The Portrait
What a strange – though certainly not dull – little story. The Portrait by Joan Wolf seems to be a reworking of one of her earlier contemporary stories into an historical romance (see note, below) – and if that’s not unusual enough, it involves circuses, kidnapped children, old paintings and so much horse riding… and cousin lovin’. It’s not good, but it’s definitely not dull.
Isabel Besson grew up in her loving father’s French Equestrian Circus – Le Cirque Equestre. For as long as she can remember, it’s always been him, her circus family, and her beloved Andalusian stallion, Alonzo, with whom she has her strongest bonds. But her contented life changes for ever after a performance in London.
Seated in the audience one night is Leo Sommers, the Earl of Camden, who sees his great grandmother’s face – familiar to him froma portrait hanging in Camden Hall – in Isabel’s. Approaching her after the show, the pair puzzle out the truth, realising Isabel, born Charlotte Lewins, was a much-wanted child stolen from her birth family by a maid, who sold Isabel to her adoptive father and mother. With that in light, and tales of her biological mother’s suffering ringing in her ears, Isabel agrees to go to Camden Hall, even though she has no interest in the Lewins. The fat purse promised to her – an inheritance from her biological grandfather – if she stays with them for the summer means her father will finally be able to leave the circus behind.
Nobody at Camden Hall likes Isabel, who refuses to slide into the abandoned skin of Charlotte and is unable to fit into British society. She does at least have Leo, her biological mother and Elisabeth, a friend she brings with her. But Aunt Augusta hates her lack of ladylike behavior; Leo’s cousin Roger enjoys mocking her while lusting after her, and her brother Henry, the Earl of Mansfield, believes she’s a fraud. Isabel hates the pallid and bland food, the restrictions of the social scene, and the constant gossip in the halls of her ancestral home. All the while, Isabel’s attraction to Leo continues to percolate, but he has been reluctant to consider remarriage since losing his first wife in childbirth. Will true love blossom?
Well. This is a story about cousins in love. Yep. The kinda wooden, dramatic feeling to the storytelling in question is not helped by the fact that it is cousins o’clock. Which happened historically, sure, but is still a bit awkward to read about. Sadly The Portrait doesn’t display Wolf – a veteran of the industry – at her best, but it’s a fascination regardless.
The most interesting thing about Isabel is her love of horses. Otherwise, she comes off as a bit childish and sometimes insipid. Leo is a nice guy who’s experienced tragedy and generally worships the ground Isabel walks on. Their romance would’ve been all right, without, y’know, the cousin thing. I liked the circus setting of the first few chapters, and wish the book had settled there instead of in high society.
This isn’t yet another Regency, being set in Britain at the end of the eighteenth century as revolution rages in France, but although that should inform the setting more – it doesn’t. Most of the characters are decent – if bland – sorts, except for Henry, Isabel’s brother, who is greedy, selfish, and murdered in the last fifty pages for a thin mystery plot. The culprit is revealed in an epilogue. So is the fact that Henry raped a thirteen year old, which is again explained in the epilogue.
There is an entire plotline revolving around Isabel and Leo’s fight over their replacing the family’s ancient cook. Her father starts a riding school on the property. Isabel flouts convention by riding late into her pregnancy, running the school, and breastfeeding her kid. She’s so nice that no one really ostracizes her for any of it.
Wolf’s love of horseflesh is what makes the book stand out from the crowd, but there’s not much else to say for The Portrait, other than that a little judicious editing may improved the brew. As is, it’s not a b ok I can recommend, despite its being oddly fascinating in its own way.
NOTE: Interestingly enough, this seems to be a historical retelling of Wolf’s The Portrait of a Love, in which Isabel is an artist painting a portrait of senator Leo. They might just be different books with the same character names, and if they are I’m intrigued. And no, I have no idea if they’re cousins in that version as well.
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Book Details
Reviewer: | Lisa Fernandes |
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Review Date: | October 25, 2020 |
Publication Date: | 10/2020 |
Grade: | D+ |
Sensuality | Warm |
Book Type: | Historical Romance |
Review Tags: |
For Lisa F’s question: No there are absolutely no themes in common between these 2 Wolf books, Just their names. The Portrait book is a contemporary set in Washington DC and Charleston, and the heroine is a reserved young portrait painter, from a working class background,suddenly introduced into the “elites” of American society and government.
I guess Wolf just liked those two names!
Thank you! Couldn’t access the book (it’s long out of print) so I was curious.
I guess the working-class-woman-enters-the-upper-class theme could be counted in common as well, but that’s interesting! They’re fine names.
This was indeed a somewhat tepid Joan Wolf book, I agree–and I am a Wolf fan from way back. It did feel like a re-tread of several of her previous efforts.
The old novel “Portrait of a Love” mentioned in the postscript does feature characters named Leo and Isabel. but the hero is a golden boy Senator, and the heroine, a painter commissioned by his mother to paint his portrait. Oddly enough, I recently did a comfort re-read of my collection of Wolf books (thanks, pandemic!), and enjoyed ” Portrait of a Love” just as much as I did the first time. Wolf may have “petered out” on this one (as many veteran writers tend to do after a while), but she will continue to be an auto-buy for me nonetheless. I guess I feel a loyalty for so many years of pleasure given to me by her writing.
There’s no shame in loyalty buying!
I wonder if she just likes the names. Are there any similar themes that center the two books or is it a coincidence?
First cousin marriages are currently legal in the UK. More to the point, though, is that this book sounds like a mish-mash of disorganisation using far too many often tired and ridiculous plot tropes. Can’t see a single thing in Lisa’s thorough summarisation to give me reason to read it.
Obviously,cousin marriages are not your thing. However, first cousin marriages isn’t as big problem biologically that people think, and if you haven’t spent your life growing up like siblings, it isn’t really a squicky problem either. First cousin marriages mainly become a problem over generations, such as in Pakistan, where the practice is very common. When you read a statistic about increased chances of birth defects among children of first cousin marriage, you have to remember those statistics include Pakistan and the countries where first cousin marriages have been going on for generations and the people marrying are a lot closer genetically than first cousins in other countries.
That said, if you are part of a population with known high risk for certain birth defects, like Tay-Sachs in Ashkenazi Jews, you will want to be very careful who you marry and probably be tested for the mutation. Genetic testing has come a long way, and getting screened for “common” genetically inherited congenital defects like cystic fibrosis is very doable.
First cousin marriages are legal in about 50% of the states in the US. As an aside, marriage laws vary from state to state, and are usually based on one of two points of view: marriage based on biblical guidelines (first cousin marriages fine, but marriage to unrelated uncle banned), or marriage laws based on social Darwinism (genetic considerations, not social relationships).
“First cousin marriages are legal in about 50% of the states in the US.”
Also legal in Sri Lanka. One of my uncles married his first cousin.
Just in case anyone is wondering about cousin marriage laws in the US, here is an interesting recent article I found: https://www.thespruce.com/cousin-marriage-laws-listed-by-state-2300731.
But I would like to add that just because something is still legal on the books, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s common. Or just because it’s legal, that it wouldn’t necessarily keep the average 21st century citizen from being squicked out! I mean, if incest became legal tomorrow, how many people would actually want to? *Shudders*
I only meant that if one can marry the childhood friend you spent years with (a popular romance trope), I think one could just as easily love with a cousin, especially if you didn’t spend much time with them growing up. I honestly don’t know any of my cousins very well except one, so I don’ think of them as “close” family. I’m not the least bit squicked out by the idea of someone marrying a first cousin.
…Marrying one’s blood relative is not the same as having a lifelong friend what on earth are you on about?
“what on earth are you on about?”
Wow. I have an opinion, and I’m ok with you not sharing it, but I expect civility here, not sneers.