotten large chunks of the book. When my book club chose it I began a second reading, an experience which left me feeling that same lack of interest.

My main problem with the book is Lady Emily, a woman whose mother was anxious to marry her off. This horrible situation, clearly never experienced by modern women whose mothers would never say anything like "Seeing anyone? Are you trying?" etc., is so horrific it is meant to excuse Emily's apathy toward her husband. When said husband dies she inherits a good deal of money and it seems like even his family estate is available for her use (don't quite get this. The heir should have the estate but whatever.) Emily enjoys mourning because she doesn't have to socialize. However, a chain of events lead Emily to looking for an antiques forger. Should she trust Collin or Andrew? Which man was truly her husband's friend and truly cares about her now?

We know Emily is very pretty but honeslty that is all I could find going for her. She shows her independence by drinking port and reading Greek. Shocking if I hadn't read dozens and dozens of Regency romances where the heroines read Greek and Roman. The port just shows bad taste. I think the author wanted to show us someone still in society but throwing off society's shackles. My problem there was that Emily was throwing off shackles to no purpose and was choosing truly silly things to throw them off with. In addition, she seemed careless with people from her husband to Andrew and Collin she couldn't get a decent handle on any of her relationships. She seemed to me to be a teen, just finding her way in the world and not even really doing a bang up, grown up job of it. Katniss Everdeen was more grown up than Emily will ever be and that poor girl had none of her advantages.

I wanted to like this book as I enjoy historical mysteries but Etiquette and Espionage had more mature characters and they were all young teens.(less)

like · see review

Apr 03, 2013 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteries, historical-fiction

I must confess to being surprised. I liked it! I felt it was a little drawn out, and many times I thought, 'Oh come on, get to the point.' It seems the book, while not long, FELT long. However, it was a sweet fun mystery.
Now, truth be told, Emily drove me nuts. I felt she was highly immature at moments, stupid at others, and I had a hard time liking her. However, she grew on me as the book came to a close and her character sort of 'settled down'.
The only other issue is that you find out she ma...more

like · see review

Mar 12, 2013 Hoover Public Library Adult Fiction rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction

Lady Emma Ashton didn’t marry for love, but after her new husband dies on an African safari, she learns that he felt differently. In an effort to get to know him better, Emma pours over his journals and papers only to discover a rather different man than the boorish hunter she thought him to be: a patron of the French Impressionists, a classical scholar, a collector of antiquities, and a man who loved her deeply. In her quest to learn about Ashton, she finds she shares his passion for the classi...more

like · see review

Mar 07, 2013 Misha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: delightful, debut, mystery

BookList: Emily Bromley, a Victorian beauty, doesnt really want to marry, but her mothers persistent pressure forces her to accept wealthy Viscount Philip Ashtons proposal. When Philip dies on safari in Africa a few months after the wedding, Emily feels relief more than grief. Now the wealthy widow of a man she hardly knew, she is free to pursue her hearts real passion--reading! Yet once Emily begins to hear stories about Philips interest in Greek literature and his exquisite collection of antiq...more

like · see review

Mar 03, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-romance, mystery, romance-suspsense

Wow. I loved this book. It’s more of a mystery than a romance but the romantic elements just tugged at my heart. It’s so rare when I read a book and wish so hard that things would turn out for fictional characters.

{Spoilers start here}

The heroine, Lady Emily, was one of the upper class in Victorian England and realized that even though she’d be content to stay single there was no way that her family would allow it. After multiple offers, she agrees to marry the first man, Phillip, whom she fin...more Wow. I loved this book. It’s more of a mystery than a romance but the romantic elements just tugged at my heart. It’s so rare when I read a book and wish so hard that things would turn out for fictional characters.

{Spoilers start here}

The heroine, Lady Emily, was one of the upper class in Victorian England and realized that even though she’d be content to stay single there was no way that her family would allow it. After multiple offers, she agrees to marry the first man, Phillip, whom she finds remotely tolerable. She doesn’t know him and certainly hasn’t fallen in love, but marrying him will get her out of her mother’s house. He’s a big game hunter who loves to travel and leaves for Africa soon after her wedding. In Africa he falls sick with a fever and dies. About a year after his death, she has not emerged completely from mourning when Phillip’s best friend Colin Hargreaves comes to visit her and tells her about a villa in Greece that Phillip owned and would have wanted Lady Emily to visit.

She’d never known of her husband’s interest in Greece and antiquities, but Emily begins to delve into the art he’d donated to the British museum and pursue Greek literature while reading journals that her husband left behind. As she studies more, she learns more about Phillip and about herself. And even though he’s dead, she finally falls in love with him and regrets the opportunity that she had lost.

Meanwhile, she stumbles across a mystery regarding her husband. Could he have been a criminal? She travels to Paris and back and back to Paris again as she investigates. She starts to question who she can really trust.

Admittedly, I found it easy to figure out who she’d end up with from the beginning of the book, but still as the story progressed I kept hoping that her husband would turn out to be alive. It was painful seeing this journey as she gets to know who he was and realizing she’ll never be able to act on that knowledge.

Mystery or romance? However you categorize it, this was an outstanding book.
4/5 stars.
(less)

like · see review

Jan 18, 2013 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: british, historical-fiction, mystery

After being married only 6 months, young Emily, Lady Ashton, has become a widow. She is having trouble mourning a man she barely knew. While Victorian society and her mother are horrified by a great deal of her "mourning" behavior Emily is learning more about the husband she lost through the journals he left behind. As she falls in love with the man she never knew she finds herself with two suitors neither of which she feels she can trust. As she digs deeper into Lord Ashton's journals she finds...more

like · see review

Dec 02, 2012 Ava rated it 3 of 5 stars

The premise of And Only to Deceive excited me enough to get a copy the very same day I first heard about it. The idea of a reverse love story, a woman falling in love with the man she married only after his death, married with the mystery/suspense, as well as the Victorian setting appealed to me very much.

Alexander portrayed the romantic part of the romantic suspense in an elegant and intelligent manner. Through reading his journals, Emily is astounded to discover that the ordinary aristocrat sh...more The premise of And Only to Deceive excited me enough to get a copy the very same day I first heard about it. The idea of a reverse love story, a woman falling in love with the man she married only after his death, married with the mystery/suspense, as well as the Victorian setting appealed to me very much.

Alexander portrayed the romantic part of the romantic suspense in an elegant and intelligent manner. Through reading his journals, Emily is astounded to discover that the ordinary aristocrat she thought she had married harbored passionate love for her and was far more interesting than she knew. This made me question Emily's intelligence and powers of observation, though. Was she so self-absorbed that she didn't take the time to get to know the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with? The more she finds out about Phillip, the more regret grows in he until Emily falls in love with her dead husband and begins to truly mourn him. Rather than letting her heroine lionize Philip, without question, Alexander then begins to poke holes in his character and Emily's idolatry of him. In keeping with Emily's newfound interest in Greek antiquities and Greek literature, there is a long-running discourse throughout the book regarding who is the better hero, Achilles or Hector. Alexander uses this discourse in subtle comparison to Emily's love for her dead husband - the man she never knew and built up in her mind as an incomparable demi-god (like Achilles) with her flawed (but alive) suitors (like Hector, a human who dares battle Achilles, protected by the gods, to protect his kingdom).

I liked Alexander's exploration of Emily's liminal role in Victorian society as a widow, neither mother or wife or virgin bride-to-be. She comes to the realization that without a husband, yet with his fortune, she is basically a free woman, able to do as she pleases within or even out of society.

Emily's character, however, made no emotional connection with me. Other than being very beautiful, so much so that her dead husband's secret nickname for her was Kallista (the most beautiful) and being an avid reader, she was not very interesting. I could not see why sophisticated Philip fell in love with her; however, Alexander shows that perhaps, like Emily falling in love with the dead Philip, Philip also fell in love with a figment of his own romantic imagination. He didn't know her, but chose her for her beauty, as Paris chose Helen for hers.

Emily develops, however, throughout the course of the story. Initially inspired by her husband's interests, she develops interests of her own: Greek antiquities, learning ancient Greek, the epic poems. She also explores her newfound freedom as an independent woman of means.

"Dissatisfied, I put down the book, irritated that Philip was not there. I desperately wanted the chance to argue about these things with him. As I sat there, I slowly began to realize that my own opinions were quite different from those of my husband. Until then I had attributed all my interest in classical antiquity to Phillip and had assumed that his own studies would serve as an adequate guide for mine. I no longer felt driven to study as a way to know Phillip. I wanted to study because I loved the poetry, because the beauty of Greek sculpture moved me..."

The suspense part of the novel was lackluster and slow-moving. While I liked the discussion of Greek antiquities and details of the Impressionist art movement, I was never gripped with the fervent need to get to the bottom of whodonit. The sequels sound like they're set in some amazing locales; however, I don't believe I will be continuing this series.
(less)

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Nothing but Readi...: Alexander, Tasha: And Only to Deceive "Buddy Read" Start Jan. 26, 2012	84	62	Jan 31, 2012 10:49am

combine
Other Editions (10)

More editions...

Genres

Mystery

510 users

Historical Fiction

414 users

Romance

92 users

Mystery > Historical Mystery

91 users

Romance > Historical Romance

30 users

European Literature > British Literature

26 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

19 users

Book Club

14 users

Adult

13 users

Literature > 19th Century

13 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Silent in the Sanctuary
by Deanna Raybourn
What Angels Fear
by C.S. Harris
Secrets of a Lady
by Tracy Grant
India Black
by Carol K. Carr
Point of Honour
by Madeleine E. Robins

About Tasha Alexander

Tasha Alexander is the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Emily series and the novel ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE. She attended the University of Notre Dame, where she studied English and Medieval History. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, divide their time between Chicago an...more

More about Tasha Alexander...

Books by Tasha Alexander

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About And Only to Deceive

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from And Only to Deceive

“At least as a single woman, I had time to pursue my own interests, read voraciously, and travel when opportunity presented.” — 29 people liked it

“Beastly of him to die before you realized he might be fascinating.” — 8 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: And Only to Deceive
avg rating	preview: And Only to Deceive Goodreads rating: 3.71 (5607 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288159.And_Only_to_Deceive?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348843129l/288159.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288159.And_Only_to_Deceive?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander[/url]

And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website