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The Pretty Gentleman
Alt cover for ASIN B009CG1SWC
Erotic sketches, a blackmail letter, a closeted aristocrat, his ambitious lover, and a sacrificial murder. Love, betrayal, deception and vengeance in Regency’s London’s art world.
George Rowlands, an aspiring young painter and apprentice to his father in the Haymarket theatre, meets Sir Henry Wallace while drawing the river at Richmond. Wallace invites George to his home in St. James’s square to draw his collection of sculpture and his good-looking valet Gregorio Franchese. Securing him a place to study painting at the Royal Academy of Arts under the eccentric Gothic painter, Henry Fuseli, George meets the mysterious John McCarther who befriends him. Meanwhile, Lady Arabella Wallace records in her diary her suspicions about her husband’s night-time absences and his ‘enthusiasm’ for his new protégé. George discovers his every move with Wallace is being watched after Wallace confesses his love for him.
Mixing history with passion and drama, and touching on the dark and erotic aspects of the all-male Royal Academy, The Pretty Gentleman is a historical thriller which explores the themes of love, power, betrayal and truth in Regency society.
Erotic sketches, a blackmail letter, a closeted aristocrat, his ambitious lover, and a sacrificial murder. Love, betrayal, deception and vengeance in Regency’s London’s art world.
George Rowlands, an aspiring young painter and apprentice to his father in the Haymarket theatre, meets Sir Henry Wallace while drawing the river at Richmond. Wallace invites George to his home in St. James’s square to draw his collection of sculpture and his good-looking valet Gregorio Franchese. Securing him a place to study painting at the Royal Academy of Arts under the eccentric Gothic painter, Henry Fuseli, George meets the mysterious John McCarther who befriends him. Meanwhile, Lady Arabella Wallace records in her diary her suspicions about her husband’s night-time absences and his ‘enthusiasm’ for his new protégé. George discovers his every move with Wallace is being watched after Wallace confesses his love for him.
Mixing history with passion and drama, and touching on the dark and erotic aspects of the all-male Royal Academy, The Pretty Gentleman is a historical thriller which explores the themes of love, power, betrayal and truth in Regency society.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 16, 2012
1 person is currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Max Fincher
4 books1 followerAfter writing my PhD at King’s College London, I worked in the Civil Service in London, and then for two healthcare policy research organisations, the King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust, helping to support their directors of research. In between these jobs, I published my PhD as Queering Gothic Writing, and worked as a temporary lecturer in the English department at Royal Holloway, teaching the eighteenth-century novel, 'Tristram Shandy' and its influence on English literature. I have also worked as a private tutor, and as a career for my father who suffers from vascular dementia.
I have been an occasional reviewer for 'The Times Literary Supplement' since 2005. In addition, I have also contributed reviews of books and films to other publications including 'Chroma: A Queer Literary Journal', 'Scope', 'Victorian Review' and to the international academic journal Gothic Studies (MUP). I also blog for the University of Stirling's 'Gothic Imagination' website http://www.gothic.stir.ac.uk/
I have been an occasional reviewer for 'The Times Literary Supplement' since 2005. In addition, I have also contributed reviews of books and films to other publications including 'Chroma: A Queer Literary Journal', 'Scope', 'Victorian Review' and to the international academic journal Gothic Studies (MUP). I also blog for the University of Stirling's 'Gothic Imagination' website http://www.gothic.stir.ac.uk/
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 23, 2013
2.5 stars
I’ve been musing a while as to whether I should still be reviewing self-published books and the editing–I’m sorry to say–on this book has pushed me so close to the edge of deciding, it’s only going to take one more like this to get me to fall off the fence one way or the other. From the huge list of helpers, encouragers and friends that the author lists in his acknowledgements, you’d think SOMEONE might have pointed out that he has a comma abuse problem. As well as subject confusion, and many other issues such as random tense changes, homonym mistakes and typos.
Sidebar: Self Published authors. I’m sick of this. Don’t go skipping towards self-publishing with the attitude that by not having to give most of your royalties to your publisher you can coin it. Think rather that you should be paying a fucking editor the money your publisher would have. Because? If you skip this, cut corners and think gleefully at the money you’ve “saved” you’ll produce a shoddy product which no one will bloody BUY. Rather defeats the object. I apologise for losing my temper, but this book really tipped me over the edge, and when you review books and you read so many self-published books which clearly are not ready for publication, and there’s so many authors doing good work, it makes me mad.
That all being said, there is something to like in this book. If it had not had that kernel of promise I would have either not reviewed it at all, or dismissed it with a half of one star for putting words in a line–kind of the equivalent of putting one’s name at the top of an exam paper, but there is talent here, there is a knack for description and the ability to communicate a time and place. It’s just a shame that the shoddy workmanship drags it down.
The other main problem is the pacing; putting aside all other issues, if this had been the type of polished self-publication–as say, The Painting was–I would still have problems with the execution.
It’s possibly the most realistic Regency set book I’ve read, the research has been done mostly impeccably and you really feel that–with the descriptions of the grit and grime of the streets and the dark, candlelit rooms that you are in a time before gas lighting and electricity. But the first half of the book is so painfully slow and laboured if I hadn’t been reviewing it I would have given up, and I almost never feel that way. There’s just nothing much going on–George meets Wallace by chance whilst out painting the landscape and so slowly you can almost see the glaciers growing faster they move to a position of artist and patron while George falls in love with Wallace. Apart from one instance where George follows Wallace in stalkery fashion to Vere Street and another time he sees someone he thinks is following him, for over 50 percent of the book nothing much else happens. Oh, there’s attendance at art school, and the occasional party, and endless pages of George painting and sketching–all interspersed with the increasingly paranoid journal entries of Wallace’s wife, but there’s no real sense of foreboding or even burgeoning love on either side. George tells us he’s (probably, how can he tell?) in love with Wallace on numerous occasions, but he doesn’t really give any reason for that, nor is the reader given any. Wallace, for me, was a thoroughly objectionable, spoilt brat who wants everything his own way, and everyone to agree with his own opinions. He’s not even depicted as being entirely mesmerising which would explain why George falls so completely under his spell.
As I said, there’s a lot of historical detail in the book, most of which is accurate as far as I could tell–I wasn’t knocked out by modern language or attitudes. But many of the touches which the author obviously wanted to put in so we can tell he did the research were a bit superfluous and I was often thinking – “yeah, ok, nice scene, good description, but what’s the point of it in the plot?” I also rolled my eyes at George being paid £200 for his very first portrait and then wondering how he was going to live – the minimum conversion of that sum of money is well over £11k so it’s unlikely he’d have had any money problems for a good long while.
The major conflict, when it happens is not unexpected, but is actually well-handled. Wallace proves himself to be the git I took him to be all along which was gratifying, at least. I think what the author was aiming for was a gradual escalation of the plotline as after the middle of the book things start to kick off, but the beginning needs to have some acceleration rather than pages of walking around painting and or looking at things.
So, I’m torn about the book. On one hand it’s well done to the extent of the feel and the paranoia and the atmosphere of the times, but the painfully slow pacing would make it a do not finish for many. I would probably recommend it as a read if you can get past the pacing – AND if you are prepared to put up with the legion of grammatical errors throughout. I would advise the author to get it very carefully proofed by someone who knows how to punctuate, at the very least. A neatly edited version of this would have earned a 3.5 but as it is–specially the conversion from PDF to Kindle where all the double Ts were entirely missing–I can’t give it more than a 2.5
I’ve been musing a while as to whether I should still be reviewing self-published books and the editing–I’m sorry to say–on this book has pushed me so close to the edge of deciding, it’s only going to take one more like this to get me to fall off the fence one way or the other. From the huge list of helpers, encouragers and friends that the author lists in his acknowledgements, you’d think SOMEONE might have pointed out that he has a comma abuse problem. As well as subject confusion, and many other issues such as random tense changes, homonym mistakes and typos.
Sidebar: Self Published authors. I’m sick of this. Don’t go skipping towards self-publishing with the attitude that by not having to give most of your royalties to your publisher you can coin it. Think rather that you should be paying a fucking editor the money your publisher would have. Because? If you skip this, cut corners and think gleefully at the money you’ve “saved” you’ll produce a shoddy product which no one will bloody BUY. Rather defeats the object. I apologise for losing my temper, but this book really tipped me over the edge, and when you review books and you read so many self-published books which clearly are not ready for publication, and there’s so many authors doing good work, it makes me mad.
That all being said, there is something to like in this book. If it had not had that kernel of promise I would have either not reviewed it at all, or dismissed it with a half of one star for putting words in a line–kind of the equivalent of putting one’s name at the top of an exam paper, but there is talent here, there is a knack for description and the ability to communicate a time and place. It’s just a shame that the shoddy workmanship drags it down.
The other main problem is the pacing; putting aside all other issues, if this had been the type of polished self-publication–as say, The Painting was–I would still have problems with the execution.
It’s possibly the most realistic Regency set book I’ve read, the research has been done mostly impeccably and you really feel that–with the descriptions of the grit and grime of the streets and the dark, candlelit rooms that you are in a time before gas lighting and electricity. But the first half of the book is so painfully slow and laboured if I hadn’t been reviewing it I would have given up, and I almost never feel that way. There’s just nothing much going on–George meets Wallace by chance whilst out painting the landscape and so slowly you can almost see the glaciers growing faster they move to a position of artist and patron while George falls in love with Wallace. Apart from one instance where George follows Wallace in stalkery fashion to Vere Street and another time he sees someone he thinks is following him, for over 50 percent of the book nothing much else happens. Oh, there’s attendance at art school, and the occasional party, and endless pages of George painting and sketching–all interspersed with the increasingly paranoid journal entries of Wallace’s wife, but there’s no real sense of foreboding or even burgeoning love on either side. George tells us he’s (probably, how can he tell?) in love with Wallace on numerous occasions, but he doesn’t really give any reason for that, nor is the reader given any. Wallace, for me, was a thoroughly objectionable, spoilt brat who wants everything his own way, and everyone to agree with his own opinions. He’s not even depicted as being entirely mesmerising which would explain why George falls so completely under his spell.
As I said, there’s a lot of historical detail in the book, most of which is accurate as far as I could tell–I wasn’t knocked out by modern language or attitudes. But many of the touches which the author obviously wanted to put in so we can tell he did the research were a bit superfluous and I was often thinking – “yeah, ok, nice scene, good description, but what’s the point of it in the plot?” I also rolled my eyes at George being paid £200 for his very first portrait and then wondering how he was going to live – the minimum conversion of that sum of money is well over £11k so it’s unlikely he’d have had any money problems for a good long while.
The major conflict, when it happens is not unexpected, but is actually well-handled. Wallace proves himself to be the git I took him to be all along which was gratifying, at least. I think what the author was aiming for was a gradual escalation of the plotline as after the middle of the book things start to kick off, but the beginning needs to have some acceleration rather than pages of walking around painting and or looking at things.
So, I’m torn about the book. On one hand it’s well done to the extent of the feel and the paranoia and the atmosphere of the times, but the painfully slow pacing would make it a do not finish for many. I would probably recommend it as a read if you can get past the pacing – AND if you are prepared to put up with the legion of grammatical errors throughout. I would advise the author to get it very carefully proofed by someone who knows how to punctuate, at the very least. A neatly edited version of this would have earned a 3.5 but as it is–specially the conversion from PDF to Kindle where all the double Ts were entirely missing–I can’t give it more than a 2.5
February 18, 2013
Stay tuned for the review to be posted on Confessions from Romaholics' goodreads account and the Blog.
February 1, 2015
This review is cross-posted from Papyrus Independent Author Reviews (http://papyrus.calebblake.net/2013/08/26/the-pretty-gentleman-by-max-fincher)
He sits in his cell, scribbling notes and awaiting his fate. How did he get here? Is his real crime that he loved the wrong person?
Initially written as a memoir while waiting to be executed, George Rowlands' is less a coming-of-age and more a coming-of-death story. He writes a cautionary tale of a young working-class artist-in-waiting, who is taken to heady heights with the help of his patron, Sir Henry Wallace. When a slowly growing sexual tension between student and patron erupts into passion, Rowlands' good fortune turns to betrayal and he is left waiting for the hangman's rope.
The pacing of the story is rather interesting. The first part seems to be more a development of Rowlands' character and his relationship to Sir Wallace. We experience how the community of artists worked at the time, the trending artistic methods and mediums, the influence of the artistic elite and the function of patronage and the Royal Academy in furthering the success of select aspirants. The historical setting is immersive and satisfying as we watch the rise and inevitable fall of the protagonist.
Towards the end of the story, the book evolves into a murder mystery and this changes the pacing and feel of the plot. Murder, mistaken identity, the implication of (what were thought to be) minor characters, revelations, conspiracy; the development is intriguing. I can imagine that for some, this pace change might not be welcome and I can fully appreciate that those who expected a murder mystery might have been frustrated with the first half of the book. However, my expectations worked in reverse. I expected an historical drama and was fully enjoying it when I was introduced to a "whodunnit" in the final half. Additionally, rather than veer toward the spectacular, the murder mystery stayed true to the earlier exploration of the mechanisms and constraints of the society at the time.
Rowlands is the protagonist and I was satisfied with his development throughout the story. His hopes and naïvety, his burgeoning desires towards other men, and particularly towards his benefactor, Sir Henry Wallace all rang true. His observations throughout the story, his curiosity, sensitivity and paranoia were all portrayed well.
It was interesting to see that resignation rather than terror kept him company while waiting for execution. He knew he was a victim, to be flung under the wheels to protect Sir Wallace and he almost seemed to accept that inevitability in the end. It is perhaps the result of living in a society where the illusion of equality isn't apparent or necessary.
The wife of Sir Wallace becomes a more prominent character towards the end of the story. The wife always knows, but despite this she continues to provide plausible deniability for her husband - his proclivities, a secret for which she remains complicit. Her role in the mystery is revealed at the end, but her commitment to remain her husband's shield, while probably quite realistic, still seems baffling to a contemporary reader.
The writing was very effective. I did notice a passage where the tense changed in an unexplainable way and I read through a scene where a certain piece of dialogue was repeated in an illogical manner, but these were just small one-off issues.
Overall, the prose was successful and there were some passages of searing beauty; in particular, a scene where Rowlands was sketching a model and describing the perfection of the male form. Such a scene could have been tawdry and eroticised, but the author chose to create art instead and the result was impressive.
The Pretty Gentleman is an early 1800s historical drama with an element of murder mystery. It's the coming-of-age tale of a young artist growing up in a society from which he would eventually be expelled once he'd become inconvenient. It's also a fascinating look at a time in our past when homosexuality was practised in secrecy for fear of reprisals.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it particularly to those who like historical dramas.
He sits in his cell, scribbling notes and awaiting his fate. How did he get here? Is his real crime that he loved the wrong person?
Initially written as a memoir while waiting to be executed, George Rowlands' is less a coming-of-age and more a coming-of-death story. He writes a cautionary tale of a young working-class artist-in-waiting, who is taken to heady heights with the help of his patron, Sir Henry Wallace. When a slowly growing sexual tension between student and patron erupts into passion, Rowlands' good fortune turns to betrayal and he is left waiting for the hangman's rope.
The pacing of the story is rather interesting. The first part seems to be more a development of Rowlands' character and his relationship to Sir Wallace. We experience how the community of artists worked at the time, the trending artistic methods and mediums, the influence of the artistic elite and the function of patronage and the Royal Academy in furthering the success of select aspirants. The historical setting is immersive and satisfying as we watch the rise and inevitable fall of the protagonist.
Towards the end of the story, the book evolves into a murder mystery and this changes the pacing and feel of the plot. Murder, mistaken identity, the implication of (what were thought to be) minor characters, revelations, conspiracy; the development is intriguing. I can imagine that for some, this pace change might not be welcome and I can fully appreciate that those who expected a murder mystery might have been frustrated with the first half of the book. However, my expectations worked in reverse. I expected an historical drama and was fully enjoying it when I was introduced to a "whodunnit" in the final half. Additionally, rather than veer toward the spectacular, the murder mystery stayed true to the earlier exploration of the mechanisms and constraints of the society at the time.
Rowlands is the protagonist and I was satisfied with his development throughout the story. His hopes and naïvety, his burgeoning desires towards other men, and particularly towards his benefactor, Sir Henry Wallace all rang true. His observations throughout the story, his curiosity, sensitivity and paranoia were all portrayed well.
It was interesting to see that resignation rather than terror kept him company while waiting for execution. He knew he was a victim, to be flung under the wheels to protect Sir Wallace and he almost seemed to accept that inevitability in the end. It is perhaps the result of living in a society where the illusion of equality isn't apparent or necessary.
The wife of Sir Wallace becomes a more prominent character towards the end of the story. The wife always knows, but despite this she continues to provide plausible deniability for her husband - his proclivities, a secret for which she remains complicit. Her role in the mystery is revealed at the end, but her commitment to remain her husband's shield, while probably quite realistic, still seems baffling to a contemporary reader.
The writing was very effective. I did notice a passage where the tense changed in an unexplainable way and I read through a scene where a certain piece of dialogue was repeated in an illogical manner, but these were just small one-off issues.
Overall, the prose was successful and there were some passages of searing beauty; in particular, a scene where Rowlands was sketching a model and describing the perfection of the male form. Such a scene could have been tawdry and eroticised, but the author chose to create art instead and the result was impressive.
The Pretty Gentleman is an early 1800s historical drama with an element of murder mystery. It's the coming-of-age tale of a young artist growing up in a society from which he would eventually be expelled once he'd become inconvenient. It's also a fascinating look at a time in our past when homosexuality was practised in secrecy for fear of reprisals.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it particularly to those who like historical dramas.
February 20, 2013
This is an incredibly well written, researched in detail book of historical fiction, that is inspired by facts and a theory of the time period being homosocial, and by the time you finish this book, you will likely be in agreement of the theory that seemed to trigger it!
It would be too simple to call this book historical romance, because there is so much more going on - secrets and secret desires, blackmail, murder, mystery, betrayal, potential scandal and an unlikely ally that completely changes the direction of the story.
George Rowland wants to be a painter, however, coming from the working class, he likely needs a patron to elevate him past a painter by hobby. One day, while painting riverside, Sir Henry Wallace is walking and sees George's painting. He sees something he wishes to encourage and invites him to study a private collection of paintings and sculptures at his home. And most of the time, George is on his own to do sketches and studies. Sir Henry sets George up in apartments, and decides he must draw real life in order to get into the Royal Academy and brings over his valet to post for him. These studies and a recommendation from Sir Henry get George into the Acadee athomy.
The book was very detailed, listing artists and painters and so I looked up Max Fincher and found his blog, finding he has studied this time period and did a thesis on the homosexual undertones of the time period - the author notes at the back of the book are worth reading for the background to the author's inspiration for the story.
George is attracted to his patron, but hopes he hides it since he has no idea of the affection would be returned, and it was a crime to be a "sodomite" at the time. At the Academy, he meets John McCarther, and George considers John his first friend, even turning to him when events get out of control.
Just as George is to finally have success - he has painted a portrait of his patron, to much praise and is being commissioned to do other portraits, he is accused of blackmailing his patron with a letter that is written in George's hand, but George swears it was not him. As that piece of information starts to unravel what he has built, Sir Henry's valet is found murdered, and evidence points right at George, right at the time he turned to John for help.
Sir Henry is worried about losing his standing in society and if George is found guilty of a crime he didn't commit and hanged, Sir Henry is willing to take the risk, however, someone close to him is more willing to look for the truth.
The story develops slowly, so you can really get a sense of who each of the characters are, but once the accusations start flying, it really picks up the pace and is hard to put down as you want to know what happens!
I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction, but not just fans of historical romance.
It would be too simple to call this book historical romance, because there is so much more going on - secrets and secret desires, blackmail, murder, mystery, betrayal, potential scandal and an unlikely ally that completely changes the direction of the story.
George Rowland wants to be a painter, however, coming from the working class, he likely needs a patron to elevate him past a painter by hobby. One day, while painting riverside, Sir Henry Wallace is walking and sees George's painting. He sees something he wishes to encourage and invites him to study a private collection of paintings and sculptures at his home. And most of the time, George is on his own to do sketches and studies. Sir Henry sets George up in apartments, and decides he must draw real life in order to get into the Royal Academy and brings over his valet to post for him. These studies and a recommendation from Sir Henry get George into the Acadee athomy.
The book was very detailed, listing artists and painters and so I looked up Max Fincher and found his blog, finding he has studied this time period and did a thesis on the homosexual undertones of the time period - the author notes at the back of the book are worth reading for the background to the author's inspiration for the story.
George is attracted to his patron, but hopes he hides it since he has no idea of the affection would be returned, and it was a crime to be a "sodomite" at the time. At the Academy, he meets John McCarther, and George considers John his first friend, even turning to him when events get out of control.
Just as George is to finally have success - he has painted a portrait of his patron, to much praise and is being commissioned to do other portraits, he is accused of blackmailing his patron with a letter that is written in George's hand, but George swears it was not him. As that piece of information starts to unravel what he has built, Sir Henry's valet is found murdered, and evidence points right at George, right at the time he turned to John for help.
Sir Henry is worried about losing his standing in society and if George is found guilty of a crime he didn't commit and hanged, Sir Henry is willing to take the risk, however, someone close to him is more willing to look for the truth.
The story develops slowly, so you can really get a sense of who each of the characters are, but once the accusations start flying, it really picks up the pace and is hard to put down as you want to know what happens!
I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction, but not just fans of historical romance.
April 3, 2015
London is the setting for this well-researched historical crime novel, and art is the topic. George Rowlands helps his father paint scenery for the Haymarket Theatre, and he develops his talent by sketching and painting. In 1809 at Richmond a gentleman called Wallace observes George's work and invites the young man to visit his home and art collection. Hoping for a patron or at least a sale, George agrees.
THE PRETTY GENTLEMAN is Wallace's wife's name for George in her diary. George is now introduced to classical art and literature, including the Elgin marbles, and learns oil painting. Wallace has a secret life - the lad notes the stroll to shady streets at night, the preponderance of male sculptures in his home... but images of women might be considered indecent. Wallace offers George a studio and commissions, and the lad is thrilled. In refined society he meets people who believe art should serve the purpose of religion, as well as those who wish to admire beauty for its own sake.
Interspersed we see that George has somehow ended up in Newgate gaol, and expects to be hanged at dawn. As the story unfolds and the youth's ambition swells to include the Royal Academy, so a growing sense of menace builds. An intruder, theft of a personal item, a sensation of being followed... then betrayal. As the relationship between George and his patron develops into a love that must be kept secret, even well-bred men are being brought to assizes for a crime that is considered too unspeakable to be named.
George loves his art, but his family is also dear to him, and he is a well-rounded, sympathetic protagonist. Max Fincher recreates the sights, smells and sounds of London, adding the constraints of the society and hinting at the pursuits of libertines that went unremarked. This book casts light upon a scene untouched by the majority of crime or romance novelists. While this story will be of greatest interest to gay readers, who might give it more stars than I did, the alternative sexuality content is gently written. I admire Fincher's solid portrayal of London, and crime, at this time, and look forward to reading his next work.
THE PRETTY GENTLEMAN is Wallace's wife's name for George in her diary. George is now introduced to classical art and literature, including the Elgin marbles, and learns oil painting. Wallace has a secret life - the lad notes the stroll to shady streets at night, the preponderance of male sculptures in his home... but images of women might be considered indecent. Wallace offers George a studio and commissions, and the lad is thrilled. In refined society he meets people who believe art should serve the purpose of religion, as well as those who wish to admire beauty for its own sake.
Interspersed we see that George has somehow ended up in Newgate gaol, and expects to be hanged at dawn. As the story unfolds and the youth's ambition swells to include the Royal Academy, so a growing sense of menace builds. An intruder, theft of a personal item, a sensation of being followed... then betrayal. As the relationship between George and his patron develops into a love that must be kept secret, even well-bred men are being brought to assizes for a crime that is considered too unspeakable to be named.
George loves his art, but his family is also dear to him, and he is a well-rounded, sympathetic protagonist. Max Fincher recreates the sights, smells and sounds of London, adding the constraints of the society and hinting at the pursuits of libertines that went unremarked. This book casts light upon a scene untouched by the majority of crime or romance novelists. While this story will be of greatest interest to gay readers, who might give it more stars than I did, the alternative sexuality content is gently written. I admire Fincher's solid portrayal of London, and crime, at this time, and look forward to reading his next work.
August 6, 2016
I admit that when I discovered that it was a first-person narrative, I had my doubts because that's not what I usually prefer but nevertheless I continued reading and my mind simply forgot about it.
It is a slow paced novel and for some reason the story grabbed me from the start maybe because of the very powerful and dramatic prologue, who knows! and it very easily kept my attention.
The interesting aspect is that there are two very contradictory POVs in this story and I found it to be very clever. It keeps the confusion very much alive as well as the mind .... The more things happen the less you know, nothing and nobody is what they seem and how I LOVE that !
There's an ever present atmosphere of mystery, disconcerting, oppressive and even kind of twisted that hovers around a world of pretense and lies !
I love this book for its colorful and descriptive prose, its unpredictability, I love the fight between innocence, cowardliness and madness. This story is strangely annoying and captivating at the same time! It's an unexpected playground for our mind and imagination.
The character of George, the young aspiring painter, is full of life and projects, curious and determined to succeed. He may be young, inexperienced and naive but nonetheless he asks himself a lot of interesting questions and we get to know him really well. He's a very loveable person who is too much of an easy prey for the more experienced and the wicked. It's a coming of age learned the hard way, to say the least.
Max Fincher's Regency thriller is a brilliant and fascinating work written with style that skillfully combined an impressive knowledge of the era and Fine Art with a very creative, rather complex and tortuous drama that left me in awe. I cannot but recommend it!
Love the cover!
March 5, 2013
In the prologue and first pages of the first chapter of Max Fincher’s The Pretty Gentleman, we learn that George Rowlands, a young aspiring painter, is in a prison awaiting his death by hanging for supposedly killing the valet of his patron, Lord Henry Wallace.
The year is 1810. The place is Regency England.
George tells us he’s innocent. “I had done nothing wrong. I had not committed any crime, except to love a man whom I thought loved me too.”
If so, how did he end up awaiting his execution? And will he somehow escape the hangman’s noose? If he doesn’t, he says, he’ll be a sacrifice “for that most demanding of gods, Society.”
I couldn’t possibly resist reading a novel with a hook like that. And as I read, I found myself whipping through the pages to find out what comes next.
The Pretty Gentleman is a wonderfully intricate novel. Knowing the entirely sympathetic but not flawless protagonist is awaiting his drop through the trap door of the gallows into nothingness made me suspect every other character of being the villain—or perhaps one of a party of villains.
So Fincher greatly entertained me even as he brought me face-to-face with sober reality. In the world of this story, where fortune and title rule, but same-sex intimacy is strictly forbidden, a lord craving it can pose as the patron of a man who shares his desire but lacks his money and position—if they keep the true nature of their relationship a dark secret.
When the possibility of the lord’s exposure arises, what sort of man would go so far to prevent it as to let his latest “protégé” be hanged?
For those who read for the enjoyment of a well-told tale and yet wish to ponder deeper matters along the way, I highly recommend The Pretty Gentleman.
(As originally reviewed on Rainbow Book Reviews. Please visit http://www.rainbowbookreviews.com for other reviews that may be of interest.)
The year is 1810. The place is Regency England.
George tells us he’s innocent. “I had done nothing wrong. I had not committed any crime, except to love a man whom I thought loved me too.”
If so, how did he end up awaiting his execution? And will he somehow escape the hangman’s noose? If he doesn’t, he says, he’ll be a sacrifice “for that most demanding of gods, Society.”
I couldn’t possibly resist reading a novel with a hook like that. And as I read, I found myself whipping through the pages to find out what comes next.
The Pretty Gentleman is a wonderfully intricate novel. Knowing the entirely sympathetic but not flawless protagonist is awaiting his drop through the trap door of the gallows into nothingness made me suspect every other character of being the villain—or perhaps one of a party of villains.
So Fincher greatly entertained me even as he brought me face-to-face with sober reality. In the world of this story, where fortune and title rule, but same-sex intimacy is strictly forbidden, a lord craving it can pose as the patron of a man who shares his desire but lacks his money and position—if they keep the true nature of their relationship a dark secret.
When the possibility of the lord’s exposure arises, what sort of man would go so far to prevent it as to let his latest “protégé” be hanged?
For those who read for the enjoyment of a well-told tale and yet wish to ponder deeper matters along the way, I highly recommend The Pretty Gentleman.
(As originally reviewed on Rainbow Book Reviews. Please visit http://www.rainbowbookreviews.com for other reviews that may be of interest.)
May 27, 2014
I feel like I have to give two marks: one for the story and one for the presentation.
The actual story was quite gripping and it had a good Georgian feel, I enjoyed it as far as it went even though the lead character George was that rather ultra naive type you find in novels of the period. As a reader I spent a lot of time waiting for the shoe to drop and despite the almost overwhelming odds against George, I think it ended satisfactorily. From a purely story viewpoint I would read more from this author.
Unfortunately the presentation left a great deal to be desired. The formatting was beyond strange. Many of the pages had one line per page which was frustrating when you just wanted the read! there was HUGE gaps in between paragraphs as well which were unnecessary and distracting. Frankly it was hard work reading this, which is a shame as once I stuck with the book, I actually enjoyed the characters and story-line. Had I not persevered, I would have given up on what turned out to be a good story.
The cover was also not very interesting and the title and author didn't stand out on it which wasn't very helpful. I seriously think a new cover design would work wonders!
So the plot and character would have got a 3.5 or even a 4 but the formatting and presentation knocked it right down to a 1 maybe a 2 (if I were being generous!)
The actual story was quite gripping and it had a good Georgian feel, I enjoyed it as far as it went even though the lead character George was that rather ultra naive type you find in novels of the period. As a reader I spent a lot of time waiting for the shoe to drop and despite the almost overwhelming odds against George, I think it ended satisfactorily. From a purely story viewpoint I would read more from this author.
Unfortunately the presentation left a great deal to be desired. The formatting was beyond strange. Many of the pages had one line per page which was frustrating when you just wanted the read! there was HUGE gaps in between paragraphs as well which were unnecessary and distracting. Frankly it was hard work reading this, which is a shame as once I stuck with the book, I actually enjoyed the characters and story-line. Had I not persevered, I would have given up on what turned out to be a good story.
The cover was also not very interesting and the title and author didn't stand out on it which wasn't very helpful. I seriously think a new cover design would work wonders!
So the plot and character would have got a 3.5 or even a 4 but the formatting and presentation knocked it right down to a 1 maybe a 2 (if I were being generous!)
April 4, 2013
Couldn't persevere with this one.
The writing seemed quite childlike at times, and the plot sluggish.
Not for me.
The writing seemed quite childlike at times, and the plot sluggish.
Not for me.
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