The Gilded Knight
Grade : C+

The Gilded Knight is not a fast-paced book filled with exciting happenings. Instead, it's a quiet and introspective tale, and how you react to it will depend on how well you like the characters. Although Donna Simpson's characterizations can be exquisitely written (as in Lord St. Claire's Angel and Miss Truelove Beckons), her latest features more of a mixed bag.

When Sir Charles Blake comes to visit Nellwyn, Lady Simmons, it's to tell her to get out of the ancestral home, Meadow House. His brother George, the new viscount, wants to take possession of his estate, but he doesn't want to do the dirty work himself so he withholds Charles's money until he evicts Nellwyn. Charles doesn't want to go, but he has no money, lots of debts, and his landlady's son, a blacksmith, has been making threats.

When Charles arrives at Meadow House, he finds Nell's daughter Delphine very ill. Delphine has always been a delicate child, prone to fevers, and this one is especially bad. The doctor is pessimistic and Nell is very worried. Right after the doctor leaves, a blizzard isolates Meadow House and Charles is forced to stay. He can't indulge in his usual vices (drinking and gambling) and is filled with guilt at having to evict Nell and Delphine, so he passes the time by reading, talking to Nell and telling stories to Delphine. The peace and quiet soon have Charles thinking about his wasted life and hoping for a better future - one that includes Nell and Delphine.

Charles is a quiet, tortured hero. His branch of the Blake family was pretty far down in the pecking order, and he was the youngest and lame as well, so he was the butt of all his cousins' teasing. His father ignored him and his grandfather whipped him and took away his drawing materials, saying drawing was unmanly. Charles's family refused to buy him a commission in the Army because of his lameness so he has filled his time with drink and cards. He has been knighted, but not under circumstances that would fill a man with pride. Charles's life has been pretty well wasted, until he meets Nell and her daughter. The quiet and isolation force him to examine himself, and he doesn't like what he sees.

While I loved Charles, I could not warm up to Nell, and her stubbornness was inexplicable. Her marriage was not a happy one, but the servants all adore her, and she lives for her daughter. The big problem I had with her was why she refused to leave Meadow House. I could see that she would not want to leave when Delphine was so ill, but after she recovers, Nell still refuses. Why? The house and all it represents hold no good memories for her, and she has a generous widow's portion and a comfortable home to go to in London, yet she will not leave. It just didn't make any sense.

Delphine was a sweet child, and I really loved the growing relationship between her and Charles. Since he had been an invalid child himself, he understood her and could entertain her with games and stories. Their scenes together were very sweet.

The Gilded Knight can be summed up as a Regency cabin romance that is carried along by the characters and their growing relationship. I loved Charles, and he's going on my list of favorite regency characters. If only Nell's motives for not leaving her home had been clearer, I would have liked her much better, but I could not understand her. She brings this book down to only slightly better than average.

Reviewed by Ellen Micheletti
Grade : C+
Book Type: Regency Romance

Sensuality: Kisses

Review Date : February 13, 2005

Publication Date: 2005

Review Tags: 

Recent Comments …

Ellen Micheletti

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
What's your opinion?x
()
x