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Black Silk
REISSUE by Judith Ivory
As befitting her name, lovely Submit Channing-Downes was the proper, obedient wife of an aging marquess—until her husband's death left her penniless and alone...with one last marital obligation to fulfill. Entrusted with delivering a small black box to its rightful owner, she calls upon Graham Wessit, the notorious Earl of Netham, whose life has been forever marred by rumor and scandal.
But Graham wants nothing to do with a bequest from the man he holds responsible for his ruin—or with the bewitching emissary who brings it. In the face of breathtaking erotic mystery—in the throes of an inflamed passion unbeckoned but impossible to deny—a rogue's hardened heart may be undone by love...and a staid beauty in straits may learn the exquisite, sensuous freedom of surrender.
As befitting her name, lovely Submit Channing-Downes was the proper, obedient wife of an aging marquess—until her husband's death left her penniless and alone...with one last marital obligation to fulfill. Entrusted with delivering a small black box to its rightful owner, she calls upon Graham Wessit, the notorious Earl of Netham, whose life has been forever marred by rumor and scandal.
But Graham wants nothing to do with a bequest from the man he holds responsible for his ruin—or with the bewitching emissary who brings it. In the face of breathtaking erotic mystery—in the throes of an inflamed passion unbeckoned but impossible to deny—a rogue's hardened heart may be undone by love...and a staid beauty in straits may learn the exquisite, sensuous freedom of surrender.
468 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1991
84 people are currently reading
1423 people want to read
About the author
Judith Ivory
17 books350 followersJudith Ivory "accidentally" acquired two degrees in mathematics, then sold her first novel in 1987 and closed up the math books for good. She lives in Miami Florida, with her two children, two cats and a dog.
"Judith Ivory" is the pseudonym of author Judy Cuevas (real name).
The pseudonym was first used by her after publication of her last book as "Judy Cuevas," in 1996 - Dance. Her first book, Starlit Surrender, which was published under her real name of Cuevas, was re-released under her pseudonym of "Ivory" in 2006 under the title, Angel in a Red Dress.
"Judith Ivory" is the pseudonym of author Judy Cuevas (real name).
The pseudonym was first used by her after publication of her last book as "Judy Cuevas," in 1996 - Dance. Her first book, Starlit Surrender, which was published under her real name of Cuevas, was re-released under her pseudonym of "Ivory" in 2006 under the title, Angel in a Red Dress.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
January 19, 2009
Let me state that it is difficult to summarize Black Silk without doing it an injustice, because this book, this story, these characters and their interpersonal relations are so unusual, so remarkable, and so complex that the whole is near nigh irreducible. I mean, is it possible to admire the Mona Lisa a square inch at a time?
Reading Black Silk is like going to a five-star restaurant for the first time. You fidget a little in your chair, admire the ambience and the elegant waiters doing their nightly ballet. The kitchen is taking its time. A little plate of nibbles arrives, compliment of the chef. You munch, you ooh and aah. It's fabulous. But it's only a little plate. You wonder a little anxiously whether the rest of what is to come can measure up. And then the appetizers arrive - and then the first course. You half-swoon. Then comes the entree and you can hardly comprehend how you came to be in such heaven. Then the dessert which ends your experience with a bang (well, almost literally in this case, if I may be pardoned for a little risqué pun). You cannot believe the evening is over since you wanted it to go on and on and on.
Pardon the gustatory analogy, which in this case is apt. Judy Cuevas is a master of sensual description. Her writing has flavor, succulence and substance. It has that indescribable something that can only be called literary "fat", a quality that makes her particular confection of words deliciously tangible.
But her talent goes far beyond mere linguistic sumptuousness. Ms. Cuevas creates memorable characters. Graham Wessit, the hero of Black Silk, could probably be labeled a bad boy, a Victorian bad boy if you will. But unlike so many other romance novel bad boys who seem to copulate their way from one end of the country to the other and in doing so, generate nothing but good-willed envy from all men and trembling desire in all women, Graham has troubles. He is the defendant in a false paternity suit. His current mistress is thinking of divorcing her husband to marry him - a big scandalous deal in 1858. And on top of it, there is a popular newspaper serial that has its root material in the deeds, mistakes, and peccadilloes of his life, all exaggerated and ridiculed for the entertainment of the masses. Lest we forget, those were far more puritanical times. Even men paid for their transgressions.
Submit Channing-Downes is a virtuous widow, still in mourning, clothed in black - hence the title - for almost the entirety of the book. Her late, much older husband Henry had been Graham's cousin and one-time guardian. Submit loved and still loves Henry. Graham despised and still despises Henry. From their vastly different experiences with Henry and their intertwined present predicament, (thanks to a nasty posthumous bequest from Henry to Graham) arises what surely must be the most intriguing triangle of human relations in romancedom.
Graham is indolent and indulgent, but as the story unfolds, we see his honesty, kindness, and sincerity. He is also vital, exciting, and young at heart. Submit is equally complex. She is intelligent, thoughtful, and serious. And it is Ms. Cuevas' great accomplishment that this woman of true gravitas is also endowed with a subtle yet potent carnal allure. The two of them are a wonderful match because she needs his energy and vigor and he needs to be anchored by her rationality and cool-headedness.
The late Henry, of course, was one of a kind. Read and marvel. This book is perhaps not to everyone's taste. I'll admit, it took me a while to get hooked. Black Silk is not exactly a comfort read, and does not offer instant gratification, meaning, no kisses until half-way through, and no hero/heroine love scene until the last fifty pages or so. But those readers who stick with it will be richly, splendidly rewarded. And that is a promise.
Note: I wrote this in 2002 as a reader-submitted Desert Isle Keeper review for All About Romance. Juey Cuevas, of course, is none other than Judith Ivory.
Reading Black Silk is like going to a five-star restaurant for the first time. You fidget a little in your chair, admire the ambience and the elegant waiters doing their nightly ballet. The kitchen is taking its time. A little plate of nibbles arrives, compliment of the chef. You munch, you ooh and aah. It's fabulous. But it's only a little plate. You wonder a little anxiously whether the rest of what is to come can measure up. And then the appetizers arrive - and then the first course. You half-swoon. Then comes the entree and you can hardly comprehend how you came to be in such heaven. Then the dessert which ends your experience with a bang (well, almost literally in this case, if I may be pardoned for a little risqué pun). You cannot believe the evening is over since you wanted it to go on and on and on.
Pardon the gustatory analogy, which in this case is apt. Judy Cuevas is a master of sensual description. Her writing has flavor, succulence and substance. It has that indescribable something that can only be called literary "fat", a quality that makes her particular confection of words deliciously tangible.
But her talent goes far beyond mere linguistic sumptuousness. Ms. Cuevas creates memorable characters. Graham Wessit, the hero of Black Silk, could probably be labeled a bad boy, a Victorian bad boy if you will. But unlike so many other romance novel bad boys who seem to copulate their way from one end of the country to the other and in doing so, generate nothing but good-willed envy from all men and trembling desire in all women, Graham has troubles. He is the defendant in a false paternity suit. His current mistress is thinking of divorcing her husband to marry him - a big scandalous deal in 1858. And on top of it, there is a popular newspaper serial that has its root material in the deeds, mistakes, and peccadilloes of his life, all exaggerated and ridiculed for the entertainment of the masses. Lest we forget, those were far more puritanical times. Even men paid for their transgressions.
Submit Channing-Downes is a virtuous widow, still in mourning, clothed in black - hence the title - for almost the entirety of the book. Her late, much older husband Henry had been Graham's cousin and one-time guardian. Submit loved and still loves Henry. Graham despised and still despises Henry. From their vastly different experiences with Henry and their intertwined present predicament, (thanks to a nasty posthumous bequest from Henry to Graham) arises what surely must be the most intriguing triangle of human relations in romancedom.
Graham is indolent and indulgent, but as the story unfolds, we see his honesty, kindness, and sincerity. He is also vital, exciting, and young at heart. Submit is equally complex. She is intelligent, thoughtful, and serious. And it is Ms. Cuevas' great accomplishment that this woman of true gravitas is also endowed with a subtle yet potent carnal allure. The two of them are a wonderful match because she needs his energy and vigor and he needs to be anchored by her rationality and cool-headedness.
The late Henry, of course, was one of a kind. Read and marvel. This book is perhaps not to everyone's taste. I'll admit, it took me a while to get hooked. Black Silk is not exactly a comfort read, and does not offer instant gratification, meaning, no kisses until half-way through, and no hero/heroine love scene until the last fifty pages or so. But those readers who stick with it will be richly, splendidly rewarded. And that is a promise.
Note: I wrote this in 2002 as a reader-submitted Desert Isle Keeper review for All About Romance. Juey Cuevas, of course, is none other than Judith Ivory.
December 26, 2024
Do you ever read a well written book and just feel lost as to what the plot really is....That is me and this book. Graham wants to be seen for the man he really is but falls easily into what others think. This is NOT a love story. It is more of a Saga. Snippets of Submits and Grahams life are woven unevenly through the story of his current affair with another man's wife for much of the plot. At surprising intervals, we get new information about Graham's background. Just sprinkled in like sugar on a cookie. It doesn't add anything to the flavor it is just decoration. The book was written in 1991 and I think it has held up well enough (there is one scene that maybe a bit sketchy to the modern era) others will seem quaint that such things were considered offensive during the Victorian Era. The book is written and researched so beautifully. BUT I seldom felt connected or that the couple were in love. I thought Graham was a 38 boy and Submit was 26 going on 50. 2.5* Another BUT...what an ending!
November 14, 2021
It’s time to sing praises to Judith Ivory/Judy Cuevas again.
In my opinion, this book is straightforward fiction. It is not a perfect genre romance that hits all the beats. However, there is a romance and it has HEA.
I read it easily at first, but as I kept going the intensity was slowly rising higher and higher until it reached screeching pitch at the end and then the book promptly ended. It was fantastic in the most unusual way. Like some kind of a classical opera piece.
I actually growled at the book at one point how good it was.
Was it a perfect romance? No.
It is more of a character study of Graham, Lord of Netham. He is a beautiful rake, almost 40 and his life does not have much substance to it. He floats around following his whims and interests, dresses in flashy clothes and has an American mistress. Although he admits that all his life he has been looking for his perfect match which he hasn’t found, yet.
Heroine is a young marchioness named Submit (I know!) who “jumped directly from infancy to middle age” (these are the words of her dead ex-husband) by marrying a man 40 years older then her at the age of 16.
Many Judith Ivory’s books have the theme of two polar opposites coming together. In this case the wild, boisterous, adventurous man and very stiff, serious, sad woman.
Here is Graham speaking of fireworks that he makes himself; it illustrates their personalities very well.
"I rather like it, in fact, when they explode all over me."
"How very dangerous."
"It’s thrilling actually. It doesn't hurt "
All she could say was, “I bet it takes a toll on your clothes, though.”
He began walking, backward again, along the path that ran against the house. He was still looking at her when he said, “Nothing, I’d bet, compared to the toll your caution takes on your sparks.” He turned out of sight.
Black Silk’s seems to invite us to live more adventurous lives. This quote keeps repeating itself like a chorus in a song.
Being heretofore drowned in security, You know not how to live, nor how to die…. John Webster
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. Let yourself be transported to Victorian England with beautiful easy flowing, never boring prose. Get immersed in life of Graham and Submit as they navigate their lives, become really good friends and eventually lovers.
Don’t expect beautifully polished, sweet romance, not even lot of sex. But expect to be swept off your feet for one unexpected ride.
In my opinion, this book is straightforward fiction. It is not a perfect genre romance that hits all the beats. However, there is a romance and it has HEA.
I read it easily at first, but as I kept going the intensity was slowly rising higher and higher until it reached screeching pitch at the end and then the book promptly ended. It was fantastic in the most unusual way. Like some kind of a classical opera piece.
I actually growled at the book at one point how good it was.
Was it a perfect romance? No.
It is more of a character study of Graham, Lord of Netham. He is a beautiful rake, almost 40 and his life does not have much substance to it. He floats around following his whims and interests, dresses in flashy clothes and has an American mistress. Although he admits that all his life he has been looking for his perfect match which he hasn’t found, yet.
Heroine is a young marchioness named Submit (I know!) who “jumped directly from infancy to middle age” (these are the words of her dead ex-husband) by marrying a man 40 years older then her at the age of 16.
Many Judith Ivory’s books have the theme of two polar opposites coming together. In this case the wild, boisterous, adventurous man and very stiff, serious, sad woman.
Here is Graham speaking of fireworks that he makes himself; it illustrates their personalities very well.
"I rather like it, in fact, when they explode all over me."
"How very dangerous."
"It’s thrilling actually. It doesn't hurt "
All she could say was, “I bet it takes a toll on your clothes, though.”
He began walking, backward again, along the path that ran against the house. He was still looking at her when he said, “Nothing, I’d bet, compared to the toll your caution takes on your sparks.” He turned out of sight.
Black Silk’s seems to invite us to live more adventurous lives. This quote keeps repeating itself like a chorus in a song.
Being heretofore drowned in security, You know not how to live, nor how to die…. John Webster
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. Let yourself be transported to Victorian England with beautiful easy flowing, never boring prose. Get immersed in life of Graham and Submit as they navigate their lives, become really good friends and eventually lovers.
Don’t expect beautifully polished, sweet romance, not even lot of sex. But expect to be swept off your feet for one unexpected ride.
December 12, 2017
Lately I'm feeling like an unsuccessful truffle pig, rooting around the myriad HRs being cranked out by an unbelievable amount of authors (or wannabes who are just putting words to paper with varied success). Every once in a while there's a really good one, just to keep this truffle pig from giving up.
But a lot of the time when I need a good romance for my exercise bike time I find myself rooting through my "keeper" boxes. That's how I came to reread BLACK SILK this week. This was one of my least favorite Judith Ivory books. The heroine seemed a bit off in behavior and the hero less than heroic (although very flawed heroes are common in Ivory books). But it's amazing what getting older and also being deprived of new good HRs will do to one's perspective.
Heroine Submit (groan, yes, that's her name) is the widow of a marquess much older than she. Married at 16, her personality had been less than formed and much of her formation is due to her years with her old, rather dominant (but kind and loving to her) husband. She seems a bit prissy, prim, straitlaced, quiet, and not given to having fun. But all these things that I didn't like about her I now see are not really her fault and I have much more sympathy for her.
Hero Graham Wessit, the Earl of Netham, is the nephew of Henry, the deceased marquess. Orphaned young, he lived with Henry and Henry's illegitimate son William during his boyhood, but Graham went the opposite direction from Submit under Henry's tutelage. Rebellious, he turned out fun-loving, somewhat irresponsible and irreverent.
Now that Henry is dead, Submit and William are in a legal battle over their inheritance and Graham finds himself involved peripherally. In addition, Graham has some issues of his own to worry about: 1) a young lower-class woman falsely accusing him of impregnating her, with everyone believing her because of his reputation; 2) a mistress who seems to want more from him than he is prepared to give; 3) a popular serialized newspaper story of a rake's life, a rake whose similarity to Graham is unmistakable.
The plot meanders a lot but the book is so well written that I even enjoyed the tangents that never led anywhere. These are complex, complicated, well-developed characters and their tangled lives made for a very good Victorian romance, IMO.
But a lot of the time when I need a good romance for my exercise bike time I find myself rooting through my "keeper" boxes. That's how I came to reread BLACK SILK this week. This was one of my least favorite Judith Ivory books. The heroine seemed a bit off in behavior and the hero less than heroic (although very flawed heroes are common in Ivory books). But it's amazing what getting older and also being deprived of new good HRs will do to one's perspective.
Heroine Submit (groan, yes, that's her name) is the widow of a marquess much older than she. Married at 16, her personality had been less than formed and much of her formation is due to her years with her old, rather dominant (but kind and loving to her) husband. She seems a bit prissy, prim, straitlaced, quiet, and not given to having fun. But all these things that I didn't like about her I now see are not really her fault and I have much more sympathy for her.
Hero Graham Wessit, the Earl of Netham, is the nephew of Henry, the deceased marquess. Orphaned young, he lived with Henry and Henry's illegitimate son William during his boyhood, but Graham went the opposite direction from Submit under Henry's tutelage. Rebellious, he turned out fun-loving, somewhat irresponsible and irreverent.
Now that Henry is dead, Submit and William are in a legal battle over their inheritance and Graham finds himself involved peripherally. In addition, Graham has some issues of his own to worry about: 1) a young lower-class woman falsely accusing him of impregnating her, with everyone believing her because of his reputation; 2) a mistress who seems to want more from him than he is prepared to give; 3) a popular serialized newspaper story of a rake's life, a rake whose similarity to Graham is unmistakable.
The plot meanders a lot but the book is so well written that I even enjoyed the tangents that never led anywhere. These are complex, complicated, well-developed characters and their tangled lives made for a very good Victorian romance, IMO.
April 4, 2012
Oh my stars. Del Dryden told me to read Judith Ivory's Black Silk.
Actually, no. It was more like Del Dryden found out I hadn't read this book, fainted with outrage, revived, and demanded that I buy it immediately. Which I did, because Del knows of what she speaks when it comes to recommending books.
This book is wonderful. And I mean that in the original, old-fashioned sense of the word: it is full of wonder. I can't think of it without awe. Reading it was an awe-ful experience. Occasionally also awful, but not often. Mostly I just wanted to squish it to my chest and marry it.
Which isn't to say that I would recommend it to just anybody, or promise that anyone else will have the same experience I did in reading it. Or even to say that I'll ever read it again.
But it is to say that I'm glad I read it.
Conflicted, I know. The blurb sounds very romantic, doesn't it? Except, no. The book isn't like the blurb. Not at all.
I wouldn't classify Black Silk as a romance novel. I would say that it's a novel about love. When I was about 75 percent of the way through it, I described it to Cecilia Grant (whose A Lady Awakened reminds me of it, a bit) that it's a romance of regard -- by which I meant a book about two people figuring out how to deserve each other, or at least about the hero coming to deserve the heroine.
But now that I've finished the last 25 percent, I'm not so sure. It's not that simple a story. The regard theme is there, but this is also, and perhaps more so, a novel about people coming to appreciate that they don't have to deserve each other. About how sometimes, despite all our intentions to the contrary, we fall in love, and then we're completely screwed. But in a good way. If we'll only just pull our heads out of our asses and realize it.
It's clear if you look at the ratings for this novel that it confounds people, and disappoints many.
I am not surprised. Here we have a long (446-page) "romance novel" that moves at a languid, Victorian pace, and in which the hero, Graham, spends a good 85 percent of the book having sex with a married woman who is not the heroine. And not feeling guilty about it. He is a dissipated earl, but not in the cute way. There's really nothing cute about it.
In the first third of the book, Graham and the heroine -- whose name is Submit, of all things -- barely meet. Then, once they've met, they don't fall in love. They don't even see each other all that often. Which is probably good, because when Submit does see Graham, she thinks things like this:
He smiled quickly, the reflex of a man used to getting by on his looks. The smile dazzled. It was annoying to see this little trick performed so well.
Her irritation is no more adorable than his dissipation. She honestly doesn't admire him, and she doesn't wish to like him. Her official stance on Graham is one of disapproval -- of his smile, his dandyish clothes, his attitude toward life, his behavior, his everything.
There is no instant lust, no long, luxurious mid-book romantic/sexual idyll, and no sense until the novel is very, very nearly over that there could ever, would ever, will ever be any hope for a romance of any sort between these two people.
There are no soft places to rest in this book, I think is my point. It is not comfortable. It is not escapism.
What it is is a book about people -- deeply flawed, deeply human, deeply interesting people -- and life, and "bewildering gifts from the dead," and love.
I adored it. Your mileage may vary.
Actually, no. It was more like Del Dryden found out I hadn't read this book, fainted with outrage, revived, and demanded that I buy it immediately. Which I did, because Del knows of what she speaks when it comes to recommending books.
This book is wonderful. And I mean that in the original, old-fashioned sense of the word: it is full of wonder. I can't think of it without awe. Reading it was an awe-ful experience. Occasionally also awful, but not often. Mostly I just wanted to squish it to my chest and marry it.
Which isn't to say that I would recommend it to just anybody, or promise that anyone else will have the same experience I did in reading it. Or even to say that I'll ever read it again.
But it is to say that I'm glad I read it.
Conflicted, I know. The blurb sounds very romantic, doesn't it? Except, no. The book isn't like the blurb. Not at all.
I wouldn't classify Black Silk as a romance novel. I would say that it's a novel about love. When I was about 75 percent of the way through it, I described it to Cecilia Grant (whose A Lady Awakened reminds me of it, a bit) that it's a romance of regard -- by which I meant a book about two people figuring out how to deserve each other, or at least about the hero coming to deserve the heroine.
But now that I've finished the last 25 percent, I'm not so sure. It's not that simple a story. The regard theme is there, but this is also, and perhaps more so, a novel about people coming to appreciate that they don't have to deserve each other. About how sometimes, despite all our intentions to the contrary, we fall in love, and then we're completely screwed. But in a good way. If we'll only just pull our heads out of our asses and realize it.
It's clear if you look at the ratings for this novel that it confounds people, and disappoints many.
I am not surprised. Here we have a long (446-page) "romance novel" that moves at a languid, Victorian pace, and in which the hero, Graham, spends a good 85 percent of the book having sex with a married woman who is not the heroine. And not feeling guilty about it. He is a dissipated earl, but not in the cute way. There's really nothing cute about it.
In the first third of the book, Graham and the heroine -- whose name is Submit, of all things -- barely meet. Then, once they've met, they don't fall in love. They don't even see each other all that often. Which is probably good, because when Submit does see Graham, she thinks things like this:
He smiled quickly, the reflex of a man used to getting by on his looks. The smile dazzled. It was annoying to see this little trick performed so well.
Her irritation is no more adorable than his dissipation. She honestly doesn't admire him, and she doesn't wish to like him. Her official stance on Graham is one of disapproval -- of his smile, his dandyish clothes, his attitude toward life, his behavior, his everything.
There is no instant lust, no long, luxurious mid-book romantic/sexual idyll, and no sense until the novel is very, very nearly over that there could ever, would ever, will ever be any hope for a romance of any sort between these two people.
There are no soft places to rest in this book, I think is my point. It is not comfortable. It is not escapism.
What it is is a book about people -- deeply flawed, deeply human, deeply interesting people -- and life, and "bewildering gifts from the dead," and love.
I adored it. Your mileage may vary.
January 28, 2022
Sometimes stepping out of your (romance) comfort zone can lead to amazing places. Such as this book.
February 2, 2026
Oh you know, just spent the day reading a 440 page book in its entirety because I literally could not put it down.
All my yammering about characters in romance lacking interiority and the romantic payoff not feeling earned… yeah, turns out I just needed to be reading Judith Ivory all along. Utter perfection.
Editing this review the morning after to expand on why I loved this so much. A lot of my problem with contemporary romance today, is there a serious lack of stakes. In a dual POV story it’s typical for the romantic hero to be lusting, pining, obsessing a chapter or two into the novel which leaves him nowhere else to go. When you make the characters down bad as the baseline- what’s left to root for?
Enter historical romance. Full of stoic, virile, statuesque men that brood, often decry any attraction to the story’s leading lady, and are steeped in a brew of cynicism and/or childhood trauma and/or debaucherous reputation. What Black Silk does best in carving out a memorable leading man amidst these stalwart genre conventions, is really allowing the hero to go on a journey of change steeped in internal reflection alongside the angst, the denial, the yearning. I don’t know if I will ever meet a notorious rake I love more than Graham Wessit, who truly meets his match in Submit Channing-Downes.
I know, I know… yes her name really is Submit. A decision made by our heroine’s father that is the subject of much derision, deliberation and double entendre as the story unfurls. Submit is not a typical romantic heroine. She is the grieving widow of a man 43 years her senior. She appears withdrawn and cold, and many of the members of polite Victorian society who encounter her don’t know what to make of her. This is not a quivering virginal flower ripe for the picking. While the story is undoubtedly more focused on Graham’s journey to love than Submit’s, it is her resistance and ultimate defiance of societal conventions that largely drive the story forward.
Be forewarned, this is not a love story where the pieces come together easily. The couple do not so much as kiss for many, many pages. Our hero remains set in old patterns for much of the page length, keeping up rakish appearances while fighting an internal battle rife with delicious banter and crackling sexual tension. But like I mentioned at the outset, oh is that payoff worth it.
All my yammering about characters in romance lacking interiority and the romantic payoff not feeling earned… yeah, turns out I just needed to be reading Judith Ivory all along. Utter perfection.
Editing this review the morning after to expand on why I loved this so much. A lot of my problem with contemporary romance today, is there a serious lack of stakes. In a dual POV story it’s typical for the romantic hero to be lusting, pining, obsessing a chapter or two into the novel which leaves him nowhere else to go. When you make the characters down bad as the baseline- what’s left to root for?
Enter historical romance. Full of stoic, virile, statuesque men that brood, often decry any attraction to the story’s leading lady, and are steeped in a brew of cynicism and/or childhood trauma and/or debaucherous reputation. What Black Silk does best in carving out a memorable leading man amidst these stalwart genre conventions, is really allowing the hero to go on a journey of change steeped in internal reflection alongside the angst, the denial, the yearning. I don’t know if I will ever meet a notorious rake I love more than Graham Wessit, who truly meets his match in Submit Channing-Downes.
I know, I know… yes her name really is Submit. A decision made by our heroine’s father that is the subject of much derision, deliberation and double entendre as the story unfurls. Submit is not a typical romantic heroine. She is the grieving widow of a man 43 years her senior. She appears withdrawn and cold, and many of the members of polite Victorian society who encounter her don’t know what to make of her. This is not a quivering virginal flower ripe for the picking. While the story is undoubtedly more focused on Graham’s journey to love than Submit’s, it is her resistance and ultimate defiance of societal conventions that largely drive the story forward.
Be forewarned, this is not a love story where the pieces come together easily. The couple do not so much as kiss for many, many pages. Our hero remains set in old patterns for much of the page length, keeping up rakish appearances while fighting an internal battle rife with delicious banter and crackling sexual tension. But like I mentioned at the outset, oh is that payoff worth it.
December 23, 2025
December 2025 - "the way great beauty suddenly moves something in one's chest; the way profound horror quakes the soul."
September 2025 reread: hahaha I'm a sicko (I can't stop re-reading Black Silk)
May/June 2025 reread: I tried to write about Black Silk I don't know that I'll ever be able to say what is in my heart about this book but I'm going to keep trying. (unfinished thoughts covering: sweating, liminality (again!), staircases, the body)
November 2024 read: I have 40 pages of hand-written notes and I would like to someday share these coherently
April 2024 read: I am not who I once was. I feel as though a wave crashed over me; as though I was dissolved into molecules, my essence taken apart and reassembled into who I am now. This is all very dramatic but it is also true: I am made whole by the existence of this work of art.
September 2023 read: I started browsing, just looking for some quotes and ended up reading it all again. It's just so good I could cry about it.
July 2023 read: "Just two messy, stupid human beings."
April 2023, second read: fuck this book is amazing. I was more tuned into Submit during this read. I loved her immediately when I first read Black Silk, but this time I felt like I saw her from the POV of other characters who also love her. People kind of just fall under her thrall and I GET IT. Also, Graham Wessit, in frustration, telling Submit she fucks people with her mind is the hottest (possibly unintended) compliment I have ever read in my life.
March 2023 read:
Do I have thoughts that are clearer now that the book has been within me for a short while? No. I do not. I am in a haze; uncoordinated. I made over 200 highlights and countless notes and my heart expands with the fullness of this book. I cannot stop thinking about this passage late in the book - about a woman Graham once knew - and it feels apt to share and revisit:
for me and my life, Black Silk has become a demarcation and I am living in the after of this book.
.
.
.
Initial response: I have been flattened, bowed by the excellence of this book. It was a surrender I did not anticipate enjoying so thoroughly. I may have more thoughts later although what even are thoughts at this point? I experienced.
.
.
.
Many CWs, please take care before reading: death by suicide (MMC's father dies by suicide after killing the MMC's mother - this happens off page but is referred to a few times and another character dies by suicide), infant death, young child death, miscarriage, death during pregnancy, infant illness, frequent alcohol consumption, on-page sex, arranged marriage between 16 year old and 59 year old, revenge porn, infidelity, absentee father
September 2025 reread: hahaha I'm a sicko (I can't stop re-reading Black Silk)
May/June 2025 reread: I tried to write about Black Silk I don't know that I'll ever be able to say what is in my heart about this book but I'm going to keep trying. (unfinished thoughts covering: sweating, liminality (again!), staircases, the body)
November 2024 read: I have 40 pages of hand-written notes and I would like to someday share these coherently
April 2024 read: I am not who I once was. I feel as though a wave crashed over me; as though I was dissolved into molecules, my essence taken apart and reassembled into who I am now. This is all very dramatic but it is also true: I am made whole by the existence of this work of art.
September 2023 read: I started browsing, just looking for some quotes and ended up reading it all again. It's just so good I could cry about it.
July 2023 read: "Just two messy, stupid human beings."
April 2023, second read: fuck this book is amazing. I was more tuned into Submit during this read. I loved her immediately when I first read Black Silk, but this time I felt like I saw her from the POV of other characters who also love her. People kind of just fall under her thrall and I GET IT. Also, Graham Wessit, in frustration, telling Submit she fucks people with her mind is the hottest (possibly unintended) compliment I have ever read in my life.
March 2023 read:
Do I have thoughts that are clearer now that the book has been within me for a short while? No. I do not. I am in a haze; uncoordinated. I made over 200 highlights and countless notes and my heart expands with the fullness of this book. I cannot stop thinking about this passage late in the book - about a woman Graham once knew - and it feels apt to share and revisit:
for me and my life, Black Silk has become a demarcation and I am living in the after of this book.
.
.
.
Initial response: I have been flattened, bowed by the excellence of this book. It was a surrender I did not anticipate enjoying so thoroughly. I may have more thoughts later although what even are thoughts at this point? I experienced.
.
.
.
Many CWs, please take care before reading: death by suicide (MMC's father dies by suicide after killing the MMC's mother - this happens off page but is referred to a few times and another character dies by suicide), infant death, young child death, miscarriage, death during pregnancy, infant illness, frequent alcohol consumption, on-page sex, arranged marriage between 16 year old and 59 year old, revenge porn, infidelity, absentee father
August 31, 2017
Why in god's name is this classified as a romance? This book has none of it!The heroine is a widow, who married her 69 year old husband when she was 16!They had a happy marriage and she loved him. The hero on the other hand is a 38 years old widower with two kids (he is an absentee father) who is carrying on openly with a married woman. Now, me I like my hero to have some morals, and till 80% of the book he is carrying on with the other woman and we have to read about them doing it!Thanks but no. Then bam h/H are boning. I do not for one second buy that they loved each other. The heroine showed no love for him and the h/H demonstrated no sexual tension at all in the book. Fail!
June 12, 2009
This was the first book I read by Judith Ivory, and at first I found it a bit hard to read. She is an intricate writer, very descriptive in her scenes, so it takes a while to get used to her style. Having said that, I was soon captivated by her writing. Graham and Submit are not characters that are easy to like. Graham is kind of debauched. You get the impression that his hard-living has had an effect on his looks. His moral compass is fairly flawed. Having said that, he really grew on me and I started to like him. I liked that he didn't take himself too seriously, or pretend be something that he wasn't. It was refreshing.
Submit is a stuffy prig at first glance. She had a much older husband who almost squeezed all the life out of her, and pretty much molded her into what he believed was the perfect wife and she's showing the effects of living under his sanctimonious thumb. Submit has settled down into virtuous widowhood, not expecting anything more from her life other than being the widow of her deceased husband. You wonder how this couple managed to fall in love. Well it was lovely to watch their courtship unfold. Graham seemed to delight in teasing Submit, and bringing out the 'bad girl' in her. Submit seems shocked and perturbed at most of the things Graham does and says, but at the same time, she is surprisingly attracted to the jaded reprobate. He has a spark that her husband was missing. He brings life into her boring, colorless existence. I can't say that she really reforms him, but caring for her brings something deep and meaningful in his empty life. I found the love scene very touching, yet sensual. It was perfectly written and occurred exactly at the point it should have in this story. Again, this is probably not a romance novel that would appeal to everyone. But if you want to read an exceptionally well-written story (that you have to invest in reading), about two people who are a little older (heroine is late 20s, hero is late 30s), and who are polar opposites and should not have fallen for each other, but did anyway, I'd suggest giving this book a try.
Submit is a stuffy prig at first glance. She had a much older husband who almost squeezed all the life out of her, and pretty much molded her into what he believed was the perfect wife and she's showing the effects of living under his sanctimonious thumb. Submit has settled down into virtuous widowhood, not expecting anything more from her life other than being the widow of her deceased husband. You wonder how this couple managed to fall in love. Well it was lovely to watch their courtship unfold. Graham seemed to delight in teasing Submit, and bringing out the 'bad girl' in her. Submit seems shocked and perturbed at most of the things Graham does and says, but at the same time, she is surprisingly attracted to the jaded reprobate. He has a spark that her husband was missing. He brings life into her boring, colorless existence. I can't say that she really reforms him, but caring for her brings something deep and meaningful in his empty life. I found the love scene very touching, yet sensual. It was perfectly written and occurred exactly at the point it should have in this story. Again, this is probably not a romance novel that would appeal to everyone. But if you want to read an exceptionally well-written story (that you have to invest in reading), about two people who are a little older (heroine is late 20s, hero is late 30s), and who are polar opposites and should not have fallen for each other, but did anyway, I'd suggest giving this book a try.
March 21, 2010
It's hard to review this book. I know it's amazing, but I'm at a loss to explain why I know that.
I guess it's because of the characters. The plot is kinda humdrum - Submit Channing-Downes's husband just died and his will tasks her with delivering a small black box to his wayward cousin, the notorious earl of Netham, Graham Wessit. Her husband's will is also being contested by a vindictive illegitimate son who resents how little he was left, leaving her penniless and homeless. Submit and Graham then run into each other, first to deliver the box, then at the inn she stays at and finally at a house party at Graham's country estate.
The two form a tenuous friendship and romance eventually follows, completely unbidden. After all, Submit is recently widowed from a husband she loved dearly and Graham is currently involved with a married American woman.
But it's getting to know the characters that makes the book worthwhile. Both are rich, flawed, seemingly real people. I enjoyed seeing how Graham both was and wasn't the degenerate rake everyone assumes he is. Yes, he's done all manner of risque things - posed for x-rated illustrations, kept an upstairs maid as a mistress, is involved with a married woman - but we spend the entire book seeing more and more of the whole picture, until his decisions begin to look entirely rational. He wasn't just a stock Earl of Slut, indiscriminately screwing his way through society, nor was he at all a good boy. He was just a lonely, unhappy man trying to do what was fun.
As for Submit, she initially comes off as a bit of a stuffy bluestocking. And, well, she is. But she's also irreverent, honest and passionate. She's a worthy adversary and companion for the undisciplined Graham. Where he indulges too much, she reins him in, and vice versa. While nearly opposite, they seem to realize they crave what it is that the other has in abundance. Watching them dance around each other, and grow as people while doing it, was just fascinating.
This is my first Judith Ivory book, and it's definitely not going to be my last.
I guess it's because of the characters. The plot is kinda humdrum - Submit Channing-Downes's husband just died and his will tasks her with delivering a small black box to his wayward cousin, the notorious earl of Netham, Graham Wessit. Her husband's will is also being contested by a vindictive illegitimate son who resents how little he was left, leaving her penniless and homeless. Submit and Graham then run into each other, first to deliver the box, then at the inn she stays at and finally at a house party at Graham's country estate.
The two form a tenuous friendship and romance eventually follows, completely unbidden. After all, Submit is recently widowed from a husband she loved dearly and Graham is currently involved with a married American woman.
But it's getting to know the characters that makes the book worthwhile. Both are rich, flawed, seemingly real people. I enjoyed seeing how Graham both was and wasn't the degenerate rake everyone assumes he is. Yes, he's done all manner of risque things - posed for x-rated illustrations, kept an upstairs maid as a mistress, is involved with a married woman - but we spend the entire book seeing more and more of the whole picture, until his decisions begin to look entirely rational. He wasn't just a stock Earl of Slut, indiscriminately screwing his way through society, nor was he at all a good boy. He was just a lonely, unhappy man trying to do what was fun.
As for Submit, she initially comes off as a bit of a stuffy bluestocking. And, well, she is. But she's also irreverent, honest and passionate. She's a worthy adversary and companion for the undisciplined Graham. Where he indulges too much, she reins him in, and vice versa. While nearly opposite, they seem to realize they crave what it is that the other has in abundance. Watching them dance around each other, and grow as people while doing it, was just fascinating.
This is my first Judith Ivory book, and it's definitely not going to be my last.
December 29, 2025
A case study of HOW TO DO IT…. It being, uh, anti-gender essentialist gender essentialism? Queer heteronormativity?
Okay, let me set the scene: kid me, at the lake, sitting on the floor of the living room because there are so many relatives that there aren’t enough seats for everyone. People are talking, cooking, playing cards, and in the background a western is playing on the TV. The western ends, almost unbelievably, like this: the woman main character runs away from the male main character, through an old west-y small town. She begs the townsfolk for help and instead they literally start ripping her clothes off - her blouse, her skirt - to slow her down as the male main character steadily advances behind her. With every article of clothing torn, with every path blocked, the townsfolk laugh and cheer. She’s terrified, outnumbered - there’s no escape. Finally, he catches up with her…. and then everyone cheers, the music rises inspiringly to tell you it’s a happy ending, and cue the credits!
…I remember staring at the screen like - did anyone else see this??? What the fuck did I just watch??? It was a horror movie sequence played for laughs!! How was this scene even allowed to air on TV where children could see it?? (Me as a child: This is not appropriate for me to be watching! …Or for anyone to be watching, maybe!)
It was a John Wayne-era western, too, just pure sincere 50s/60s-era hatred of women. (As an adult I once did some extensive google searches to confirm that it was a real movie, and I found its name and the actors’ names and everything, but I forget what they are now - and turns out googling “western movie townsfolk pulling woman’s clothes off” does not yield uh immediately useful results - rip to my algorithm.)
All of which is to say that when there was scene in THIS book where the male MC chases the female MC through a castle so he can rip her clothes off and yet it was actually hot and funny and fantastic and not horrifically sexist and terrifying?!?!?!
Judy Cuevas/Judith Ivory - how the fuck did you do it!!?!?! There are so many current romance writers that need to drop everything and sharpen their No. 2 pencils so they can take some fucking notes, that’s what I have to say.
This whole book was that kind of experience, though - it gets SO close to SO many horrifically sexist tropes and dynamics, and yet each time the book pulls it off, in this magic trick which is actually just incredibly thoughtful, nuanced, deeply empathetic character work - for Graham, and Submit, but also for every single other character, even the characters that in any other book would be stock villains.
(It’s fascinating how Cuevas worked in the gothic melodrama - not just the significance of it for Graham but also what it represents for Submit, and the way the story mulls over the undeniably messy power dynamics of authorship.. “‘But I want to keep on. To see where it leads. I have to. And I can’t let you gentle me out of all the good that it does me by dredging up all the bad it may be doing you.’”)
There’s so much more think about with this book - Margaret, “’Has there been a rape?’” EVERYthing with Henry, Submit’s hairiness (lol), I haven’t even MENTIONED Pandetti’s box which is probably the most genius way to start a historical romance of all time…. this list could go on pretty much forever so I need to call it here but DAMN, you know what I mean? What a book.
Okay, let me set the scene: kid me, at the lake, sitting on the floor of the living room because there are so many relatives that there aren’t enough seats for everyone. People are talking, cooking, playing cards, and in the background a western is playing on the TV. The western ends, almost unbelievably, like this: the woman main character runs away from the male main character, through an old west-y small town. She begs the townsfolk for help and instead they literally start ripping her clothes off - her blouse, her skirt - to slow her down as the male main character steadily advances behind her. With every article of clothing torn, with every path blocked, the townsfolk laugh and cheer. She’s terrified, outnumbered - there’s no escape. Finally, he catches up with her…. and then everyone cheers, the music rises inspiringly to tell you it’s a happy ending, and cue the credits!
…I remember staring at the screen like - did anyone else see this??? What the fuck did I just watch??? It was a horror movie sequence played for laughs!! How was this scene even allowed to air on TV where children could see it?? (Me as a child: This is not appropriate for me to be watching! …Or for anyone to be watching, maybe!)
It was a John Wayne-era western, too, just pure sincere 50s/60s-era hatred of women. (As an adult I once did some extensive google searches to confirm that it was a real movie, and I found its name and the actors’ names and everything, but I forget what they are now - and turns out googling “western movie townsfolk pulling woman’s clothes off” does not yield uh immediately useful results - rip to my algorithm.)
All of which is to say that when there was scene in THIS book where the male MC chases the female MC through a castle so he can rip her clothes off and yet it was actually hot and funny and fantastic and not horrifically sexist and terrifying?!?!?!
Judy Cuevas/Judith Ivory - how the fuck did you do it!!?!?! There are so many current romance writers that need to drop everything and sharpen their No. 2 pencils so they can take some fucking notes, that’s what I have to say.
This whole book was that kind of experience, though - it gets SO close to SO many horrifically sexist tropes and dynamics, and yet each time the book pulls it off, in this magic trick which is actually just incredibly thoughtful, nuanced, deeply empathetic character work - for Graham, and Submit, but also for every single other character, even the characters that in any other book would be stock villains.
(It’s fascinating how Cuevas worked in the gothic melodrama - not just the significance of it for Graham but also what it represents for Submit, and the way the story mulls over the undeniably messy power dynamics of authorship.. “‘But I want to keep on. To see where it leads. I have to. And I can’t let you gentle me out of all the good that it does me by dredging up all the bad it may be doing you.’”)
There’s so much more think about with this book - Margaret, “’Has there been a rape?’” EVERYthing with Henry, Submit’s hairiness (lol), I haven’t even MENTIONED Pandetti’s box which is probably the most genius way to start a historical romance of all time…. this list could go on pretty much forever so I need to call it here but DAMN, you know what I mean? What a book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2022
3rd read.
This is a book that doesn't wrap up every loose end, and it improves with each reread. Ivory writes like a dream. I feel a little disoriented every time I wake up.
------------------------------------------------------
2nd read.
This is one of most moving, empathetic books I've ever read.
Graham Wessit, the Earl of Netham, has a reputation for being a dilettante, a degenerate, and a wastrel. He is all of those things, but what makes Black Silk so beautiful is that it makes you ponder one big question: Who cares?
As an extremely attractive and infamous earl, Graham is more myth than man in a lot of eyes. Even his friends and gregarious mistress, who he is undoubtedly close to, seem to think his reputation is a joke or social boon. But Graham is deeply troubled by being written off, and he's isolated by his inability to communicate exactly why.
I still think the kaleidoscope comparison is apt. Graham's fundamental parts never change, but the more time we spend with him, the more time he's rearranged into someone extremely appealing. His flaws aren't hidden or erased. Instead, they are expounded upon with such cutting detail that you have to come to the conclusion that they are a feature, not a bug.
Submit Channing-Downes, his love interest, seems like she'd be more impenetrable. She's the young widow of Graham's godfather, a man that loathed Graham to near obsessiveness. Submit, like her name suggests, is product of middle class aspirations, molded to be a young wife to an aristocrat that she truly did love. A full decade younger than Graham, Submit is much more sober, more guarded. But she and Graham love how honest the other is, even when it's inconvenient. Even when it hurts.
The central thesis of this book is that life is messy, and I have never in my life read a romance novel so chaotic, so convoluted, and so breathtakingly beautiful. You have to work for the happy ending, but the end result is so perfect I doubt you'd mind.
------------------------------
Graham Wessit is a bad father, an adulterer, and a man who is scrutinized for misdeeds that he might not have necessarily committed, but have fallen in line with his reputation regardless. The interesting thing about Black Silk is that while we do get to see him grow and change to some extent, we spend more time with his flaws. It's like a kaleidoscope: the colors melt down and rearrange and suddenly what we were looking at the whole time feels more intricate and harder to explain.
Submit Channing-Downes is the young widow of Graham's godfather. I pictured her as a Rothko, dark color-blocked lines that are smudged away from perfection. To others she's eerie - black-clad and mussed- but Graham is entranced, and more than a little wary of the effect she has on him. In a simpler, and maybe lesser, story, Submit's severity would mitigate Graham's wildness. They do complement each other, but it's messy. It felt like... real life.
This is a book that doesn't wrap up every loose end, and it improves with each reread. Ivory writes like a dream. I feel a little disoriented every time I wake up.
------------------------------------------------------
2nd read.
This is one of most moving, empathetic books I've ever read.
Graham Wessit, the Earl of Netham, has a reputation for being a dilettante, a degenerate, and a wastrel. He is all of those things, but what makes Black Silk so beautiful is that it makes you ponder one big question: Who cares?
As an extremely attractive and infamous earl, Graham is more myth than man in a lot of eyes. Even his friends and gregarious mistress, who he is undoubtedly close to, seem to think his reputation is a joke or social boon. But Graham is deeply troubled by being written off, and he's isolated by his inability to communicate exactly why.
I still think the kaleidoscope comparison is apt. Graham's fundamental parts never change, but the more time we spend with him, the more time he's rearranged into someone extremely appealing. His flaws aren't hidden or erased. Instead, they are expounded upon with such cutting detail that you have to come to the conclusion that they are a feature, not a bug.
"His face had one of those magnificent expressions he could make, smiling and frowning at once: a man in love with fun who was not so unself-conscious as to miss, or not mind, what an idiot this could make of him at times."
Submit Channing-Downes, his love interest, seems like she'd be more impenetrable. She's the young widow of Graham's godfather, a man that loathed Graham to near obsessiveness. Submit, like her name suggests, is product of middle class aspirations, molded to be a young wife to an aristocrat that she truly did love. A full decade younger than Graham, Submit is much more sober, more guarded. But she and Graham love how honest the other is, even when it's inconvenient. Even when it hurts.
The central thesis of this book is that life is messy, and I have never in my life read a romance novel so chaotic, so convoluted, and so breathtakingly beautiful. You have to work for the happy ending, but the end result is so perfect I doubt you'd mind.
------------------------------
Graham Wessit is a bad father, an adulterer, and a man who is scrutinized for misdeeds that he might not have necessarily committed, but have fallen in line with his reputation regardless. The interesting thing about Black Silk is that while we do get to see him grow and change to some extent, we spend more time with his flaws. It's like a kaleidoscope: the colors melt down and rearrange and suddenly what we were looking at the whole time feels more intricate and harder to explain.
Submit Channing-Downes is the young widow of Graham's godfather. I pictured her as a Rothko, dark color-blocked lines that are smudged away from perfection. To others she's eerie - black-clad and mussed- but Graham is entranced, and more than a little wary of the effect she has on him. In a simpler, and maybe lesser, story, Submit's severity would mitigate Graham's wildness. They do complement each other, but it's messy. It felt like... real life.
January 22, 2026
idk what to tell you folks....they literally don't make 'em like this anymore.
i normally exibit a healthy reticence towards Old School romances, born out of years of feverish teenage reading of novels that were, frankly, kinda whack. like, i don't remember what exactly happens in Whitney, My Love, but i'm pretty sure it couldn't have been good for my emotional development at age 13. so my interest in this particular era/style of histrom has dwindled as i've matured, especially since discovering the more expansive and progressive world of queer romance.
that being said. some Old Schools are just BETTER. find me a romance author in 2026 who can write something on this level, i dare you!! i still love my KJCs/KD Caseys/Cat Sebastians, two households both alike in dignity, BUT i just don't think most people writing today could pull this shit off! and that's not to say that their contributions to the genre are not of note (you would never hear such slander cross my lips!!), but Judith Ivory, man....what a writer.
here i must enclose Felicia Davin's wonderful blog/newsletter post that first clued me in. one thing about Davin's newsletter Word Suitcase is that she simply does not play about Romance Greats, and she is so damn eloquent in conveying why a particular novel is worth your time. elite romance reccer.
then i must also mention scarr's two essays on Judith Ivory (Challengers comparison, yassssssss!!!!), and X's review (boooo John Wayne!!!!!). i have read up on this one! you know shit got real when i am out there looking for secondary reading materials!!
in essence (spoilers ahead) - Black Silk is a historical romance in which the protagonists barely meet for the first 50% of the book, the hero is (for some 70% of the novel) in a very public and unapologetic relationship with a married woman (who, mind you, is not our heroine!), he gets dragged to paternity court on false but perfectly believable charges of impregnating a laundress, seeing as he had previously had relations with his maid(!!!!!). basically, he is an actual, proper rogue. and lemme tell you, what shit would NOT fly in contemporary histrom writing. the man i have just described is a romance villain, not a hero!! and yet....Graham Wessit character of all time.
the heroine's name is SUBMIT!!!!! (romance authors are not digging around for unpleasant Puritan names anymore!!) she was married at age 16 to a man who was 59 and perceives that relationship as one of the greatest blessings of her life!!! she is a judgy supercilious asshole!! she has facial hair!!!!!!! Submit Channing Downes they could never make me hate you.
and the writing.....GODDDDDD. the precision, sensuality, clarity of purpose, incredible transportative quality of it all! complex and messy characters with complex and messy (self-)perceptions and relationships! here's an oft-cited (but never over-quoted) scene, of our hero seeing the heroine for the first time:
(sidenote: the bit about removing her female gender...one of this novel's few faults is its loving adherence to 80s and 90s staple histrom gender essentialism, everything is "male essence this" and "female mystery that", which squicks me the fuck out. however, a lot of my friends at the Romance Salon have pointed out how some elements of this novel are super queer-coded (Graham's stint in the pillory!!!!!!), so it's an interesting internal tension.)
Graham, at feeling a pang of sadness over the woman who falsely accused him of fathering her twins:
do you see the perfect grace and economy of Ivory's prose, the ease with which we learn so much about Graham's mental state in so few words? now this passage of Graham on his silly little mental healthwalk horse ride in the country:
and then near the end of the book, when Submit lets him read some of her mid poetry and he's like "it's a bit mid":
HELLO????????? WHO WRITES LIKE THIS???? a one-sentence description of walking through a deceased man's (HENRY'S!!) library: "Walking through it was like walking into the musty dense matter of another's soul." ??!!!!???!!! YES!!!!!
i am just so so enamoured with Ivory's style and the strength of her voice. is this novel a tad too long? yes. are the sex scenes sometimes gender essentialist and purple-prosey? of course. did i have to read the gag-inducing line "that incomparable fit, male to female" with my own two eyes? also yes. however i simply must stan. the effort that Ivory put into this is so enormous. the vocabulary alone!! "uxorious" i.e. the adjective for being a wife guy!!?? where else would one encounter this word, if not in a romance novel of this impossible level of precision and gravitas??
judith ivory /judy cuevas....you're THAT girl.
i normally exibit a healthy reticence towards Old School romances, born out of years of feverish teenage reading of novels that were, frankly, kinda whack. like, i don't remember what exactly happens in Whitney, My Love, but i'm pretty sure it couldn't have been good for my emotional development at age 13. so my interest in this particular era/style of histrom has dwindled as i've matured, especially since discovering the more expansive and progressive world of queer romance.
that being said. some Old Schools are just BETTER. find me a romance author in 2026 who can write something on this level, i dare you!! i still love my KJCs/KD Caseys/Cat Sebastians, two households both alike in dignity, BUT i just don't think most people writing today could pull this shit off! and that's not to say that their contributions to the genre are not of note (you would never hear such slander cross my lips!!), but Judith Ivory, man....what a writer.
here i must enclose Felicia Davin's wonderful blog/newsletter post that first clued me in. one thing about Davin's newsletter Word Suitcase is that she simply does not play about Romance Greats, and she is so damn eloquent in conveying why a particular novel is worth your time. elite romance reccer.
then i must also mention scarr's two essays on Judith Ivory (Challengers comparison, yassssssss!!!!), and X's review (boooo John Wayne!!!!!). i have read up on this one! you know shit got real when i am out there looking for secondary reading materials!!
in essence (spoilers ahead) - Black Silk is a historical romance in which the protagonists barely meet for the first 50% of the book, the hero is (for some 70% of the novel) in a very public and unapologetic relationship with a married woman (who, mind you, is not our heroine!), he gets dragged to paternity court on false but perfectly believable charges of impregnating a laundress, seeing as he had previously had relations with his maid(!!!!!). basically, he is an actual, proper rogue. and lemme tell you, what shit would NOT fly in contemporary histrom writing. the man i have just described is a romance villain, not a hero!! and yet....Graham Wessit character of all time.
the heroine's name is SUBMIT!!!!! (romance authors are not digging around for unpleasant Puritan names anymore!!) she was married at age 16 to a man who was 59 and perceives that relationship as one of the greatest blessings of her life!!! she is a judgy supercilious asshole!! she has facial hair!!!!!!! Submit Channing Downes they could never make me hate you.
and the writing.....GODDDDDD. the precision, sensuality, clarity of purpose, incredible transportative quality of it all! complex and messy characters with complex and messy (self-)perceptions and relationships! here's an oft-cited (but never over-quoted) scene, of our hero seeing the heroine for the first time:
She was suspended for a moment in that balletic position of raised arms. As if music had stopped for a count of three.
If felt like that many heartbeats for the man watching from the window. Graham leaned closer, fascinated, transfixed. The woman's open arms seemed to remove status, station, even in some way her female gender. She seemed to shed everything in those moments, everything and anything limiting or superfluous to simply being human. The hint of a perfect, unselfconscious candor affected Graham, the way great beauty suddenly moves something in one's chest; the way profoud horror quakes the soul. He couldn't decide if he was enormously attracted or almost squeamishly repelled.
(sidenote: the bit about removing her female gender...one of this novel's few faults is its loving adherence to 80s and 90s staple histrom gender essentialism, everything is "male essence this" and "female mystery that", which squicks me the fuck out. however, a lot of my friends at the Romance Salon have pointed out how some elements of this novel are super queer-coded (Graham's stint in the pillory!!!!!!), so it's an interesting internal tension.)
Graham, at feeling a pang of sadness over the woman who falsely accused him of fathering her twins:
At last. He rather weltered in this feeling for her. He sat there, flexing it, turning it over and over in his mind, like the rediscovery of sensation in a numb limb. He wasn't going to analyze it for its quality, or, God knew, try and use it. He was only glad it was there, that he might feel something for someone besides himself.
do you see the perfect grace and economy of Ivory's prose, the ease with which we learn so much about Graham's mental state in so few words? now this passage of Graham on his silly little mental health
As he traveled through this, somehow the muddle of his life dissolved. He began to feel almost transparent; as if, from the dome of the sky to the roots of the trees, the countryside were traveling through him, not he though it.
and then near the end of the book, when Submit lets him read some of her mid poetry and he's like "it's a bit mid":
He felt as if he had squashed something in her. Something nice, yet inchoate. It was nothing he could put his finger on so easily as her being a budding poet, which he felt perhaps she was not. But he sensed a struggle in her, not unlike a birth. A desperate effort at trying to draw breath as a separate being.
HELLO????????? WHO WRITES LIKE THIS???? a one-sentence description of walking through a deceased man's (HENRY'S!!) library: "Walking through it was like walking into the musty dense matter of another's soul." ??!!!!???!!! YES!!!!!
i am just so so enamoured with Ivory's style and the strength of her voice. is this novel a tad too long? yes. are the sex scenes sometimes gender essentialist and purple-prosey? of course. did i have to read the gag-inducing line "that incomparable fit, male to female" with my own two eyes? also yes. however i simply must stan. the effort that Ivory put into this is so enormous. the vocabulary alone!! "uxorious" i.e. the adjective for being a wife guy!!?? where else would one encounter this word, if not in a romance novel of this impossible level of precision and gravitas??
judith ivory /judy cuevas....you're THAT girl.
May 30, 2018
I don't always love or even like her characters, but her writing, it is a thing of beauty.
I pause, reread lines and passages, even save some. In the end, it is the experience of her masterful use of language. I often forget it's supposed to be a romance, and whatever the characters' story is, it becomes secondary to the journey as you delve into her wonderful weaving of words.
I pause, reread lines and passages, even save some. In the end, it is the experience of her masterful use of language. I often forget it's supposed to be a romance, and whatever the characters' story is, it becomes secondary to the journey as you delve into her wonderful weaving of words.
September 6, 2016
The story is more of a character study than a romance. The writing, the characterization of events is beautiful. The story unfolds slowly. It prompts reader to saver every nuance, every turn of events. According to her deceased husband Henry will, his very much younger, serious wife, Submit, has to deliver a box to its intended recepient, Henry's cousin, the earl. We know fairly early in the story what the box contains (explicit pornographic pictures). The cousin- handsome, carefree, fun loving Graham Wessit, The Earl of Netham- is strangely attracted to the widow. The story allows the relationship between Graham and Submit to develop slowly and believably (a fact which readers interested in a quick, fluffy romance will find frustrating.)
What I liked about the story, aside from its beautiful writing, is that the author shows the characters in all their imperfection. There is no black villains, no ideally improbable heroes. They are human in the fullest sense of the word - flaws and all.
What I liked about the story, aside from its beautiful writing, is that the author shows the characters in all their imperfection. There is no black villains, no ideally improbable heroes. They are human in the fullest sense of the word - flaws and all.
September 27, 2018
The most bizarre and ugliest HR I've ever read. The hero lives with his mistress and heroine almost until the end.
September 26, 2021
Convoluted and meandering story that left me unsatisfied; hero and heroine were great together but couldn't save the book
Judith Ivory is an interesting historical romance author who writes books that are different from many of the other ones you find in the genre; she by no means follows the traditional cookie-cutter plot or character-cast. I found that though Black Silk had redeeming qualities - the hero and heroine characters and their relationship - they were not enough to save the book (a good romance doesn't make up for 446 pages of a book when most of those pages feel unrelated to the central love story). Note it's not a regency romance and takes place in 1858.
CONS:
I found the age gap of 43 years between Submit and her dead husband disturbing. I know relationships like that do occur and not always for gold-digging reasons, but the fact that she married Henry on her 16th birthday and they started having marital relations then ... it just didn't sit well with me. (If you're wondering, when the book takes place Submit is 28 and Graham is 38). I was also bothered by Graham's (non-existent) relationship with his two children, whom we only learn of on pg. 206 (in addition to the fact that he was previously married) and discover are 13-year-old twins on pg. 286.
The plot was convoluted and could have been so much better if there was more focus on Graham, Submit, and their developing friendship/attraction. There were random components of the book (children above being one example) - items, histories/pasts, characters - that were brought in but didn't contribute anything, were not fully explored, or were dispensed with easily and quickly while leaving you wondering why they were included to begin with. The book was like a ball of yarn full of knots that you're trying to unravel; every time you think you have it all sorted out you find another knot, every time you think you've found the beginning piece, you pull it out to find that it's just a scrap, disconnected from the rest of the skein. The last contrivance involving Gerald Schild was completely unnecessary and the ending - or rather how it was written - was not very satisfying.
PROS:
Ivory excels at writing great chemistry and this is one area in which she didn't fail here. Graham and Submit don't have their first physical encounter until close to the end of the book, but their relationship up till that point still sizzles and there is a definite rapport between them. Their developing friendship and romance is what makes me so disappointed to have to give this book such a poor rating; I looked forward to each of their interactions and found them so enjoyable - the kind that make you reread some of the lines or page back to read the scene over before continuing on with the book. There weren't enough of these scenes though, which added to the letdown. Also concerning the two main characters, I'm a sucker for books where the heroine is unusual and not necessarily beautiful, but the hero sees in her something that most others do not.
NOTE about Graham's lover:
Rosalyn Schild is Graham's (married) lover; they've been together for about 6 months and have a relationship throughout almost all of the book. I absolutely hate infidelity - in real life and reading about it - and normally don't even like to read historical romances where a character has had a happy marriage before, so it surprised me that her inclusion didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Know that the character does exist though, for any of you who might consider this a turn-off.
BOTTOM LINE:
Don't waste your time unless Ivory decides to do a rewrite. Instead, read The Proposition by Judith Ivory, which is one of my *favorite* historical romances of all time (and since I've read about 300+, that is definitely saying something)!!!
Judith Ivory is an interesting historical romance author who writes books that are different from many of the other ones you find in the genre; she by no means follows the traditional cookie-cutter plot or character-cast. I found that though Black Silk had redeeming qualities - the hero and heroine characters and their relationship - they were not enough to save the book (a good romance doesn't make up for 446 pages of a book when most of those pages feel unrelated to the central love story). Note it's not a regency romance and takes place in 1858.
CONS:
I found the age gap of 43 years between Submit and her dead husband disturbing. I know relationships like that do occur and not always for gold-digging reasons, but the fact that she married Henry on her 16th birthday and they started having marital relations then ... it just didn't sit well with me. (If you're wondering, when the book takes place Submit is 28 and Graham is 38). I was also bothered by Graham's (non-existent) relationship with his two children, whom we only learn of on pg. 206 (in addition to the fact that he was previously married) and discover are 13-year-old twins on pg. 286.
The plot was convoluted and could have been so much better if there was more focus on Graham, Submit, and their developing friendship/attraction. There were random components of the book (children above being one example) - items, histories/pasts, characters - that were brought in but didn't contribute anything, were not fully explored, or were dispensed with easily and quickly while leaving you wondering why they were included to begin with. The book was like a ball of yarn full of knots that you're trying to unravel; every time you think you have it all sorted out you find another knot, every time you think you've found the beginning piece, you pull it out to find that it's just a scrap, disconnected from the rest of the skein. The last contrivance involving Gerald Schild was completely unnecessary and the ending - or rather how it was written - was not very satisfying.
PROS:
Ivory excels at writing great chemistry and this is one area in which she didn't fail here. Graham and Submit don't have their first physical encounter until close to the end of the book, but their relationship up till that point still sizzles and there is a definite rapport between them. Their developing friendship and romance is what makes me so disappointed to have to give this book such a poor rating; I looked forward to each of their interactions and found them so enjoyable - the kind that make you reread some of the lines or page back to read the scene over before continuing on with the book. There weren't enough of these scenes though, which added to the letdown. Also concerning the two main characters, I'm a sucker for books where the heroine is unusual and not necessarily beautiful, but the hero sees in her something that most others do not.
NOTE about Graham's lover:
Rosalyn Schild is Graham's (married) lover; they've been together for about 6 months and have a relationship throughout almost all of the book. I absolutely hate infidelity - in real life and reading about it - and normally don't even like to read historical romances where a character has had a happy marriage before, so it surprised me that her inclusion didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Know that the character does exist though, for any of you who might consider this a turn-off.
BOTTOM LINE:
Don't waste your time unless Ivory decides to do a rewrite. Instead, read The Proposition by Judith Ivory, which is one of my *favorite* historical romances of all time (and since I've read about 300+, that is definitely saying something)!!!
April 27, 2021
A 3-star review seems so meh and it was anything but.
This was unusual, riveting and memorable. It was good and it was not so good.
The hero is described as an irresponsible Adonis, a not serious man who pursues the serious heroine despite being involved/in love with his married mistress. I couldn’t find anything I liked about him.
The widowed heroine is described as unusual, not beautiful and not many like her. I like that she doesn’t immediately fall for the hero.
The hero’s married mistress on the other hand is loved and admired by everyone, including the hero for a majority of the novel.
And finally, the main character of the book is the heroine’s dead husband, his machinations drive the plot.
The good - the writing is wonderful, descriptive, slow, almost boring, the hero and heroine are so beautifully and genuinely portrayed and their getting to know each other is a treasure to read.
The not so good - it’s all over the place too. Characters are introduced and described, but they don’t add anything. Things happen that don’t make sense (like the ending with heroine leaving for America to marry the hero’s ex-mistress ex-husband, the pregnant twin mother’s actions, the BFF saying dirty words to the mistress).
Boring things happen - so many law suits and court cases, contesting wills, paternity suits, defamation suits.
Weird things happen - house parties at hero’s mistress house with heroine moving in and at hero’s country house (heroine moves in here too) and the mistress’s unhappy husband (who knows about his wife’s cheating with the hero) visiting.
And lots of sex scenes with hero and his mistress until almost to the end of the book, he literally leaves kicks her out of his bed and then has sex with the heroine for the first time IN THE STAIRCASE.
I did not get the romantic feels, it was more lust, but I did feel a lot for this book.
It’s definitely a classic, not really a five star keeper but I liked it.
This was unusual, riveting and memorable. It was good and it was not so good.
The hero is described as an irresponsible Adonis, a not serious man who pursues the serious heroine despite being involved/in love with his married mistress. I couldn’t find anything I liked about him.
The widowed heroine is described as unusual, not beautiful and not many like her. I like that she doesn’t immediately fall for the hero.
The hero’s married mistress on the other hand is loved and admired by everyone, including the hero for a majority of the novel.
And finally, the main character of the book is the heroine’s dead husband, his machinations drive the plot.
The good - the writing is wonderful, descriptive, slow, almost boring, the hero and heroine are so beautifully and genuinely portrayed and their getting to know each other is a treasure to read.
The not so good - it’s all over the place too. Characters are introduced and described, but they don’t add anything. Things happen that don’t make sense (like the ending with heroine leaving for America to marry the hero’s ex-mistress ex-husband, the pregnant twin mother’s actions, the BFF saying dirty words to the mistress).
Boring things happen - so many law suits and court cases, contesting wills, paternity suits, defamation suits.
Weird things happen - house parties at hero’s mistress house with heroine moving in and at hero’s country house (heroine moves in here too) and the mistress’s unhappy husband (who knows about his wife’s cheating with the hero) visiting.
And lots of sex scenes with hero and his mistress until almost to the end of the book, he literally leaves kicks her out of his bed and then has sex with the heroine for the first time IN THE STAIRCASE.
I did not get the romantic feels, it was more lust, but I did feel a lot for this book.
It’s definitely a classic, not really a five star keeper but I liked it.
April 26, 2010
Judith Ivory writes beautifully, it's difficult to explain how her writing affects me. On one hand, I don't find myself in love with the characters. I don't find myself reading with a passion to get to that point when the hero and heroine finally admit their love for each other.
What I do is stop and re-read passages over and over again. I reflect on humanity. I recognize myself and the people I know in these characters. I neither hate them nor love them. I KNOW them.
Black Silk reads like straight literature rather than the standard romance novel. I appreciate it as I do well-written literature, from an ascetic view. As a girly gushing reader of romance, not so much. The romance wasn't as poignant as some I've read, but it was true and memorable.
What I do is stop and re-read passages over and over again. I reflect on humanity. I recognize myself and the people I know in these characters. I neither hate them nor love them. I KNOW them.
Black Silk reads like straight literature rather than the standard romance novel. I appreciate it as I do well-written literature, from an ascetic view. As a girly gushing reader of romance, not so much. The romance wasn't as poignant as some I've read, but it was true and memorable.
January 15, 2026
Finally, an old school romance that made me spit out my tea in a good way. It’s been a while (since I read Laura Kinsale).
There is lots of talk in certain circles about the underpinning feminism of classic historical romance, claims which I think are pretty thoroughly debunked by the experience of actually reading it. There are some brighter and some darker (and some absolute pits of hell dark) examples. But I think Black Silk might be the first truly Feminist old school I have read? Like, feminist with the capital F - by which I mean, Judith Ivory/Judy Cuevas wrote a romance that revolutionised what a woman wants and needs in order to have a HEA *for herself*, and gives her MMC a treatment that decentres his emotional and psychological needs. A romance about friction rather than harmony; an ending that promises self-actualisation and not codependency. It’s incredibly smart and weird. I was nonplussed and delighted at all times. I couldn’t predict what would happen next. I couldn’t see the arc of the story. At every turn it took the threads of a familiar weave and then cut them off, to pick up something new. I can’t stress how refreshing it is to read a romance that chucks out the pattern; snatches tropes out from under your nose and offers something unexpected. It’s a wonderful reminder of what romance can really do; a restoration of my faith in the value of digging into the genre archives.
There is lots of talk in certain circles about the underpinning feminism of classic historical romance, claims which I think are pretty thoroughly debunked by the experience of actually reading it. There are some brighter and some darker (and some absolute pits of hell dark) examples. But I think Black Silk might be the first truly Feminist old school I have read? Like, feminist with the capital F - by which I mean, Judith Ivory/Judy Cuevas wrote a romance that revolutionised what a woman wants and needs in order to have a HEA *for herself*, and gives her MMC a treatment that decentres his emotional and psychological needs. A romance about friction rather than harmony; an ending that promises self-actualisation and not codependency. It’s incredibly smart and weird. I was nonplussed and delighted at all times. I couldn’t predict what would happen next. I couldn’t see the arc of the story. At every turn it took the threads of a familiar weave and then cut them off, to pick up something new. I can’t stress how refreshing it is to read a romance that chucks out the pattern; snatches tropes out from under your nose and offers something unexpected. It’s a wonderful reminder of what romance can really do; a restoration of my faith in the value of digging into the genre archives.
July 1, 2010
Someone somewhere on the Internet listed Judith Ivory’s Black Silk as one of their personal Best Books Evar! So I decided to give it a shot, even though it doesn’t have Navy SEALs…
Yes. This is one of the best romance novels I have ever read.
Everything you expect from a romance novel is turned on it’s head; everything you think is necessary in a hero/heroine is missing. Familiar characters - the rake, the widow, the scheming bastard son, are all rounded and fleshed out beyond expectations. Actions unfold slowly and with great care. Ivory pays an exquisite amount of attention to language, description, characterization.. even at the expense of plot and likability.
Graham, were he transported to the 21st century, would basically be a “Bro” in an Apatow knockoff. Rich, smart, and utterly wasting his life in the pursuit of idleness. A fuck-up. In fact, an ugly fuck-up, for being so blithe about it. Ivory manages to make the reader see what a “rake” truly is— the waste of potential, and yet also the joy in being eternally adolescent and carefree.
And the widow? Her name is Submit, which really made me doubt I could get two pages into the book… And then? AND THEN? She is everything unexpected - a child bride who actually truly loved her old, rich husband; a unique character who is not swept away by Graham but instead recognizes him for all of his failings.
Their romance is stuttered, cut short, or delayed for most of the book. They misunderstand each other, ignore each other, and fight each other. However, unlike many other books, I was not exhausted by this. Instead, I was invested and cared. These weren’t “Too Stupid To Live” moments where basic logic/self-awareness is sacrificed for dramatic tension. Both of these characters had to be redeemed, both of them have to change before they could reach any kind of happy ending.
I really enjoyed, most of all, Ivory’s prose. She is lyrical without that sense of grasping at straws I sometimes feel from other, less skilled authors. She also is not afraid to write intelligently, with nice, big multi-syllabic words I don’t often see in genre fiction (“inchoate” and “sybarite” were my favs).
I would give it five stars except that there were a few sacrifices to the plot that I did not like. Characters that show up to ratchet up the tension and then nicely dissipate when not needed are wasted characters to me. Four of five stars
Yes. This is one of the best romance novels I have ever read.
Everything you expect from a romance novel is turned on it’s head; everything you think is necessary in a hero/heroine is missing. Familiar characters - the rake, the widow, the scheming bastard son, are all rounded and fleshed out beyond expectations. Actions unfold slowly and with great care. Ivory pays an exquisite amount of attention to language, description, characterization.. even at the expense of plot and likability.
Graham, were he transported to the 21st century, would basically be a “Bro” in an Apatow knockoff. Rich, smart, and utterly wasting his life in the pursuit of idleness. A fuck-up. In fact, an ugly fuck-up, for being so blithe about it. Ivory manages to make the reader see what a “rake” truly is— the waste of potential, and yet also the joy in being eternally adolescent and carefree.
And the widow? Her name is Submit, which really made me doubt I could get two pages into the book… And then? AND THEN? She is everything unexpected - a child bride who actually truly loved her old, rich husband; a unique character who is not swept away by Graham but instead recognizes him for all of his failings.
Their romance is stuttered, cut short, or delayed for most of the book. They misunderstand each other, ignore each other, and fight each other. However, unlike many other books, I was not exhausted by this. Instead, I was invested and cared. These weren’t “Too Stupid To Live” moments where basic logic/self-awareness is sacrificed for dramatic tension. Both of these characters had to be redeemed, both of them have to change before they could reach any kind of happy ending.
I really enjoyed, most of all, Ivory’s prose. She is lyrical without that sense of grasping at straws I sometimes feel from other, less skilled authors. She also is not afraid to write intelligently, with nice, big multi-syllabic words I don’t often see in genre fiction (“inchoate” and “sybarite” were my favs).
I would give it five stars except that there were a few sacrifices to the plot that I did not like. Characters that show up to ratchet up the tension and then nicely dissipate when not needed are wasted characters to me. Four of five stars
June 29, 2014
This was my second Judith Ivory book. I loved the first one I read- Untie My Heart
But this was a thorough absolute hands down disappointment. The heroine called "Submit" ( yes, that's her name) had no character except that she adored her elderly husband and things of him as some sort of God. The hero ( Graham) was an utter cad, and thoroughgoing rake. Nothing to like there either, because his reform comes too little too late.
What kind of romance is it where the hero has a mistress (married woman) and stays committed to her till the last 5 pages of the book? ( I humbly submit that..) there needs to be some believable interaction with the heroine after all.
There are sudden swings in characterization too - the start of the book made the hero look like a nice gentleman who is being put upon - as a laundress brings an obviously wrong paternity suit against him. Next the book depicts him as a crazy scientist. You wonder if that would lead somewhere. No, it doesn't. Then his earlier indiscretions tumble out of the closet ( affair with a maid, scandalous erotica etc.) and you really get tired of rakish Graham. The author next introduces 2 teenage children out of the blue and the hero starts acting fatherly.
It is one holy crazy mess. I hated it.
But this was a thorough absolute hands down disappointment. The heroine called "Submit" ( yes, that's her name) had no character except that she adored her elderly husband and things of him as some sort of God. The hero ( Graham) was an utter cad, and thoroughgoing rake. Nothing to like there either, because his reform comes too little too late.
What kind of romance is it where the hero has a mistress (married woman) and stays committed to her till the last 5 pages of the book? ( I humbly submit that..) there needs to be some believable interaction with the heroine after all.
There are sudden swings in characterization too - the start of the book made the hero look like a nice gentleman who is being put upon - as a laundress brings an obviously wrong paternity suit against him. Next the book depicts him as a crazy scientist. You wonder if that would lead somewhere. No, it doesn't. Then his earlier indiscretions tumble out of the closet ( affair with a maid, scandalous erotica etc.) and you really get tired of rakish Graham. The author next introduces 2 teenage children out of the blue and the hero starts acting fatherly.
It is one holy crazy mess. I hated it.
April 30, 2016
I'm a little torn on the rating to give this one. Judith Ivory's writing itself deserves a 4-star rating or more. Her prose is stylish and beautiful, with lush descriptions that bring the world of the story to life and lovely, insightful turns of phrase that illuminate the characters and had me highlighting multiple passages in the book. Her characters are multi-faceted and finely drawn, full of contradictions, flaws, and virtues that make them more and more real to me as the story unfolds. She's a very talented writer -- one of the few historical romance writers whose way with words fills me with literary glee. That said, this particular story was just...weird. And not, for the most part, in a way I loved. The premise of the story was odd, as were the characters themselves.
The hero, Graham Wessit, is an earl whose parents died in a murder/suicide pact when he was a kid. When the story begins, he's being sued by a random Cockney laundress who claims she's pregnant with his twins, even though he has never met her. He is into fireworks and wears 10 pocket watches at a time, in different little pockets in his waistcoat, with all the gold chains dangling. He has two nearly grown children in boarding school whom he rarely sees, and a married mistress he more or less lives with much of the time. He has multiple skeletons in his closet due to various youthful indiscretions. He's almost all id, to get Freudian about it.
The heroine is the widow of his childhood guardian, a cousin he hated. She comes into his life because her husband left the hero a mysterious box of erotic artwork in his will. The hero doesn't want it and there's a tawdry story behind it that is eventually revealed. She is a marchioness by marriage, but was born a middle-class butcher's daughter. Her first name is Submit - an old Puritan name, yes, but also one that has significance for her character. Submit is almost all superego, having been formed into a proper, judgmental lady by twelve years of marriage to a husband 40+ years her senior.
The story takes its time in laying out the basis for the romance between these two characters, and during the time it's all being laid out, it's not very romantic. The relationship between the two of them develops very, very gradually, as they come together in a variety of unusual circumstances. They don't even kiss until 82% of the way through the book. Which is fine, I suppose, but it just shows you how slowly things develop.
Yet even when things finally started to really happen between them, it just didn't do a lot for me. Graham is not a terrible person and he certainly has his lovable qualities, but he also has a seedy mess of a life that isn't that appealing to me. Submit is a bit of a prig, and she does something in the name of money toward the end of the book that made me dislike her quite a bit, given how much her actions contributed to hurting Graham. I don't know. Their romance and the plot machinations that it took for them to get together just weren't my cup of tea. At the end of the novel the heroine muses that "the only problem she saw was that these two people were so different they might well drive each other crazy, if they didn't kill each other first. The only saving grace of such a match was that they were both probably mean and contrary enough to survive what the other threw at them. She wasn't sure their future looked very rosy." I have to agree with her there. The two of them are a mess!
That said, I don't feel like reading Judith Ivory is ever a mistake or a waste of time, because her writing truly is delicious. I'd give 4.5 stars to the writing itself, and 3 stars to the plot and characters. The latter is more a matter of taste, anyway. I have a feeling readers who have a higher threshhold for moral ambiguity in their heroes (like Ashley) might enjoy this book more than I did.
The hero, Graham Wessit, is an earl whose parents died in a murder/suicide pact when he was a kid. When the story begins, he's being sued by a random Cockney laundress who claims she's pregnant with his twins, even though he has never met her. He is into fireworks and wears 10 pocket watches at a time, in different little pockets in his waistcoat, with all the gold chains dangling. He has two nearly grown children in boarding school whom he rarely sees, and a married mistress he more or less lives with much of the time. He has multiple skeletons in his closet due to various youthful indiscretions. He's almost all id, to get Freudian about it.
The heroine is the widow of his childhood guardian, a cousin he hated. She comes into his life because her husband left the hero a mysterious box of erotic artwork in his will. The hero doesn't want it and there's a tawdry story behind it that is eventually revealed. She is a marchioness by marriage, but was born a middle-class butcher's daughter. Her first name is Submit - an old Puritan name, yes, but also one that has significance for her character. Submit is almost all superego, having been formed into a proper, judgmental lady by twelve years of marriage to a husband 40+ years her senior.
The story takes its time in laying out the basis for the romance between these two characters, and during the time it's all being laid out, it's not very romantic. The relationship between the two of them develops very, very gradually, as they come together in a variety of unusual circumstances. They don't even kiss until 82% of the way through the book. Which is fine, I suppose, but it just shows you how slowly things develop.
Yet even when things finally started to really happen between them, it just didn't do a lot for me. Graham is not a terrible person and he certainly has his lovable qualities, but he also has a seedy mess of a life that isn't that appealing to me. Submit is a bit of a prig, and she does something in the name of money toward the end of the book that made me dislike her quite a bit, given how much her actions contributed to hurting Graham. I don't know. Their romance and the plot machinations that it took for them to get together just weren't my cup of tea. At the end of the novel the heroine muses that "the only problem she saw was that these two people were so different they might well drive each other crazy, if they didn't kill each other first. The only saving grace of such a match was that they were both probably mean and contrary enough to survive what the other threw at them. She wasn't sure their future looked very rosy." I have to agree with her there. The two of them are a mess!
That said, I don't feel like reading Judith Ivory is ever a mistake or a waste of time, because her writing truly is delicious. I'd give 4.5 stars to the writing itself, and 3 stars to the plot and characters. The latter is more a matter of taste, anyway. I have a feeling readers who have a higher threshhold for moral ambiguity in their heroes (like Ashley) might enjoy this book more than I did.
July 24, 2020
The plot meanders a bit but excellent writing throughout. There is a good few sex scenes or referring to sex scenes in dialogue between the hero and his mistress. At one point I wondered if the mistress was meant to be the heroine because as graham internally dialogued about his mistress and tried to untangle his feelings, he viewed her in a positive light. Anyway he eventually worked out he didn’t love her but be prepared it takes (a while!) the heroine annoyed me a little near the end with her resistance. Neither the hero or the heroine discuss the fact he is pursuing Submit while having a mistress and I would have liked him breaking off the very real relationship he was having with Rosalyn sooner in order to prove his love to Submit ... these are just observations I still really enjoyed!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2024
Black Silk by Judith Ivory (1991)… I didn’t know what to think at first, it’s uncomfortable, confounding and unlike any other HR I’ve read.
🖤 The beginning of the story finds Graham Wessit, the 38 year old Earl of Netham embroiled in an embarrassing and ghastly legal matter.
“Handsome men don’t have to account for themselves as often as they should. And he’s worse than just handsome. He’s selfish. Unruly. A breaker of rules, a builder of nothing.”
🖤 While at his solicitor’s office Graham is looking out a window and sees a little drama taking place in the pouring rain. It’s his lawyer, Arnold Tate and a woman in black. He then discovers that she’s Submit Channing-Downes, Lady Montmarch who’s recently widowed. She was married at 16 to the Marquess Montmarch who was 43 years older than her. He was Graham’s guardian whom he hadn’t seen in years. Graham’s unaccountably intrigued by her.
🖤 A dark 400+ page story that slowly rustles along like black silk… Submit has a black lacquered box her husband bequeathed to Graham that she needs to give to him; Graham has a mistress for most of the story; Graham and Submit rarely see each other for the first part of story… then the tension begins to heat up…
“And I can be a lot more honest: You are a self righteous, arrogant prude who only knows how to f**k a man with her mind.”
🖤 The author’s written a raw, emotionally charged love story between two completely different people, Graham’s deeply flawed… Submit is rigid and disapproving. The prose is electric, sophisticated, at times slightly erotic.., filled with such words as lambency, imbricate smile, a dandiprat. At times I disliked the characters and the plot, but at the end I realized this is an utterly amazing book. Loved it!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖤 The beginning of the story finds Graham Wessit, the 38 year old Earl of Netham embroiled in an embarrassing and ghastly legal matter.
“Handsome men don’t have to account for themselves as often as they should. And he’s worse than just handsome. He’s selfish. Unruly. A breaker of rules, a builder of nothing.”
🖤 While at his solicitor’s office Graham is looking out a window and sees a little drama taking place in the pouring rain. It’s his lawyer, Arnold Tate and a woman in black. He then discovers that she’s Submit Channing-Downes, Lady Montmarch who’s recently widowed. She was married at 16 to the Marquess Montmarch who was 43 years older than her. He was Graham’s guardian whom he hadn’t seen in years. Graham’s unaccountably intrigued by her.
🖤 A dark 400+ page story that slowly rustles along like black silk… Submit has a black lacquered box her husband bequeathed to Graham that she needs to give to him; Graham has a mistress for most of the story; Graham and Submit rarely see each other for the first part of story… then the tension begins to heat up…
“And I can be a lot more honest: You are a self righteous, arrogant prude who only knows how to f**k a man with her mind.”
🖤 The author’s written a raw, emotionally charged love story between two completely different people, Graham’s deeply flawed… Submit is rigid and disapproving. The prose is electric, sophisticated, at times slightly erotic.., filled with such words as lambency, imbricate smile, a dandiprat. At times I disliked the characters and the plot, but at the end I realized this is an utterly amazing book. Loved it!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 20, 2016
Have gone back and forth on the rating with this, settled on 4.25 because: precision.
Ivory is obviously a genius and has written some of my favorite romance novels. Black Silk is beautifully, carefully, densely written. It's very descriptive, which, I personally like, but is not everyone's cup of tea.
The characterisation is absolutely top-notch, particularly of Graham. I think I read a review which said this was more of a character study than a romance novel and that feels like a pretty good way of looking at it. Graham is reckless and rich and somewhat aimless with all of that. Submit is more serious and grounded.
One exchange for me encapsulated them in a nutshell. Submit, on watching Graham light magnesium and having it spray burning sparks onto his trousers, says, "I'd bet it takes a toll on your clothes though." Graham responds, "Nothing, I'd bet, compared to the toll your caution takes on your sparks." (19%).
Graham needs Submit to stop him from getting burnt, and Submit needs Graham to help her see life's sparks.
It a lovely thing to read about them coming to the realisation that they compliment one another and need one another.
In many ways this doesn't follow any kind of conventional romance novel formula, aside from the HEA. The hero spends much of the novel sleeping with a woman who is not the heroine. That kind of thing doesn't bother me, particularly when it's well handled. It sort of was here, bar two things, 1. I hated how the other woman was treated and characterised (she felt a bit desperate and one dimensional) and 2. It's a problem when the hottest sex scene (in my view, any way) is not between the H/h. Those are the main reasons this drops that .75.
The plot develops well. The way the characters meet one another is particularly inventive and I was curious about the box and its contents. I quite liked the plot about the pregnant woman although it felt a bit unresolved. And there's a lot of barrister gadding about, which is a personal win for me. Although we don't 'object' nor do judges have 'gavels'. But, frankly, if I moaned about every inaccuracy in fictional portrayals of the Bar I'd never have time to actually practice at it.
This is a wonderful novel. Highly recommend.
Oh, and for UK readers it's TWO POUNDS on Kindle which is the very definition of bargain.
Ivory is obviously a genius and has written some of my favorite romance novels. Black Silk is beautifully, carefully, densely written. It's very descriptive, which, I personally like, but is not everyone's cup of tea.
The characterisation is absolutely top-notch, particularly of Graham. I think I read a review which said this was more of a character study than a romance novel and that feels like a pretty good way of looking at it. Graham is reckless and rich and somewhat aimless with all of that. Submit is more serious and grounded.
One exchange for me encapsulated them in a nutshell. Submit, on watching Graham light magnesium and having it spray burning sparks onto his trousers, says, "I'd bet it takes a toll on your clothes though." Graham responds, "Nothing, I'd bet, compared to the toll your caution takes on your sparks." (19%).
Graham needs Submit to stop him from getting burnt, and Submit needs Graham to help her see life's sparks.
It a lovely thing to read about them coming to the realisation that they compliment one another and need one another.
In many ways this doesn't follow any kind of conventional romance novel formula, aside from the HEA. The hero spends much of the novel sleeping with a woman who is not the heroine. That kind of thing doesn't bother me, particularly when it's well handled. It sort of was here, bar two things, 1. I hated how the other woman was treated and characterised (she felt a bit desperate and one dimensional) and 2. It's a problem when the hottest sex scene (in my view, any way) is not between the H/h. Those are the main reasons this drops that .75.
The plot develops well. The way the characters meet one another is particularly inventive and I was curious about the box and its contents. I quite liked the plot about the pregnant woman although it felt a bit unresolved. And there's a lot of barrister gadding about, which is a personal win for me. Although we don't 'object' nor do judges have 'gavels'. But, frankly, if I moaned about every inaccuracy in fictional portrayals of the Bar I'd never have time to actually practice at it.
This is a wonderful novel. Highly recommend.
Oh, and for UK readers it's TWO POUNDS on Kindle which is the very definition of bargain.
January 10, 2024
This is not my first Judith Ivory/Judy Cuevas rodeo—I read The Proposition in 2023 and it has stuck with me ever since. In particular, Mick Tremore and his mustache and that first scene where he bursts into the café with his clothing all undone. 🥵 But I digress.
While The Proposition showcases Cuevas’ brilliant writing, she uses it used to absolutely devastating effect in Black Silk. (Which, incidentally, was only her second novel.) I have never read anything like it. It all floored me: the depth of her characterization, the twists and turns of the plot, the hallucinatory way she uses her words, and the way she created a cinematic experience—not a Hollywood blockbuster, but quiet French arthouse cinema.
Recently widowed Submit Channing-Downes inherits basically everything belonging to Henry, her late husband, including the marquessate itself, Motmarche. His illegitimate son, William, sues her for it, leaving both homeless while the case is unfolding. Part of the bequest is a mysterious case that she must deliver to the marquess’s rake of a ward, Graham Wessit, with whom Henry had a fractious relationship. Submit and Graham are fascinated by each other, but the road to their HEA is a rocky and rutted one, haunted by Henry’s spectre and Graham’s mistress, the vivacious Rosalyn.
And that’s all I can tell you, because when you read it, you’ll be alternately mesmerized by Cuevas’ writing and shook—SHOOK, I tell you—by Events. Nothing goes the way you think it will, and I basically read the last 15% with my mouth hanging open.
Cuevas belongs among that great pantheon of historical romance authors who are Writers with a capital W: Sherry Thomas, Courtney Milan, Laura Kinsale. Cerebral, lyrical and thought-provoking with exquisite characterization.
So, just read Black Silk. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I’ll reread it for sure.
You should know that:
- Another woman is present throughout, so you might not like it if you demand chastity of your heroes until they meet the heroine
- It contains a brief description of infant death
- It’s an extremely slow burn
While The Proposition showcases Cuevas’ brilliant writing, she uses it used to absolutely devastating effect in Black Silk. (Which, incidentally, was only her second novel.) I have never read anything like it. It all floored me: the depth of her characterization, the twists and turns of the plot, the hallucinatory way she uses her words, and the way she created a cinematic experience—not a Hollywood blockbuster, but quiet French arthouse cinema.
Recently widowed Submit Channing-Downes inherits basically everything belonging to Henry, her late husband, including the marquessate itself, Motmarche. His illegitimate son, William, sues her for it, leaving both homeless while the case is unfolding. Part of the bequest is a mysterious case that she must deliver to the marquess’s rake of a ward, Graham Wessit, with whom Henry had a fractious relationship. Submit and Graham are fascinated by each other, but the road to their HEA is a rocky and rutted one, haunted by Henry’s spectre and Graham’s mistress, the vivacious Rosalyn.
And that’s all I can tell you, because when you read it, you’ll be alternately mesmerized by Cuevas’ writing and shook—SHOOK, I tell you—by Events. Nothing goes the way you think it will, and I basically read the last 15% with my mouth hanging open.
Cuevas belongs among that great pantheon of historical romance authors who are Writers with a capital W: Sherry Thomas, Courtney Milan, Laura Kinsale. Cerebral, lyrical and thought-provoking with exquisite characterization.
So, just read Black Silk. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I’ll reread it for sure.
You should know that:
- Another woman is present throughout, so you might not like it if you demand chastity of your heroes until they meet the heroine
- It contains a brief description of infant death
- It’s an extremely slow burn
January 15, 2023
The first several scenes of this book gave it a promising start. I liked the complicated relationships between all the characters at the beginning and was excited to see how they would develop. I also enjoyed the unique relationship dynamic between my favorite character, Rosalyn, and Submit. However, by the third quarter of the book, the plot had already stagnated, and I disliked the male lead more and more as the book went on. I found his "no means yes" moments downright gross and his actions unromantic. In the end, I wasn't convinced that the two main characters were in love beyond a shallow infatuation.
July 27, 2023
July 2023
Sigh this book. Ivory writes humanity so beautifully and incisively, it is just such a gift to read her words
“No one knew him as well as he knew himself. He had been tumbled a little by events. He had brought a lot of those events down upon himself. But he was essentially lucky and happy and rich—in many more ways than in just money or status. There might not be a soul alive who cared or understood, but he knew—at least for a few moments in late evening on a warm summer night—and understood himself.”
—
April 2023
Some day hopefully I will find the courage to string the words together to convey how much this book devastated and moved me.
—
April 2023
Reposting review from insta:
Currently on my 1st reread and will attempt to share why this transcendent, ambitious, unconventional book moved me in ways I haven’t felt in decades. There won’t be a little synopsis about the characters or the plot here, though I encourage you to check out CWs if reading for the first time.
I read this after Beast, which is also an astounding and breathtaking book, and something Graham, our hero, says captures the essence of why I love this book in particular and Ivory’s work in general: “What an unspeakable mess life can be”
At the core, Black Silk is about two flawed and very human characters, Submit and Graham, navigating absolutely messy situations on their path to a HEA. But bold, brave Ivory reminds us of their flaws even as she’s peeling layers that reveal the “good” in them. Through falling in love, they unearth or rediscover and have a chance to live out the things that they value in themselves but have kept hidden. What absolutely floors me about Ivory’s choices is that the flaws and mess are still there til the very end. They’re not tied up neatly and there’s little or no character growth, perhaps those hidden “good” parts shine more brightly now. And I think this is an incredibly powerful message about love — you can be a mess, stay a mess, and find your happily ever after too.
These are probably central conventions to any good romance but what puts Ivory in a league of her own, in my opinion, is her exquisite prose and the way she draws her characters with such authenticity and texture that they inhabit my very being. I see parts of myself and life reflected in how Ivory writes the paradoxical human nature and when Graham and Submit grapple with theirs, it hits me viscerally, right at my very core.
My words will never adequately measure up to the BIG intense world tilting feelings I have for this book and Ivory’s writing. But I guess I have to be ok with that! Special thanks to Sara who let me scream at her relentlessly throughout my first read and held my hand and assured me that there will indeed be a HEA, especially during that final chapter iykyk.
Sigh this book. Ivory writes humanity so beautifully and incisively, it is just such a gift to read her words
“No one knew him as well as he knew himself. He had been tumbled a little by events. He had brought a lot of those events down upon himself. But he was essentially lucky and happy and rich—in many more ways than in just money or status. There might not be a soul alive who cared or understood, but he knew—at least for a few moments in late evening on a warm summer night—and understood himself.”
—
April 2023
Some day hopefully I will find the courage to string the words together to convey how much this book devastated and moved me.
—
April 2023
Reposting review from insta:
Currently on my 1st reread and will attempt to share why this transcendent, ambitious, unconventional book moved me in ways I haven’t felt in decades. There won’t be a little synopsis about the characters or the plot here, though I encourage you to check out CWs if reading for the first time.
I read this after Beast, which is also an astounding and breathtaking book, and something Graham, our hero, says captures the essence of why I love this book in particular and Ivory’s work in general: “What an unspeakable mess life can be”
At the core, Black Silk is about two flawed and very human characters, Submit and Graham, navigating absolutely messy situations on their path to a HEA. But bold, brave Ivory reminds us of their flaws even as she’s peeling layers that reveal the “good” in them. Through falling in love, they unearth or rediscover and have a chance to live out the things that they value in themselves but have kept hidden. What absolutely floors me about Ivory’s choices is that the flaws and mess are still there til the very end. They’re not tied up neatly and there’s little or no character growth, perhaps those hidden “good” parts shine more brightly now. And I think this is an incredibly powerful message about love — you can be a mess, stay a mess, and find your happily ever after too.
These are probably central conventions to any good romance but what puts Ivory in a league of her own, in my opinion, is her exquisite prose and the way she draws her characters with such authenticity and texture that they inhabit my very being. I see parts of myself and life reflected in how Ivory writes the paradoxical human nature and when Graham and Submit grapple with theirs, it hits me viscerally, right at my very core.
My words will never adequately measure up to the BIG intense world tilting feelings I have for this book and Ivory’s writing. But I guess I have to be ok with that! Special thanks to Sara who let me scream at her relentlessly throughout my first read and held my hand and assured me that there will indeed be a HEA, especially during that final chapter iykyk.
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