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L'infortunée
Victorian dandy Lord Geoffroy Loveall is faced with a dilemma. As heir apparent to Love Hall, he must produce an heir of his own; but his obsessive love for his long-dead sister has rendered him a paralytic in matters of the heart. Adding to Geoffroy's troubles is his difficult mother, Lady Loveall, who mercilessly castigates her effeminate son, and a circling mob of greedy relatives anxious to wrest Love Hall from his grasp.
Then, a miracle occurs. As his carriage passes a trash dump, Geoffroy spies an abandoned baby in the jaws of a cur. He saves the child, names her Rose, and declares her his rightful heir. The shock fells Lady Loveall on the spot, and Rose becomes the pampered daughter of Lord Loveall and his bride of convenience, the resident librarian Anonyma. This joyful period lasts until Rose's adolescence, when it becomes increasingly difficult to hide the one great secret of Love Hall: namely, that Rose, now in the position of fending off suitors for her titled hand, is in fact a boy.
Rose's whiskers, deepening voice, and affection for the daughter of a courtier have not gone unnoticed. Armed with the new revelation, the Loveall's unscrupulous relatives launch a coup, and a desperately confused Rose is cast adrift -- until he finds the renewed vitality that comes from the love of true family and realizes that he can and must go home.
Then, a miracle occurs. As his carriage passes a trash dump, Geoffroy spies an abandoned baby in the jaws of a cur. He saves the child, names her Rose, and declares her his rightful heir. The shock fells Lady Loveall on the spot, and Rose becomes the pampered daughter of Lord Loveall and his bride of convenience, the resident librarian Anonyma. This joyful period lasts until Rose's adolescence, when it becomes increasingly difficult to hide the one great secret of Love Hall: namely, that Rose, now in the position of fending off suitors for her titled hand, is in fact a boy.
Rose's whiskers, deepening voice, and affection for the daughter of a courtier have not gone unnoticed. Armed with the new revelation, the Loveall's unscrupulous relatives launch a coup, and a desperately confused Rose is cast adrift -- until he finds the renewed vitality that comes from the love of true family and realizes that he can and must go home.
605 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
58 people are currently reading
1458 people want to read
About the author
Wesley Stace
13 books61 followersWesley Stace also records music under the nom de plume of John Wesley Harding.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 288 reviews
February 19, 2012
Did you ever wonder what Dickens would be like if there was more gender confusion and hand jobs? Well if you did then this novel could put your mind at rest. If you didn't ever wonder about those things then maybe you'll just read this book and enjoy the story as being a fun English novel with villainous villains, wronged innocents, creepy family secrets and an almost magical country estate.
July 24, 2009
I am completely blown away by Mr. Stace's ability to completely envelop a character and make the character LIVE! Now I am eagerly looking forward to reading more of his work.
Misfortune is a truly engaging and titillating story! A boy raised as a girl by an asexual man and his literary wife? What will happen when puberty rears its ugly head? What indeed!!! The awakening of Rose Old is monumental, especially to his extended family. An uncle accidentally sent to his final reward, a cousin aroused and self-exiled and the ultimate banning of the Loveall from Love Hall are just a few juicy reactions to the revelation. Banned until, that is, a truth is exposed and the Loveall are re-instated in the home that is rightfully theirs.
A wonderful tale and a fun read!
Misfortune is a truly engaging and titillating story! A boy raised as a girl by an asexual man and his literary wife? What will happen when puberty rears its ugly head? What indeed!!! The awakening of Rose Old is monumental, especially to his extended family. An uncle accidentally sent to his final reward, a cousin aroused and self-exiled and the ultimate banning of the Loveall from Love Hall are just a few juicy reactions to the revelation. Banned until, that is, a truth is exposed and the Loveall are re-instated in the home that is rightfully theirs.
A wonderful tale and a fun read!
Read
May 4, 2021I am so conflicted by this book. On one hand, I found the exploration of gender absolutely fascinating, and the character's eventual resting place (no spoilers) extremely satisfying. I loved the discussion of nature vs. nurture, and the assertion that it's not as clear cut as advocates of EITHER side would have us believe. I loved the ambiguity of it all.
Unfortunately, I found the plot and pacing a little bit lacking. Other readers have noted that the middle bit is rather ponderous, weighed down by introspection that goes nowhere (the jump from normal narration to what's essentially stream-of-consciousness is extremely jarring), and it's true. I also found a few word choices questionable in their effectiveness.
Exposition was also handled poorly, in my opinion, in unabridged dialogue bursts where one character spoke for pages upon pages. This is not unusual -- look at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- but Stace has his characters speak as though they were, actually, speaking; plenty of digressions, repetitions, lost threads, and pointless interruptions, with the character taking forever to get to the point. I am not an impatient reader, but I still think it could have been done better.
I wasn't disturbed by the sexuality presented or wanting Rose to "pick a side", but was distracted by problems of craft.
(In due candor, I will admit that I wrinkled my nose at a few explicit scenes and questioned whether they really needed to be there in all detail, but I am not super into sex scenes in books and recognize this about myself.)
Unfortunately, I found the plot and pacing a little bit lacking. Other readers have noted that the middle bit is rather ponderous, weighed down by introspection that goes nowhere (the jump from normal narration to what's essentially stream-of-consciousness is extremely jarring), and it's true. I also found a few word choices questionable in their effectiveness.
Exposition was also handled poorly, in my opinion, in unabridged dialogue bursts where one character spoke for pages upon pages. This is not unusual -- look at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- but Stace has his characters speak as though they were, actually, speaking; plenty of digressions, repetitions, lost threads, and pointless interruptions, with the character taking forever to get to the point. I am not an impatient reader, but I still think it could have been done better.
I wasn't disturbed by the sexuality presented or wanting Rose to "pick a side", but was distracted by problems of craft.
(In due candor, I will admit that I wrinkled my nose at a few explicit scenes and questioned whether they really needed to be there in all detail, but I am not super into sex scenes in books and recognize this about myself.)
May 21, 2018
1.5*
It's not it, it's me. But it's also partly it.
I didn't like it because I wasn't in the mood for it, and maybe I didn't pay enough attention, but to be fair, if it had been amazing time and stress wouldn't have mattered. Mostly, I was bored, and that's coming from someone who adores slow historical fiction (mostly, *cough Atonement *cough). Half of the characters I couldn't keep track of, and the other half I could not connect with at all. Also, everyone was constantly assaulting each other, which was unpleasant.
What I did like; the absolute devotion that went into this book as a product, the cover, the illustrations, all that stuff, and the first one hundred pages, which were absolutely stunning and intriguing.
Maybe I'll give it another try at some point. Maybe I couldn't connect because of timing, maybe I missed the reasoning behind all the assault, maybe it was too clever for me. For now, I was just bored sometimes, and appalled all of the other times. Except for the start and the premise. Dammit.
It's not it, it's me. But it's also partly it.
I didn't like it because I wasn't in the mood for it, and maybe I didn't pay enough attention, but to be fair, if it had been amazing time and stress wouldn't have mattered. Mostly, I was bored, and that's coming from someone who adores slow historical fiction (mostly, *cough Atonement *cough). Half of the characters I couldn't keep track of, and the other half I could not connect with at all. Also, everyone was constantly assaulting each other, which was unpleasant.
What I did like; the absolute devotion that went into this book as a product, the cover, the illustrations, all that stuff, and the first one hundred pages, which were absolutely stunning and intriguing.
Maybe I'll give it another try at some point. Maybe I couldn't connect because of timing, maybe I missed the reasoning behind all the assault, maybe it was too clever for me. For now, I was just bored sometimes, and appalled all of the other times. Except for the start and the premise. Dammit.
March 29, 2019
Really 2 and a half stars. It started out as a humorous satire of classic works by writers like Dickens . However, after the first section, it got kind of muddled and more serious. The writing style and the narrator changed. There is alot of emphasis on gender identity issues in the plot. There were also sex scenes that made me feel uncomfortable. The book could have been 100 pages shorter, too. An ok read, but not one I would recommend.
December 15, 2012
I was looking forward to reading this book, thinking of it as a kind of treat. For the most part, it wasn't. How dare this book not be fun? For starters, take that title at its word. Then don't be taken in by the first chapter. It's not in keeping with the rest of the book. There is a point of view switch and a shift in storytelling style, and it's all downhill from there. Often the book wallows in the dreary and the boring and that makes for some tedious reading. The protagonist spends big chunks of the book in a depression. I did not enjoy joining him there for so long. For some reason the book rushes through the good stuff so it can get to the boring stuff that much quicker. Then there is the mystery of Rose's parentage which takes up the last part of the book. First, I didn't care about it, and when the resolution came, I cared even less. What's good about Misfortune? The happy ending a long time in coming. And Rose finally getting his s&%t together - way overdue. Though I didn't like the torturous getting there, I did like the appearance Rose chose for himself in the end. The writing is often really good, but this book just isn't as much fun as it should be.
April 22, 2013
I'm reviewing this book mainly because it's one of my favorite books of all time and I think it's horribly underrated.
Disclaimer: I'm a sucker for Victorian and pseudo-Victorian foundling stories. This is that. But it's so much more. It's a story of love of literature, research, lost and found identities, and friendship and love.
The elements of body-horror and gender discovery may be too much for some, but it's all very tastefully done. The prose alone is gorgeous and the plot structure is impeccable. Rose's journey from coddled and manipulated to being himself is something I'd recommend to anyone who's ever felt betrayed by someone who was supposed to care for them--I've reread it several times and parts still make me tear up. The story is beautiful, while venturing into both the buttoned-up veneer of the Victorian period as well as the seediest underbellies of London at the time. Stace draws from a lot of mythology as well.
Most of all, this is a book about books and how they can help us find ourselves, and I love that.
Disclaimer: I'm a sucker for Victorian and pseudo-Victorian foundling stories. This is that. But it's so much more. It's a story of love of literature, research, lost and found identities, and friendship and love.
The elements of body-horror and gender discovery may be too much for some, but it's all very tastefully done. The prose alone is gorgeous and the plot structure is impeccable. Rose's journey from coddled and manipulated to being himself is something I'd recommend to anyone who's ever felt betrayed by someone who was supposed to care for them--I've reread it several times and parts still make me tear up. The story is beautiful, while venturing into both the buttoned-up veneer of the Victorian period as well as the seediest underbellies of London at the time. Stace draws from a lot of mythology as well.
Most of all, this is a book about books and how they can help us find ourselves, and I love that.
August 10, 2016
A young baby boy is being thrown out with the trash. Unwanted and alone a chance of fate has him picked up by the richest Lord in the land, Lord Loveall. Lord Loveall has been mourning all his life for his dear departed sister and when he sees this baby he assumes it to be female and a chance to have his sister back. But Lord Loveall can't just miraculously have an heir, a quick marriage is arranged with his sister's old governess, Anonyma, who has stayed on as librarian at Love Hall to catalog the works of her icon, the poetess Mary Day. Anonyma agrees to raising "Rose" female because the poetess had some interesting theories on gender and Anonyma sees it as an experiment. For many years they are able to keep up this farce, until one day the world crashes down on them and Rose can no longer hide who he is.
The familial vultures swoop in to claim what they have always lusted after. A scandal would be so unbecoming, so Anonyma withdraws... what does she have now that Rose has fled? Rose left in the night without a trace, unable to face what he is. Through awkward sexual awakenings, near death fever dreams, chance encounters, and a twist that you hopefully won't see coming, Rose embraces the odd life that he has been given in this strange world and the companions in his journey who truly love him.
Misfortune is a Dickensian tale with at LGBTQ mindset. Full of interesting incestuous characters I felt that it never quite lived up to it's full potential due to the shifting narrative that, in the end, opted for a shorter, sleeker, story with annoying time jumps, instead of becoming a book of true Dickensian girth. Now I'm not saying that I wanted every detail on Rose's debauched journey to Turkey, but covering such an expanse of time as a fever dream seemed indulgent of the author. In fact, that might be the crux of my problem, the modern sensibilities thrust into this Victorian age by Stace's whim alienates me from the story. Stace says in an interview in the back of the book that he didn't want to be drawn into the trappings of the time period, a carriage is a carriage, not a barouche, not a gig. By having Misfortune be a modern book set in the past he seems to be wanting to make the book more of a post modern statement piece then a quality read.
By breaking convention he is writing a book that will appeal more to those who have never read Dickens or historical fiction while leaving those of us who love 19th century literature and period pieces cold. Coupled with the fact that he pulls a complete Dickensian HEA that was obvious from page one, his tendency to use some literary tropes and abandon others just goes to show that he was gratifying himself instead of his audience, plus exactly HOW was Rose to inherit... she being a she? Many such little questions bothered me throughout. Though my biggest problem with the book that has nothing to do with Stace might just be a side effect of this lack of interest in the historical details. This problem being that the cover illustration shows clothes incorrect to 1820. Yes, I know I should let this go, but the thing is, I remember the day I picked up this book on a table in Barnes and Noble and it was those lovely Regency clothes that sold me on it...
Yet in the end, Rose is problematical to me. Firstly, the sheer self centered delusions indulged by her parents scares the shit out of me. That two adults could contrive to raise a boy as a girl is just wrong to me. I know in this day and age there are a lot of people who talk about wanting to raise their children gender neutral so that they can come into their sexuality on their own. Personally, I think this is bullshit. It takes awhile for children to become aware of things, just look to Rose for an example, and by at least not setting down for them the basics, well, you are going to get one f'd up kid, again, look to Rose. Children need to understand the world around them in order to find their place, wherever that may be. By taking away Rose's knowledge of the world around her with regard to her body, that's just so many levels of wrong. At least her father Geoffroy has some excuse, obviously being insane, but Anonyma, the cold calculated way she sees changing her child's sex as an experiment just makes me want to slap her so hard. While yes, this does lead to some amusing situations, in the end, I felt such sorrow and pity for Rose that at times the book became hard to read.
But the collusion to keep this lie up. Gaw, the rage in me. Personally, the fact that they were able to pull it off for so long makes me a little awestruck. I personally don't see how they did it. I liked that they mentioned that all paintings with genitals shown were hidden, because that was a problem I really had. How, in an English Country House, with the great artwork that is usually in said houses, were they able to keep Rose in the dark? The secluded environment helped, but still, how? Recent studies have shown that people in the 19th century weren't so repressed sexually as we like to imagine. Yes the book has Anonyma lecturing a young Rose on what is private and what is public, and never stripping or lifting of skirts... but still... how? Rose was raised with two other children and they never once lifted a skirt or whipped it out of their pants? That is giving those kids some amazing, I would say unbelievable restraint. Were they sewn into their clothes? Because that's the only way I see this happening, otherwise, I just don't buy it. And if I can't buy this, well, then the book has a major flaw... or shall I just say, it's a flawed book?
The Last Word: "Manmade"
The familial vultures swoop in to claim what they have always lusted after. A scandal would be so unbecoming, so Anonyma withdraws... what does she have now that Rose has fled? Rose left in the night without a trace, unable to face what he is. Through awkward sexual awakenings, near death fever dreams, chance encounters, and a twist that you hopefully won't see coming, Rose embraces the odd life that he has been given in this strange world and the companions in his journey who truly love him.
Misfortune is a Dickensian tale with at LGBTQ mindset. Full of interesting incestuous characters I felt that it never quite lived up to it's full potential due to the shifting narrative that, in the end, opted for a shorter, sleeker, story with annoying time jumps, instead of becoming a book of true Dickensian girth. Now I'm not saying that I wanted every detail on Rose's debauched journey to Turkey, but covering such an expanse of time as a fever dream seemed indulgent of the author. In fact, that might be the crux of my problem, the modern sensibilities thrust into this Victorian age by Stace's whim alienates me from the story. Stace says in an interview in the back of the book that he didn't want to be drawn into the trappings of the time period, a carriage is a carriage, not a barouche, not a gig. By having Misfortune be a modern book set in the past he seems to be wanting to make the book more of a post modern statement piece then a quality read.
By breaking convention he is writing a book that will appeal more to those who have never read Dickens or historical fiction while leaving those of us who love 19th century literature and period pieces cold. Coupled with the fact that he pulls a complete Dickensian HEA that was obvious from page one, his tendency to use some literary tropes and abandon others just goes to show that he was gratifying himself instead of his audience, plus exactly HOW was Rose to inherit... she being a she? Many such little questions bothered me throughout. Though my biggest problem with the book that has nothing to do with Stace might just be a side effect of this lack of interest in the historical details. This problem being that the cover illustration shows clothes incorrect to 1820. Yes, I know I should let this go, but the thing is, I remember the day I picked up this book on a table in Barnes and Noble and it was those lovely Regency clothes that sold me on it...
Yet in the end, Rose is problematical to me. Firstly, the sheer self centered delusions indulged by her parents scares the shit out of me. That two adults could contrive to raise a boy as a girl is just wrong to me. I know in this day and age there are a lot of people who talk about wanting to raise their children gender neutral so that they can come into their sexuality on their own. Personally, I think this is bullshit. It takes awhile for children to become aware of things, just look to Rose for an example, and by at least not setting down for them the basics, well, you are going to get one f'd up kid, again, look to Rose. Children need to understand the world around them in order to find their place, wherever that may be. By taking away Rose's knowledge of the world around her with regard to her body, that's just so many levels of wrong. At least her father Geoffroy has some excuse, obviously being insane, but Anonyma, the cold calculated way she sees changing her child's sex as an experiment just makes me want to slap her so hard. While yes, this does lead to some amusing situations, in the end, I felt such sorrow and pity for Rose that at times the book became hard to read.
But the collusion to keep this lie up. Gaw, the rage in me. Personally, the fact that they were able to pull it off for so long makes me a little awestruck. I personally don't see how they did it. I liked that they mentioned that all paintings with genitals shown were hidden, because that was a problem I really had. How, in an English Country House, with the great artwork that is usually in said houses, were they able to keep Rose in the dark? The secluded environment helped, but still, how? Recent studies have shown that people in the 19th century weren't so repressed sexually as we like to imagine. Yes the book has Anonyma lecturing a young Rose on what is private and what is public, and never stripping or lifting of skirts... but still... how? Rose was raised with two other children and they never once lifted a skirt or whipped it out of their pants? That is giving those kids some amazing, I would say unbelievable restraint. Were they sewn into their clothes? Because that's the only way I see this happening, otherwise, I just don't buy it. And if I can't buy this, well, then the book has a major flaw... or shall I just say, it's a flawed book?
The Last Word: "Manmade"
August 2, 2008
This was a very interesting book to say the least. About a very, very odd, wealthy man who finds a baby boy in a garbage heap and raises him as a girl in remembrance of his dead sister who he never quite got over (I think this was in the mid-1800s). Unfortunately the boy, named Rose, doesn't realize that he is a girl until he is 17 years old, and can't understand why he needs to shave, amongst other things, that his girl friends don't have to do. Really though, the way they explain everything it seems kind of logical why he didn't know he was a boy. He then becomes very confused about who he is, and whether or not he should continue to live as a he or a she, and whether or not he really is the true heir to the home and money of his ancestors. The beginning and end were pretty entertaining and well-written. Parts of the middle focused a bit too much on how he discovered he was a man, and it was really more than I cared to know or wanted to think about. But the characters were really well thought out- especially his greedy relatives. Good book.
August 1, 2007
Confused gender identity, English humor; sometimes very clever and sometimes quite slow paced... While I enjoyed the writing style and the overall plot, the latter portion of the book isn't constructed as well as the first. Oh, but I did enjoy it, and was disturbed by it.
December 2, 2020
.
I have written a review to Wesley Stace's "Misfortune" but here's a review that is probably a good way to start ...
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/wesley-stace/misfortune.htm
I finally finished "Misfortune" by Wesley Stace.
This novel was written in 2005 and is Stace's first. I picked it up at my library's mystery book sale and for a while I wasn't sure it was a mystery. Categorizing a book's genre can be a tricky thing.
The mystery (as it did turn out to be) was Who were Rose's real mother and father? Rose is introduced early on, picked up in a trash heap and delivered to Lord Geoffrey Loveall. The sex of Rose turns out to be the central theme of the story. For a variety of reasons this child is
brought up as a girl despite the fact that he is male.
So the book is a complicated tale of hermaphroditism.
It takes place in London in the 1800s. This is one of those books that includes a family tree diagram at the beginning to help the reader keep track of the people in the story. The book is illustrated by Abbey Tyson. She drew the family tree and also the leading letters of the first sentence in each chapter. I found myself consulting this tree frequently and eventually decided it was so difficult to read and went so far back in time it was best just to read the book and not stress exactly who was related to whom.
Spoiler alert: Very late in the book we learn the probable parents of Rose. Mary Day, the poet deeply admired by Anonyma Wood, the adoptive mother of Rose, is revealed to be the "missing wife" of one of the Lovells.
If you're still with me you now realize the author has crafted a very complex tree indeed.
The book is funny, satirical, a spoof on English aristocracy, and an interesting analysis of how mind bending it must be to be dressed and treated like a female for the first fifteen or so years of your life by people who have their own agendas.
There are some touching moments in the relationship between Rose and his "sister" Sarah (note double meaning here).
I find writing a review of this book difficult. I did finish it but I'm not sure I'd recommend it.
Stace has many references to classical literature and a knowledge of the classics helps the reader understand the story. He has a Suggested Further Reading section at the end which includes Ovid's "Metamorphoses" among many others. It should be noted that bogus names and works are
used as well during the book.
.
I have written a review to Wesley Stace's "Misfortune" but here's a review that is probably a good way to start ...
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/wesley-stace/misfortune.htm
I finally finished "Misfortune" by Wesley Stace.
This novel was written in 2005 and is Stace's first. I picked it up at my library's mystery book sale and for a while I wasn't sure it was a mystery. Categorizing a book's genre can be a tricky thing.
The mystery (as it did turn out to be) was Who were Rose's real mother and father? Rose is introduced early on, picked up in a trash heap and delivered to Lord Geoffrey Loveall. The sex of Rose turns out to be the central theme of the story. For a variety of reasons this child is
brought up as a girl despite the fact that he is male.
So the book is a complicated tale of hermaphroditism.
It takes place in London in the 1800s. This is one of those books that includes a family tree diagram at the beginning to help the reader keep track of the people in the story. The book is illustrated by Abbey Tyson. She drew the family tree and also the leading letters of the first sentence in each chapter. I found myself consulting this tree frequently and eventually decided it was so difficult to read and went so far back in time it was best just to read the book and not stress exactly who was related to whom.
Spoiler alert: Very late in the book we learn the probable parents of Rose. Mary Day, the poet deeply admired by Anonyma Wood, the adoptive mother of Rose, is revealed to be the "missing wife" of one of the Lovells.
If you're still with me you now realize the author has crafted a very complex tree indeed.
The book is funny, satirical, a spoof on English aristocracy, and an interesting analysis of how mind bending it must be to be dressed and treated like a female for the first fifteen or so years of your life by people who have their own agendas.
There are some touching moments in the relationship between Rose and his "sister" Sarah (note double meaning here).
I find writing a review of this book difficult. I did finish it but I'm not sure I'd recommend it.
Stace has many references to classical literature and a knowledge of the classics helps the reader understand the story. He has a Suggested Further Reading section at the end which includes Ovid's "Metamorphoses" among many others. It should be noted that bogus names and works are
used as well during the book.
.
January 27, 2014
This is one of the best contemporary novels that I have read in a long time, and I would recommend it to anyone. It certainly possesses that 19th century classic novel feel, with the woven complications and the aristocratic concerns. However, this book is just strange enough to keep itself from falling into a classic remake.
This isn't a parody; this is taking familiar Victorian ideals and settings while discussing contemporary issues. This is a wonderful book to add to the mix of LGBTQ discussions, as well as more basic identity discussions. I found it absolutely enchanting, and the mystery element was beautifully done as well.
I believe it was volume three, a little more than halfway through the book, where I felt myself begin to falter a bit. The dramatic change in initial tone and setting has a modernist plunge that I was not a huge fan of. However, once I felt reoriented in the story, I liked the twist that volume three had to offer. Even if it seems confusing, it is absolutely worth pushing through.
Additionally, the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are absolutely beautiful. It really adds to the classic appeal and improves the reading experience.
I highly recommend this book to all sorts of readers: mystery, Victorian, romance, adventure, YA/New Adult.
This isn't a parody; this is taking familiar Victorian ideals and settings while discussing contemporary issues. This is a wonderful book to add to the mix of LGBTQ discussions, as well as more basic identity discussions. I found it absolutely enchanting, and the mystery element was beautifully done as well.
I believe it was volume three, a little more than halfway through the book, where I felt myself begin to falter a bit. The dramatic change in initial tone and setting has a modernist plunge that I was not a huge fan of. However, once I felt reoriented in the story, I liked the twist that volume three had to offer. Even if it seems confusing, it is absolutely worth pushing through.
Additionally, the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are absolutely beautiful. It really adds to the classic appeal and improves the reading experience.
I highly recommend this book to all sorts of readers: mystery, Victorian, romance, adventure, YA/New Adult.
January 21, 2022
This is without a doubt the oddest book I've ever read. There were very graphic sexual scenes which made me feel quite awkward and embarrassed. But that was just the nature of the story and it did progress the plot.
The whole point of the story was to make the reader feel uncomfortable I suppose. I felt so sorry for the main character, all that projection, manipulation and lack of explanation or understanding. Rose was very poorly used and I was very pleased with her ending. I was gripped and needed to know what happened to her.
It did very much make you question sexuality and it's role in society and how people who are conflicted can worth through their emotions. But again it's subjective to one person's experience as everyone is different.
All in all a very solid 4 stars from me.
The whole point of the story was to make the reader feel uncomfortable I suppose. I felt so sorry for the main character, all that projection, manipulation and lack of explanation or understanding. Rose was very poorly used and I was very pleased with her ending. I was gripped and needed to know what happened to her.
It did very much make you question sexuality and it's role in society and how people who are conflicted can worth through their emotions. But again it's subjective to one person's experience as everyone is different.
All in all a very solid 4 stars from me.
December 4, 2014
Well constructed and great genderbending topic but ultimately way too predictable.
April 13, 2025
I'm a big fan of Wesley Stace's early albums, and at least one recent one, recorded under the name John Wesley Harding. I've also read one other novel by him that I really liked, so was really looking forward to reading this, his debut novel. But this really didn't do it for me, and at 500+ pages, was a real slog to get through. The book tells the story of Rose, abandoned at birth but rescued by the aristocratic Lord Loveall, who proceeds to raise Rose as a girl, though she was born a boy. All this sounded relevant to our current situation regarding gender. But the book's setting is the early 1800s, and Stace apes far too well the Victorian writing style, something that I really do not care for. One of Wes's early songs contains the line "my songs are too long" and that really applies to his first novel. It wasn't until about page 200 before the book became interesting, and that lasted only a hundred pages or so. There are a lot of characters in the novel - there's an extended family tree diagram in the front of the book, though, frankly, it's really hard to read - and other than a small handful of the main ones, the others are ill-defined and vague. Whenever someone else would appear, I'd wonder, who is this? what's their relationship to Rose? and do I care? The gender questions and sexual awakening and experiences of Rose (the book covers about the first 20 years of her life) were interesting but not enough to save the remainder of the book.
August 30, 2017
I loved it and I became very frustrated with this book. The detail was mind boggling, and some parts of the book could have been left out, and the story could have been told. Maybe if I had listened to it on CD in the car, I would have been more patient, then I probably would have given it 4 stars. I am glad I finished the book, and LOVED the ending, and that made it worth the journey.
September 6, 2020
Great! Although the ending was predictable, it kept me on the edge of my seat. I think my friend Theo will love this.
I must confess that the sudden sex-scenes without reason or introduction made me laugh. I also have to say that I expected more of an exploration of gender and transgender norms, but in fact the book is more about crossdressing. The exciting plot prevented me feeling dissapointed on such a matter.
I must confess that the sudden sex-scenes without reason or introduction made me laugh. I also have to say that I expected more of an exploration of gender and transgender norms, but in fact the book is more about crossdressing. The exciting plot prevented me feeling dissapointed on such a matter.
October 15, 2018
I never expected someone who I could confidently call nonbinary to be a protagonist of a period novel. That was one of the many surprises I found in this book.
Rose Loveall (that is how I'll call the protagonist, because that's what they were called first) is one of the most realistic depictions of nonbinary-ness that I've read. That utter pain at feeling wrong no matter how they present, the awkwardness of puberty and the awakening of sexuality, the feeling of betrayal at the world for being such a strict binary of male and female, for there to be so many double standards and expectations...it feels so real. I commend the author for actually being brave enough to write a character like that.
However, I couldn't give this book five stars for one reason:
There were some very explicit and uncomfortable sexual situations, including Rose and their uncle, Rose and their cousin, etc.. Not that I'm for censorship of sexuality, but that stuff (incest in particular) just frankly makes me very uncomfortable. Not to mention, a lot of scenes seemed to have dubious or non-consent (which also makes me very uncomfortable).
It is refreshing to read a book where someone who is queer gets to be theirself at the end - surrounded by loved ones, without dying a horrible death, without losing the people they love, especially in a period novel. I wish I could be more eloquent here, but the only way to truly understand what I mean is to read the book yourself. I enjoyed this book and I'm sure it will stick in my mind for a long time.
Rose Loveall (that is how I'll call the protagonist, because that's what they were called first) is one of the most realistic depictions of nonbinary-ness that I've read. That utter pain at feeling wrong no matter how they present, the awkwardness of puberty and the awakening of sexuality, the feeling of betrayal at the world for being such a strict binary of male and female, for there to be so many double standards and expectations...it feels so real. I commend the author for actually being brave enough to write a character like that.
However, I couldn't give this book five stars for one reason:
There were some very explicit and uncomfortable sexual situations, including Rose and their uncle, Rose and their cousin, etc.. Not that I'm for censorship of sexuality, but that stuff (incest in particular) just frankly makes me very uncomfortable. Not to mention, a lot of scenes seemed to have dubious or non-consent (which also makes me very uncomfortable).
It is refreshing to read a book where someone who is queer gets to be theirself at the end - surrounded by loved ones, without dying a horrible death, without losing the people they love, especially in a period novel. I wish I could be more eloquent here, but the only way to truly understand what I mean is to read the book yourself. I enjoyed this book and I'm sure it will stick in my mind for a long time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2011
I like reading debut novels in a slightly different way from how I enjoy novels and books in general. There's a freshness to them, and a bit of risktaking as well, on my part as well as the writers'...the potentiality for discovery. Of course, I enjoy reading works by established and acclaimed writers too, but with them there's sometimes a shadow of prior readers' opinions and judgments hovering at the edge of my consciousness. "What did they think here? Were they right? Do I agree with them? Why or why not?" This doesn't bother me or deter me from reading well-known books, but it is nice to read something with no notion or curiosity about what Others thought of it. My opinions can rest on their own laurels for once.
However, I became abundantly aware midway through Misfortune that it was not a great find of a novel, even excusing the author's inexperience. Set in England, it is about a orphan boy who was adopted by an eccentric nobleman and raised as a girl, which conspired to wreak havoc with his/her inheritance. The premise sounded intriguing at first, and perhaps with a better/more experienced writer it might have actually been intriguing. But the plot was unnecessarily complicated by superfluous detail, unclear prose, and a subplot and shifts in point of view that were neither needed nor carried out well. On top of this, the main character's entire being seemed totally centered on his/her gender confusion - which would understandably be an important thing to any adolescent girl who is learning that she is actually a boy, but the focus on it seemed excessive. And what really sent the book across the line into not-goodness was the "twist" at the ending. I won't reveal it, but I will say that I saw it coming a mile away and groaned in disgust because not only was it predictable, it was also trite, unimaginative, and so lame that even romance novels usually avoid that device (or at least execute it better). From the premise, I couldn't help but compare Misfortune to Jeffrey Eugenides' Pulitzer-winning Middlesex , which was published a few years earlier and is stunningly good. The comparison definitely finds Misfortune lacking.
Note: This is a review I wrote five years ago, when I read this book. Being lazy and not having reread, I opted to copy and paste rather than write something new.
However, I became abundantly aware midway through Misfortune that it was not a great find of a novel, even excusing the author's inexperience. Set in England, it is about a orphan boy who was adopted by an eccentric nobleman and raised as a girl, which conspired to wreak havoc with his/her inheritance. The premise sounded intriguing at first, and perhaps with a better/more experienced writer it might have actually been intriguing. But the plot was unnecessarily complicated by superfluous detail, unclear prose, and a subplot and shifts in point of view that were neither needed nor carried out well. On top of this, the main character's entire being seemed totally centered on his/her gender confusion - which would understandably be an important thing to any adolescent girl who is learning that she is actually a boy, but the focus on it seemed excessive. And what really sent the book across the line into not-goodness was the "twist" at the ending. I won't reveal it, but I will say that I saw it coming a mile away and groaned in disgust because not only was it predictable, it was also trite, unimaginative, and so lame that even romance novels usually avoid that device (or at least execute it better). From the premise, I couldn't help but compare Misfortune to Jeffrey Eugenides' Pulitzer-winning Middlesex , which was published a few years earlier and is stunningly good. The comparison definitely finds Misfortune lacking.
Note: This is a review I wrote five years ago, when I read this book. Being lazy and not having reread, I opted to copy and paste rather than write something new.
August 26, 2009
British singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding is a master at cramming verbose stories into fun three-minute pop songs.British novelist Wesley Stace doesn't have the benefit of a bouncy beat, so it takes him 544 pages to tell his story in Misfortune. Even so, Stace's debut novel moves along quickly thanks to his engaging storytelling. This isn't surprising since John Wesley Harding is the musical alias of one Welsey Stace.
A little identity crisis? Maybe, but it's nothing compared to what Rose, the protagonist of Misfortune, suffers. Rescued from abandonment as a newborn and raised as a girl by an English lord who longs for a replacement for his long-deceased little sister, Rose understandably has some issues.
Rose grows up a happy girl in one of the richest household in England, only discovering the truth as he approaches adolescence. Rose decides to run away from both his home and the truth, before deciding to come home and face that truth, on his own terms.
Throughout this Victorian-era story, Stace weaves tales of greedy relatives plotting to overthrow the estate, the inter-workings of the mansion, and the balladeer that found the abandoned baby Rose. Of all these stories, Stace, perhaps slipping into his John Welsey Harding songwriter role, seems most interested in the ballets and he wisely uses them to move the book through it's third act.
Probably because of the English estate setting, Stace's storytelling reminded me a bit of Ian McEwan's in Atonement, though it wasn't quite as strong. Misfortune may have lacked Atonement's big surprise ending, but its finale was still gratifying - especially with a remarkably realistic appendix tacked on. And while I do think that Stace could have used a few less words in his debut, the story still seemed move along as quickly as a John Welsey Harding song.
A little identity crisis? Maybe, but it's nothing compared to what Rose, the protagonist of Misfortune, suffers. Rescued from abandonment as a newborn and raised as a girl by an English lord who longs for a replacement for his long-deceased little sister, Rose understandably has some issues.
Rose grows up a happy girl in one of the richest household in England, only discovering the truth as he approaches adolescence. Rose decides to run away from both his home and the truth, before deciding to come home and face that truth, on his own terms.
Throughout this Victorian-era story, Stace weaves tales of greedy relatives plotting to overthrow the estate, the inter-workings of the mansion, and the balladeer that found the abandoned baby Rose. Of all these stories, Stace, perhaps slipping into his John Welsey Harding songwriter role, seems most interested in the ballets and he wisely uses them to move the book through it's third act.
Probably because of the English estate setting, Stace's storytelling reminded me a bit of Ian McEwan's in Atonement, though it wasn't quite as strong. Misfortune may have lacked Atonement's big surprise ending, but its finale was still gratifying - especially with a remarkably realistic appendix tacked on. And while I do think that Stace could have used a few less words in his debut, the story still seemed move along as quickly as a John Welsey Harding song.
December 4, 2008
I'm not sure what I have to say about this book. I feel like I should have some comment on what it says about social issues of gender, wealth/poverty, etc., but I haven't thought too deeply about it yet. I'm sort of a plot-whore, and this book has lots of plot. I think I'm still too busy sifting through all of that to think about larger implications.
I'm just kind of mad at the parents (though they were nice and did, after all, rescue an abandoned baby) for making the main character deal with such complicated gender issues. It's bad enough when you are born feeling alienated with your sex and/or society's gender roles, but to have that artificially created, even if you come to accept it, seems indescribably worse. Maybe I should just accept that the character learned how to embrace the complexities of his nature, but I haven't gotten there yet.
However, I really did enjoy the book, and it was pretty interesting to learn that the author was/is a musician and that this long novel came from the lyrics of a song he wrote.
I'm just kind of mad at the parents (though they were nice and did, after all, rescue an abandoned baby) for making the main character deal with such complicated gender issues. It's bad enough when you are born feeling alienated with your sex and/or society's gender roles, but to have that artificially created, even if you come to accept it, seems indescribably worse. Maybe I should just accept that the character learned how to embrace the complexities of his nature, but I haven't gotten there yet.
However, I really did enjoy the book, and it was pretty interesting to learn that the author was/is a musician and that this long novel came from the lyrics of a song he wrote.
April 4, 2012
This book was so fantastic! Utterly strange, but in a familiar historical-fiction style. Witty and clever, beautiful and sad, so, so, so interesting. It does drag a bit in the middle when the main character goes on a bit of a quest, but it picks back up again and comes full circle. Unlike anything I've ever read, but as I said rooted in a familiar style so it doesn't feel like you're reading something too out there. It is set in a grand estate (think Downton Abbey), where the ailing matriarch is unsure how her only son, a solitary oddball obsessed with his sister that died in childhood, is going to carry on the family's future, especially with greedy relatives waiting in the wings and a household staff unsure of the son's ability to run things. However, he manages to bring home an infant to raise as his heir--but his manner of raising the child causes problems. The story follows the life of this child's adaptations to circumstances.
March 7, 2016
What started as an interesting premise (a boy raised as a girl) and setting (1800s England, a fave period of mine) got so wretched I had to stop reading.
While exploring the differences of gender and class, and how much is learned and how much is inherent in a person, is great novel fodder;
I felt this book devolved into the author's icky fantasy life? After a while I felt like I was reading kind of soft core gender bendy lit.
After the protaganist discovers his true gender and goes through the sanity threatening process of coming to terms with it, he does some strange sexual stuff and keeps to skirts and veils and all kinds of other bizarre practices. I guess as readers we were supposed to learn that it is not bizarre. Well, I didn't learn my lesson.
Couldn't finish it. Did skip to the end to see what eventually happened. Things seemed to tie up rather neatly.
While exploring the differences of gender and class, and how much is learned and how much is inherent in a person, is great novel fodder;
I felt this book devolved into the author's icky fantasy life? After a while I felt like I was reading kind of soft core gender bendy lit.
After the protaganist discovers his true gender and goes through the sanity threatening process of coming to terms with it, he does some strange sexual stuff and keeps to skirts and veils and all kinds of other bizarre practices. I guess as readers we were supposed to learn that it is not bizarre. Well, I didn't learn my lesson.
Couldn't finish it. Did skip to the end to see what eventually happened. Things seemed to tie up rather neatly.
June 2, 2010
I am not sure how I came about this book. It might have been a recommendation for another book, or simply finding the cover somewhere and being drawn to it (how could I not, there is a woman with a moustache!). In any case, it was an absolute find!
Set in the 19th century it tells the story of Rose Old Loveall, from birth to death, in a memoir style, and with very quirky language. What makes this book different? Well, Rose is found by the Young Lord Loveall after being left for dead in a rubbish heap, barely a day old, and rescued to be brought up as his child, and heir to his fortune. Only Rose is a boy, even if he is brought up as a girl.
Continues at Spoilers and Nuts
Set in the 19th century it tells the story of Rose Old Loveall, from birth to death, in a memoir style, and with very quirky language. What makes this book different? Well, Rose is found by the Young Lord Loveall after being left for dead in a rubbish heap, barely a day old, and rescued to be brought up as his child, and heir to his fortune. Only Rose is a boy, even if he is brought up as a girl.
Continues at Spoilers and Nuts
November 19, 2019
cw: brief mention of sexual violence in review
DNF @ 66%.
Whew, I really tried. I'm the kind of person who forces myself through terrible books I hate because once I start something, I have to finish it. And I even got past halfway! But no thank you. As a trans person, I was intrigued by the premise and was wondering how it would compare with my own thoughts about gender & being raised as the "wrong one", but no - it's just fetishization particularly of trans women. At one point there is a throwaway line where the narrator considers raping a character out of spite/vengeance/what have you. Unsurprising but absolutely despicable. I don't intend on ever reading this author again, regardless of content.
DNF @ 66%.
Whew, I really tried. I'm the kind of person who forces myself through terrible books I hate because once I start something, I have to finish it. And I even got past halfway! But no thank you. As a trans person, I was intrigued by the premise and was wondering how it would compare with my own thoughts about gender & being raised as the "wrong one", but no - it's just fetishization particularly of trans women. At one point there is a throwaway line where the narrator considers raping a character out of spite/vengeance/what have you. Unsurprising but absolutely despicable. I don't intend on ever reading this author again, regardless of content.
June 17, 2015
I found this book years ago, sitting on a discount book shelf. I was intrigued by it and thought I would give it a try. What I found, I loved. Yes, you could call it a Dickens's parody, but writing like this isn't found all the time anymore. It was as if Dickens and Shakespeare sat down together to write something brilliant. There were many pleasant surprises in this story, and I found myself wrapped up in the main character, rooting them on, crying with them, and worried about their future. A true must read.
February 2, 2018
Stace pens a masterclass 'period' piece (qualified by my lack of true knowledge of the period, it 'feels right' anyway)... his attention to detail with the clothing and the settings and the language is incredible... the book is like a gothic comedy of manners... lyrical, musical even... he writes meaningfully on the social and sexual repressions of the time in flowing prose, but never preachy just heartfelt and true... there is a bit of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, but also some Dickens and Proust, possibly... darkly funny, prim but sensual, awkwardly cutesy... just a wonder to read...
February 29, 2008
I loved this gender-bending novel! It's a bit like a fairytale, and a bit like a Dickens novel, and a bit like pretty much nothing else. It concerns one Rose Loveall, raised as a girl, who discovers that she is actually a boy when she hits puberty. Rose travels through personal tragedy and trial by fire in true picaresque fashion, finally emerging as a whole being who manages to embrace both genders. It's funny and beautifully written, and I loved it a lot.
May 1, 2009
A somewhat bizarre story told in a compelling, farcical manner that kept me racing through it.
Rose is telling the story at the end of his/her life. An orphan, Rose is rescued and raised by a wealthy family. S/he is raised as a girl, discovering later that she's really a he. Obvious confusion results, and while the ensuing resolution to the tale ties up in a neat package, the manner of telling drew me in. Stace's language and subtle humor kept me wanting more.
Rose is telling the story at the end of his/her life. An orphan, Rose is rescued and raised by a wealthy family. S/he is raised as a girl, discovering later that she's really a he. Obvious confusion results, and while the ensuing resolution to the tale ties up in a neat package, the manner of telling drew me in. Stace's language and subtle humor kept me wanting more.
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