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Merits and Mercenaries
Merits and Mercenaries, the dashing debut novel of The Bath Novels of Lady A~ 'Classic Companion' collection, is an enigmatic tale about the perplexing pursuit of love and self-discovery, which races for resolution--upon comedy and drama--across both town and country. As protagonists William Halford and Katherine Huntley seek some happy end, a host of vivid villains strive to perilously prevent it--while the shadow of a most menacing secret relentlessly stalks the story's entire cast.
Merits and Mercenaries must surely delight anyone desiring a refreshing interpretation of Jane Austen's classic style and sensibility. From its very 'witty' portrayal of the intriguing 'plots - lots' of its trusty and troublesome 'Janeite' gentry characters to its seamless set pieces, it is truly a most enchanting 'effusion' of English Regency fancy.
Merits and Mercenaries must surely delight anyone desiring a refreshing interpretation of Jane Austen's classic style and sensibility. From its very 'witty' portrayal of the intriguing 'plots - lots' of its trusty and troublesome 'Janeite' gentry characters to its seamless set pieces, it is truly a most enchanting 'effusion' of English Regency fancy.
390 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 15, 2012
Katherine grew naturally into a handsome, intelligent and truly generous young woman, drawing from her aunt's strength of character—and her late uncle's sorry lack of it.
And so begins Lady A~'s exquisitely written Austen-esque masterpiece, Merits and Mercenaries. It isn't very often I'm completely absorbed in a book. So absorbed that I go to bed thinking about the story's many layered conflict, and dreaming about the characters, planning and plotting in their behalf, trying to sort out in my head just where the story might go, and all the seemingly impossible obstacles that must be overcome to get it there. It was just that way for me as I read this wonderful book.
This was just a superbly written, cleverly concocted, shining example of what Historical Fiction ought be but rarely is. Here were no attempts to modernise the heroine, or even the conflicts of the story. So much of what motivated and concerned humanity two hundred years ago, motivates and concerns us today. On the other hand, here was no overwrought attempt to recreate Austen-esque literature. It was certainly recreated, but the product could hardly be called overwrought. The narrative was natural and flowing and the dialogue absolutely sparkling with wit and charm. The author never once talks over our heads, and when she fears a question may arise, she cleverly refers us to annotations kindly included in the back of the text. This is a welcome embrace to fellow fans of Jane Austen, and, too, of Literary Historical Fiction, as well.
I like complex plots; I yearn for them. I like big, thick books with rich characters that are engaging and compulsively followable. This book gave me both, but in a way I found cleverly deceptive. The conflict was simple. A young woman, Katherine, is taken to the country by her guardian aunt, in the hopes of presenting her with some new prospects for marriage. Of course Katherine is naive to her motivations and goes about her life, adjusting, albeit reluctantly, to the countryside. In Hampshire we are introduced to country society, among them potential friends, some worthy, others not so much. Here among them as well are one or two—or perhaps four—potential suitors. It isn't a grand mystery for whom Katherine is intended, but the hero is engaged to another. And it's an unbreakable commitment, assigned to him upon his father's deathbed. What are two people in love to do? Save, of course, to resign themselves to their unhappy fates. But it isn't the hero's prior commitments alone that stand in the way of our dear Katherine's happiness, for an intricate web of deceit and interference is slowly woven to ensure that Katherine does not prove an irresistible temptation to our would-be hero. For he simply must marry as he has been charged to do. Mustn't he?
And so we are guided, led, drawn, through each and every page, as if the author were leading us on a long walk, on a warm spring day, on our very first journey through Holland Park, where some new bit of scenery, an unexpected but always pleasant surprise, awaits us at every turn. I look forward with great pleasure—with anticipation—for Lady A~'s next work.
And so begins Lady A~'s exquisitely written Austen-esque masterpiece, Merits and Mercenaries. It isn't very often I'm completely absorbed in a book. So absorbed that I go to bed thinking about the story's many layered conflict, and dreaming about the characters, planning and plotting in their behalf, trying to sort out in my head just where the story might go, and all the seemingly impossible obstacles that must be overcome to get it there. It was just that way for me as I read this wonderful book.
This was just a superbly written, cleverly concocted, shining example of what Historical Fiction ought be but rarely is. Here were no attempts to modernise the heroine, or even the conflicts of the story. So much of what motivated and concerned humanity two hundred years ago, motivates and concerns us today. On the other hand, here was no overwrought attempt to recreate Austen-esque literature. It was certainly recreated, but the product could hardly be called overwrought. The narrative was natural and flowing and the dialogue absolutely sparkling with wit and charm. The author never once talks over our heads, and when she fears a question may arise, she cleverly refers us to annotations kindly included in the back of the text. This is a welcome embrace to fellow fans of Jane Austen, and, too, of Literary Historical Fiction, as well.
I like complex plots; I yearn for them. I like big, thick books with rich characters that are engaging and compulsively followable. This book gave me both, but in a way I found cleverly deceptive. The conflict was simple. A young woman, Katherine, is taken to the country by her guardian aunt, in the hopes of presenting her with some new prospects for marriage. Of course Katherine is naive to her motivations and goes about her life, adjusting, albeit reluctantly, to the countryside. In Hampshire we are introduced to country society, among them potential friends, some worthy, others not so much. Here among them as well are one or two—or perhaps four—potential suitors. It isn't a grand mystery for whom Katherine is intended, but the hero is engaged to another. And it's an unbreakable commitment, assigned to him upon his father's deathbed. What are two people in love to do? Save, of course, to resign themselves to their unhappy fates. But it isn't the hero's prior commitments alone that stand in the way of our dear Katherine's happiness, for an intricate web of deceit and interference is slowly woven to ensure that Katherine does not prove an irresistible temptation to our would-be hero. For he simply must marry as he has been charged to do. Mustn't he?
And so we are guided, led, drawn, through each and every page, as if the author were leading us on a long walk, on a warm spring day, on our very first journey through Holland Park, where some new bit of scenery, an unexpected but always pleasant surprise, awaits us at every turn. I look forward with great pleasure—with anticipation—for Lady A~'s next work.
January 19, 2012
This novel was a pleasant surprise in its originality, a newly written story planned and narrated following Jane Austen's style, wit and sharpness with intelligence and talent. Not a sequel nor a prequel, not a spin-off, none of the protagonists or characters are taken from Austen's major six, nonetheless Merits and Mercenaries does bring readers back to those charming atmospheres and plunges them into the dynamics and manners of the society Austen herself so brilliantly depicted. What is remarkable is the skillful echoing Jane Austen's wit and irony through refined diction and detailed research.
Merits and Mercenaries is the first published novel in an ambitious and promising project of seven, called The Bath Novels of Lady A. , defined as Regaustenian( http://www.thebathnovelsofladya.com/mm/about.php ).
I was intrigued as soon as I started reading the Preface to the novel itself, which is a smart fictional connection between Jane Austen's biography and the so-called Bath novels. It relates the mysterious story of how fortuitously Cassandra Austen came to own a series of manuscripts after her beloved sister's death - seven "dissidents" which quite differed from the perfect published major six - and why she decided to leave them to a person Jane trusted and love, Miss Anne Sharp.
The tales are so tacitly attributed to the "devil" of Jane Austen's quill but written by a lady , who doesn't reveal her identity, but in her thorough and creative tribute to that genius demonstrates great love and respect.
The plot develops between Hampshire and London following the pursuit of love and self-discovery of trusty and admirable protagonsits such as Mr William Halford - as honorable as handsome and of excellent breeding - and Miss Katherine Huntley - intelligent, beautiful and truly generous young woman. Their path to the fullfilment of their wishes will not only be full of menaces from unscrupled villains but also made hard by their own praiseworthy principles, which will turn themselves into obstacles and delay the two young lovers happy ending.
Vividly written villains crowd the tale and make the comedy in it become often drama. The opposition of good and evil is, of course, the main contrast leading the thread of the events but there are others very Austenesque clashes: the country and the town, duty and love, comfort and poverty, appearance and reality, sense and sensibility.
Amusing and well-written, I'm glad to add Merits and Mercenaries to my "Austenesque Reads" shelf .
Merits and Mercenaries is the first published novel in an ambitious and promising project of seven, called The Bath Novels of Lady A. , defined as Regaustenian( http://www.thebathnovelsofladya.com/mm/about.php ).
I was intrigued as soon as I started reading the Preface to the novel itself, which is a smart fictional connection between Jane Austen's biography and the so-called Bath novels. It relates the mysterious story of how fortuitously Cassandra Austen came to own a series of manuscripts after her beloved sister's death - seven "dissidents" which quite differed from the perfect published major six - and why she decided to leave them to a person Jane trusted and love, Miss Anne Sharp.
The tales are so tacitly attributed to the "devil" of Jane Austen's quill but written by a lady , who doesn't reveal her identity, but in her thorough and creative tribute to that genius demonstrates great love and respect.
The plot develops between Hampshire and London following the pursuit of love and self-discovery of trusty and admirable protagonsits such as Mr William Halford - as honorable as handsome and of excellent breeding - and Miss Katherine Huntley - intelligent, beautiful and truly generous young woman. Their path to the fullfilment of their wishes will not only be full of menaces from unscrupled villains but also made hard by their own praiseworthy principles, which will turn themselves into obstacles and delay the two young lovers happy ending.
Vividly written villains crowd the tale and make the comedy in it become often drama. The opposition of good and evil is, of course, the main contrast leading the thread of the events but there are others very Austenesque clashes: the country and the town, duty and love, comfort and poverty, appearance and reality, sense and sensibility.
Amusing and well-written, I'm glad to add Merits and Mercenaries to my "Austenesque Reads" shelf .
May 28, 2015
Rarely do I feel exercised to review a book for good or bad, but this novel really earned the claim on my efforts. If you don’t ‘get’ what this very savvy author is ‘up to’ in Merits and Mercenaries then I would have to call you, in Jane terms, a very ‘dull elf’. This novel is based on a witty and clever ‘Bath Novel’ conceit that you have to read carefully in order to get the author’s nuanced drift. She is neither claiming she is Jane Austen nor is she trying to reproduce seven novels to take on Jane’s ‘sacred six’. She clearly states in the preface material that The Bath Novel concept, of which M&M is the first novel, is the work of Jane’s mischievous alter-ego. It is a more ‘political’ voice and is more controversial than what we as readers have grown (albeit too superficially) accustomed to in Jane. In short, Lady A~ is saying prepare yourselves for a ripping original story: A fresh departure from the run-of-the mill sequel fare that other Jane Austen wannabees keep churning out ad nauseam. In fact, to criticise Lady A~ for taking a leaf of hubris out of the sequellers’ notebooks, but with far more imagination, wit and scholarly understanding of Austen, is blatantly a double-standard. There is a clear disclaimer, preceding the preface texts, which openly states the texts purporting the conceit are fictitious, which is the author’s way of saying, “Janeites don’t take any of this too seriously and just have some fun for pity sake!” The kind of thing Jane Austen herself might have enjoyed, for surely she supported the suspension of disbelief as an accomplished writer. The Bath Novel conceit is meticulous in its conception, however, and checks out if you want to be a pedant about approaching the facts. The events that brought about the seven ‘dissident’ novels do tally with Jane Austen’s history and Lady A~(which was actually Jane Austen’s pseudonym, given to her by the Public) skilfully ties in references to J A’s work in Merits and Mercenaries by referring to the real ‘Lady A~’ (i.e. J A) and her works/books. (To correct a GR reviewer here, the conceit suggests the seven secret novels were begun in Bath, but were written and completed right up until the death of J A in Winchester in 1817—so not written and completed only while she lived in Bath as the reviewer incorrectly states.)
That said of the conceit of The Bath Novels of Lady A~, Merits and Mercenaries is a brilliant first book of this seven-novel collection. The effortless tho’ intricate style (certainly not at all ‘Victorian’ or ‘flowery’!) is eminently Austen/Burney. I agree with another GR reviewer, this is as good as it gets. It has a contemporary feel, however, to make it less prolix than say Mansfield Park, but more ‘shady’ than, say, Pride and Prejudice. Yes the villains are dark, but they are DELICIOUS. Maria Beckett is a cracker of a vixen and Francis Pope is a real devil in a cravat. They are exactly in keeping with what the modern Lady A~ augurs in her Bath Novel premise—the gloves come off ‘Jane’ and we meet the kind of baddies she might very well have described for a contemporary world. The same applies to Merits and Mercenaries’ heroes and heroines. They are weighted down with foible, but have to sort that out in order to find themselves and to properly understand how it is that they fell in love. The characters, in general, are just brilliantly drawn, and I’m not sure how anyone could justly fault them. The plots and lots of this book are formidable in the very best sense. The complex story is weaved in and out of Town and Country in a really exquisite ‘Austen’ way and just when you think it’s all wrapped up, Lady A~ throws another curved ball. There is action aplenty and only finely tuned nuances suggest that something else might be waiting around the corner which you least expect, but are really dying to discover. You’ll laugh out loud with this book too. Lady A~ understands Austen’s wit right down to the sheerest ‘piece of ivory’ and for the high comedy alone, you should buy this book. I will definitely be buying each and every one of these novels, as they are released, and in paperback because they are so collectable. Merits and Mercenaries’ cover and artwork set it quite apart from the usual industry paperback standard. You’ll love the nifty ‘arty’ flourishes, the silhouettes that introduce the protagonists as the ‘Dashing and the Dastardly’ and the period map that depicts where they all live.
On a closing note, I observed that this book is endorsed by some real Janeite heavy weights: Patricia Rozema the Hollywood writer/director of Mansfield Park and Dr Laurie Kaplan. I doubt if they would put their say-so on anything that doesn’t rank in the Austenesque genre as anything less than 5-star. Come on Janeites, give Lady A~ her due! This Lady can write like only one other and we should absolutely get that message out there. On that note, I thought the few-and-far-between naysayers might have frightened this shy Lady away because Merits and Mercenaries was published all the way back in 2011. Happily, though, it seems she has returned because a second edition of this novel has just been released and a second Bath Novel is ‘imminent’ according to social media and the TBNLA website. Incidentally for quibblers of the well-researched footnotes in M&M, the second edition has been published without these. I guess Lady A~ never took her wry eye off the ball after all…
Note to the film industry! This is one book that deserves to be adapted. It would make a fabulous movie!
That said of the conceit of The Bath Novels of Lady A~, Merits and Mercenaries is a brilliant first book of this seven-novel collection. The effortless tho’ intricate style (certainly not at all ‘Victorian’ or ‘flowery’!) is eminently Austen/Burney. I agree with another GR reviewer, this is as good as it gets. It has a contemporary feel, however, to make it less prolix than say Mansfield Park, but more ‘shady’ than, say, Pride and Prejudice. Yes the villains are dark, but they are DELICIOUS. Maria Beckett is a cracker of a vixen and Francis Pope is a real devil in a cravat. They are exactly in keeping with what the modern Lady A~ augurs in her Bath Novel premise—the gloves come off ‘Jane’ and we meet the kind of baddies she might very well have described for a contemporary world. The same applies to Merits and Mercenaries’ heroes and heroines. They are weighted down with foible, but have to sort that out in order to find themselves and to properly understand how it is that they fell in love. The characters, in general, are just brilliantly drawn, and I’m not sure how anyone could justly fault them. The plots and lots of this book are formidable in the very best sense. The complex story is weaved in and out of Town and Country in a really exquisite ‘Austen’ way and just when you think it’s all wrapped up, Lady A~ throws another curved ball. There is action aplenty and only finely tuned nuances suggest that something else might be waiting around the corner which you least expect, but are really dying to discover. You’ll laugh out loud with this book too. Lady A~ understands Austen’s wit right down to the sheerest ‘piece of ivory’ and for the high comedy alone, you should buy this book. I will definitely be buying each and every one of these novels, as they are released, and in paperback because they are so collectable. Merits and Mercenaries’ cover and artwork set it quite apart from the usual industry paperback standard. You’ll love the nifty ‘arty’ flourishes, the silhouettes that introduce the protagonists as the ‘Dashing and the Dastardly’ and the period map that depicts where they all live.
On a closing note, I observed that this book is endorsed by some real Janeite heavy weights: Patricia Rozema the Hollywood writer/director of Mansfield Park and Dr Laurie Kaplan. I doubt if they would put their say-so on anything that doesn’t rank in the Austenesque genre as anything less than 5-star. Come on Janeites, give Lady A~ her due! This Lady can write like only one other and we should absolutely get that message out there. On that note, I thought the few-and-far-between naysayers might have frightened this shy Lady away because Merits and Mercenaries was published all the way back in 2011. Happily, though, it seems she has returned because a second edition of this novel has just been released and a second Bath Novel is ‘imminent’ according to social media and the TBNLA website. Incidentally for quibblers of the well-researched footnotes in M&M, the second edition has been published without these. I guess Lady A~ never took her wry eye off the ball after all…
Note to the film industry! This is one book that deserves to be adapted. It would make a fabulous movie!
December 18, 2014
Any book that engages in the pretense that it is a "lost" work by a famous writer absolutely invites comparison to that writer's actual works. And on that level, this book does not succeed very well. Occasionally the author catches something of Austen's voice, but for the most part, her language is much too flowery and her prose much too dense to give a convincing impressing of Austen. The plot is not very Austen-like, in my opinion, with villains who are too openly dark and a plot resolution that does not seem to fit in Austen's world. Finally the sheer number of footnotes is off-putting, and the frequent references to the published works of "Lady A--" completely destroy the premise that Austen wrote the book while living in Bath.
All that said, this was a moderately entertaining story (hence, 3 stars). But I could never forget that it was supposed to be a "lost" work of Austen's, and therefore could never really allow myself to enjoy it simply as a story.
October 8, 2017
This is the first in a set of seven novels described collectively as "The Bath Novels of Lady A," winkingly written as the books Jane Austen actually wrote during her quiet period living in Bath. The author claims these as "Regaustenian" books, again with a clever twinkle in her eye. I admittedly expected much less of this novel, and I was thrilled to discover that Lady A has much more personal panache than most Austen attempters; this novel could easily stand alone without the nod to Austen's inspiration. Katherine Huntley is an orphaned young woman who has been raised by a wealthy and widowed aunt, one keen to help her young charge make a love match in life. With an eye to new adventures, Lady Myriam Rostings leases a manor home in the county of Hampshire, and the pair remove to the country from London. Katherine soon finds her eye drawn to noble neighbor William Halford, a man quite as reserved as Darcy, and also quite as in love with Katherine, though the course of their love is anything but smooth. A host of treacherous characters intervene to thwart the pair, but they are ultimately fed their just desserts. Splendid book, written impeccably, and I am sure the remainder of the collection will be just as radiant.
December 2, 2012
While reading this story, I could not see some things that perhaps I missed, or just did not get. Our Heroine was older than her first season and living in London, so I should have imagined before going to the country, she would know the "TON" of London, yet it seems she does not, until she moves back to London.
She falls in love and the hero falls in love, and yet, neither of them do anything active to earn love. It had me develop the thought further that for us to love a hero, we want a hero to be a 'man', to do an action that is heroic to earn that affection. I don't think in Austen's Pride and Prejudice Lizzy truly loves Darcy until she reads the letter finding out that Darcy actually dealt with Wickham once before, and then when he deals with Wickham over the matter of Lydia, that seals the deal.
Charles Devon, not the hero of this piece we meet and the author describe him as an authoress telling us he is a dullard. Show vs. Tell may not be something that we always follow, but there were other characters we met this way that she also then showed us what she had already told us.
There are some other things, such as making many scenes in drawing rooms that are not described, taking away the tactile and visual surroundings. Not having an action during a dialogue enough.
I believe that the author plans a series of seven novels, trying to suggest that these are books written by Austen and somehow just rediscovered. The way they are written now, with too much tell, not enough action, and certainly poor character studies that we do not have any regard for the heroes that the author presents, I have no desire to read any further.
She falls in love and the hero falls in love, and yet, neither of them do anything active to earn love. It had me develop the thought further that for us to love a hero, we want a hero to be a 'man', to do an action that is heroic to earn that affection. I don't think in Austen's Pride and Prejudice Lizzy truly loves Darcy until she reads the letter finding out that Darcy actually dealt with Wickham once before, and then when he deals with Wickham over the matter of Lydia, that seals the deal.
Charles Devon, not the hero of this piece we meet and the author describe him as an authoress telling us he is a dullard. Show vs. Tell may not be something that we always follow, but there were other characters we met this way that she also then showed us what she had already told us.
There are some other things, such as making many scenes in drawing rooms that are not described, taking away the tactile and visual surroundings. Not having an action during a dialogue enough.
I believe that the author plans a series of seven novels, trying to suggest that these are books written by Austen and somehow just rediscovered. The way they are written now, with too much tell, not enough action, and certainly poor character studies that we do not have any regard for the heroes that the author presents, I have no desire to read any further.
February 10, 2017
Though it purports to be a lost novel of Jane Austen's, I would range it more in the style of Georgette Heyer as far as the story goes. It's fairly well written, but sometimes gets tripped up and bogged down in the author's attempts to be too clever with her words. Often where fewer words would be better, she chooses more. It is not a coincidence then, that I felt the book could certainly have been shorter. But the story is certainly modeled in a classic "Regency Romp" style and overall, I found it engaging.
October 4, 2016
An excellent debut in the style of Jane Austen. By that I mean, believable characters, believable situations, subtle hints and indirections, good vocabulary, intricate plotting, and "of the period" style and diction and sensibility (in JA's terms). So much of "regency" romance/fiction today is actually 20th century and 21st century sexual antics and vocabulary and doltish plotting. This novel is entertaining and funny and at the same time revelatory of the pettiness and even viciousness of some people. Although we know the hero and heroine will settle their misunderstandings and come to trust each other, I could not project how the plot would eventuate. I look forward to Lady A-'s next book with great expectation and impatience.
February 8, 2012
I won this book on Lady A's website (check it out: www.thebathnovelsofladya.com) and I must say how much I loved this book. Lady A did an amazing job writing this novel. It reminded me so much of Jane Austen's writing style and it would make her proud. Loved the story of innocent Katherine who spends some time in the country only to fall in love with a man who is already pursued by 2 woman who will stop at nothing to get Katherine away. What a battle Katherine is up against and she is certainly not of the character to fight against others! How the story unravels is well worth the read!
August 4, 2015
This book is a neat modern take on the Jane Austen formula. It has all the Austen-type plots and characters, but with a distinctly contemporary sensibility. The author has done a great job of invoking Jane Austen's witty style and the Bath novel 'story behind the stories' is clever and convincing. If this is the first Bath novel, the remaining six promise to be something to really look forward to.
December 23, 2011
Full review to come!
February 9, 2012
What a stupid, boring, bad written book! A waste of time.
September 20, 2012
The quality of the writing is truly extraordinary! So Austenesque! A brilliant job. A wonderful romance. I will definitely read more books by this author.
January 9, 2013
I really enjoyed Mertis and Mercenaries! It was a great choice to take away to the lake. This is a very well written contemporary Jane Austen novel.
February 17, 2015
I really, really enjoyed this! Extremely well written in the style of Austen (not that we can compare any author, really...but about as good as it gets). Where are the other novels? I want more!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews