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Chameleon in a Mirror
ASIN moved from less recent edition
Meeting Aphra Behn is Billie's wish come true -- and now she's trapped in the 17th century!
Billie Armstrong has long wanted to give Aphra Behn, the first professional woman writer in English, the prominence she deserves. But when Billie accidentally activates the magical properties of a baroque mirror, propelling herself into the seventeenth century, she gets more than she bargained for. What develops is an unwilling masquerade, a tale of license, love and literature, as Billie does her best to survive in a strange era and ensure Aphra’s literary survival in the future.
Meeting Aphra Behn is Billie's wish come true -- and now she's trapped in the 17th century!
Billie Armstrong has long wanted to give Aphra Behn, the first professional woman writer in English, the prominence she deserves. But when Billie accidentally activates the magical properties of a baroque mirror, propelling herself into the seventeenth century, she gets more than she bargained for. What develops is an unwilling masquerade, a tale of license, love and literature, as Billie does her best to survive in a strange era and ensure Aphra’s literary survival in the future.
- GenresFantasy
385 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 7, 2014
17 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Nestvold
71 books66 followersRuth Nestvold has published widely in science fiction and fantasy, her fiction appearing in such markets as Asimov’s, F&SF, Baen’s Universe, Strange Horizons, Realms of Fantasy, and Gardner Dozois’s Year’s Best Science Fiction. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Tiptree, and Sturgeon Awards. In 2007, the Italian translation of her novella “Looking Through Lace” won the “Premio Italia” award for best international work. Since 2012, she’s been concentrating her efforts on self-publishing rather than traditional publishing, although she does still occasionally sell a story the old-fashioned way. She maintains a web site at http://www.ruthnestvold.com and blogs at https://ruthnestvold.wordpress.com.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 7, 2018
This is a very enjoyable read, more historical fiction or fictionalised biography than I expected although there is a tale of a traveller through time. I was gripped from beginning to end.
I knew very little about the real people in this book, although I have read a tiny bit of the poetry some of them produced all those years ago. It doesn't matter though, as the author has brought them to vivid life depicting each character with real depth and individuality. The story told is clever and imaginative set in the modern era and the 17th Century of Aphra Behn, and her contemporaries, during the reign of Charles II. Full of the wit and sarcasm of the era without the challenging language, with snippets from the poetry or plays of the cast. Contrasts in the roles and expectations of women in society can't help but be drawn however the political undertones don't overpower the story even as they are integral.
If you love good characterisation, fluid writing in an easy to read style even if history isn't your thing I think this is worth giving a try. A very good read.
I knew very little about the real people in this book, although I have read a tiny bit of the poetry some of them produced all those years ago. It doesn't matter though, as the author has brought them to vivid life depicting each character with real depth and individuality. The story told is clever and imaginative set in the modern era and the 17th Century of Aphra Behn, and her contemporaries, during the reign of Charles II. Full of the wit and sarcasm of the era without the challenging language, with snippets from the poetry or plays of the cast. Contrasts in the roles and expectations of women in society can't help but be drawn however the political undertones don't overpower the story even as they are integral.
If you love good characterisation, fluid writing in an easy to read style even if history isn't your thing I think this is worth giving a try. A very good read.
April 30, 2018
Time travel with a twist
I found this book quite entertaining. I have been a fan of time travel stories for 50 of my 79 years and found this to be a pleasant change from the norm. The jump to another time period is only a small part of this books fascination. The real beauty of the tale is the comparison of two very different periods of history as seen from a modern woman. The characters were extremely believable and I enjoyed the contrasts with great fevor. I recommend this novel to all who show an interest in history.
I found this book quite entertaining. I have been a fan of time travel stories for 50 of my 79 years and found this to be a pleasant change from the norm. The jump to another time period is only a small part of this books fascination. The real beauty of the tale is the comparison of two very different periods of history as seen from a modern woman. The characters were extremely believable and I enjoyed the contrasts with great fevor. I recommend this novel to all who show an interest in history.
July 1, 2021
This was a surprisingly excellent time travel novel (I say "surprisingly" merely because I've finally learned not to expect much from random books I picked up as freebies ages ago), taking the reader as well as its protagonist into the world of theatres and playwrights in Restoration era London. Wonderfully written, with both vividly rendered settings and fascinatingly complex characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book - I just wish I knew the first thing about Aphra Behn, I likely would have gotten even more out of it if I did.
December 30, 2021
Wonderful story
This book really caught my emotional being and also the intellectual part of me that loves reading stories that take place in the past. The book doesn't look like it can be the beginning of a series so I am going to go back to Amazon and see what other stories that the author may have written.
This book really caught my emotional being and also the intellectual part of me that loves reading stories that take place in the past. The book doesn't look like it can be the beginning of a series so I am going to go back to Amazon and see what other stories that the author may have written.
April 25, 2016
Originally posted on A Keyboard and an Open Mind March 28, 2016:
I have to admit I went into this novel somewhat blind, as I had absolutely no knowledge of the time period in which most of it is set, nor one of its main characters, Aphra Behn, a playwright of the time who has somewhat faded into obscurity. I don’t think this was an issue though, as I was presented with a rich setting and fascinating characters that left me wanting to go off and find out more on my own.
Willa Armstrong, aka Billie, has spent the last year in London studying, and the only thing left is her dissertation. She wants to focus on the influence playwright and novelist Aphra Behn had on later writers, however, she is met with resistance from her professors and even her boyfriend seems to be against her. When she reads some of Behn’s poetry in front of a seemingly innocuous mirror from the time period, she finds herself transported back to the Behn’s time and not only witnesses the performances of some of Behn’s best-known plays, but also finds herself entangled with Edward Ravenscroft, a dashing contemporary of Aphra’s who wants her to stick around.
Billie spends her time in the Restoration switching between disguises – Will (in male garb) and Clarinda (in female). She is able to slip in and out of each role with ease, hence the chameleon reference in the title. I thought she adapted to the seventeenth century perhaps a little too easily, and I definitely questioned her decision to actually start sleeping with Ravenscroft (she does hesitate for a while on contraception grounds, but I couldn’t help thinking that surely that was the least of her issues in that time!), but I appreciated that she did still want to return to her own time and modern conveniences; I feel like too often in these types of stories, the characters find themselves really torn between the two times. While Billie did feel this way, I never felt like there was any chance of her deciding to stay.
Aphra Behn was also a really great character. She was very aware of her situation as a woman writer, but she also had a playful side. Scenes where her values were compared to Billie’s were interesting; we like to think that we are far less restrained in the twenty-first century, but sometimes it seems that isn’t really the case. I sometimes found it hard to like the male characters too much, including Ravenscroft. While he definitely had strong feelings for Billie, I couldn’t help being distracted by the fact that he did still see her as more of a possession or a conquest than a human being. Having said that, it is true to the attitudes of the time, so I probably can’t really complain that much. It was also addressed by Billie, which made it a bit easier to take; if she had just been starry-eyed and in love, I would have been a lot more bothered.
The thing I really loved in this book was the setting. Ruth Nestvold has clearly done a lot of research into the period, and I learned so much about it by reading the book. The details were rich, and I really felt like I was walking down those old London streets. Nestvold acknowledges in her author’s note that she took some liberties with history and geography, but the writing still felt authentic. I’m not one who minds liberties in the name of artistic licence so that wasn’t a problem for me.
At times, the story did feel a little bit slow (especially the first third), but if you treat the story as more of an exploration of this personality and the times in which she lived, the the pacing makes more sense. Nestvold also says in the author’s note that the story is more ‘political’ than ‘action-packed’, and the story revolves more around gender politics of the 17th century theatre world and the politics of how people are remembered than any one climactic event.
Overall, I recommend this book for any fans of this period of history and/or of theatre, who are looking to know more.
I have to admit I went into this novel somewhat blind, as I had absolutely no knowledge of the time period in which most of it is set, nor one of its main characters, Aphra Behn, a playwright of the time who has somewhat faded into obscurity. I don’t think this was an issue though, as I was presented with a rich setting and fascinating characters that left me wanting to go off and find out more on my own.
Willa Armstrong, aka Billie, has spent the last year in London studying, and the only thing left is her dissertation. She wants to focus on the influence playwright and novelist Aphra Behn had on later writers, however, she is met with resistance from her professors and even her boyfriend seems to be against her. When she reads some of Behn’s poetry in front of a seemingly innocuous mirror from the time period, she finds herself transported back to the Behn’s time and not only witnesses the performances of some of Behn’s best-known plays, but also finds herself entangled with Edward Ravenscroft, a dashing contemporary of Aphra’s who wants her to stick around.
Billie spends her time in the Restoration switching between disguises – Will (in male garb) and Clarinda (in female). She is able to slip in and out of each role with ease, hence the chameleon reference in the title. I thought she adapted to the seventeenth century perhaps a little too easily, and I definitely questioned her decision to actually start sleeping with Ravenscroft (she does hesitate for a while on contraception grounds, but I couldn’t help thinking that surely that was the least of her issues in that time!), but I appreciated that she did still want to return to her own time and modern conveniences; I feel like too often in these types of stories, the characters find themselves really torn between the two times. While Billie did feel this way, I never felt like there was any chance of her deciding to stay.
Aphra Behn was also a really great character. She was very aware of her situation as a woman writer, but she also had a playful side. Scenes where her values were compared to Billie’s were interesting; we like to think that we are far less restrained in the twenty-first century, but sometimes it seems that isn’t really the case. I sometimes found it hard to like the male characters too much, including Ravenscroft. While he definitely had strong feelings for Billie, I couldn’t help being distracted by the fact that he did still see her as more of a possession or a conquest than a human being. Having said that, it is true to the attitudes of the time, so I probably can’t really complain that much. It was also addressed by Billie, which made it a bit easier to take; if she had just been starry-eyed and in love, I would have been a lot more bothered.
The thing I really loved in this book was the setting. Ruth Nestvold has clearly done a lot of research into the period, and I learned so much about it by reading the book. The details were rich, and I really felt like I was walking down those old London streets. Nestvold acknowledges in her author’s note that she took some liberties with history and geography, but the writing still felt authentic. I’m not one who minds liberties in the name of artistic licence so that wasn’t a problem for me.
At times, the story did feel a little bit slow (especially the first third), but if you treat the story as more of an exploration of this personality and the times in which she lived, the the pacing makes more sense. Nestvold also says in the author’s note that the story is more ‘political’ than ‘action-packed’, and the story revolves more around gender politics of the 17th century theatre world and the politics of how people are remembered than any one climactic event.
Overall, I recommend this book for any fans of this period of history and/or of theatre, who are looking to know more.
January 8, 2015
“Life may imitate theater, but theater rarely imitates life,” is a truism that cannot be denied. Almost all pioneers are criticized, ostracized and ridiculed for daring to do, think or go where no one has gone before. When this social leper is a woman and taboo subjects are added then you have the perfect mix for a memorable story. Aphra Behn (1640-1689) is at the core of this story of time-travel and intrigue. Oregon migrant Willa (Billie) Armstrong has spent the last year in London studying for her degree and only has to complete her dissertation on this highly influential and little remembered English Restoration author but is finding the task more daunting that she originally imagined. As she was setting out objects of the time, on loan for the planned symposium, a gaudily framed mirror and a few lines from old and all but forgotten play “The Dutch Lover” serve as a catalyst that rockets Billie back three hundred and forty years to the time of the Restoration. Suddenly she finds herself face to face with her heroine of early English literature and is instantly assumed to be a young and very attractive man. While struggling to understand and adjust to these new and unexpected changes she reveals her femininity to Aphra and soon finds herself hobnobbing with London’s literary elite. Billie soon moves freely in time, adding a new and dynamic dimension to her time-travel adventure. Much has been written and said about the use of factual characters and events intermingling in fiction. I for one find it both refreshing and informative. The reader is blessed with a glimpse of the past in all its grandeur and horror. I have discovered that I have a newly discovered neophilia for the period and its semi-obscured and generally forgotten characters. This book is bound to take you on a unique excursion to a different time and a faraway place without the smells or leaving your comfortable reading chair.
October 10, 2014
This book fascinated me and had me feeling as if I really was living right alongside Billie and her new found friends in 17th century England. As a History and English literature major, I feel deeply in love with this book and all of the characters! I find myself searching old archives for every i can find on Aphra Behn, so fascinated am I with her and the time period as well as with her plays. I have always had a deep love for the language of the time. I sincerely want to live there in the book with Billie, to live in that amazing time period! It is clear this author has an amazing amount of knowledge with the time period, is extremely well written and writes the story in a beautifully unique and engaging way. The character development is absolutely perfect, as is the way she writes the plot/storyline. The characters are effectively described as are the scenes in such a way that made this read fall completely in love with them. The dialogue is magnificent, each character speaks distinctly in such a way that I could hear their dialect, accent and diction throughout and that is in and of itself hard to accomplish but, this amazing author did it and magnificently! The descriptions are creatively unique and realistic and clearly on a level all their own. I will actively seek out an autographed copy of this book from the author to purchase and cherish for years to come. This amazing book has move me that much and I could not help but burst into tears by the end. I was so incredibly moved by it.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves a magnificent book that will make you experience a myriad of emotions, warm your heart and soul, then leave a lasting impression on you as on of the greatest reads of this century!
I recommend this book to anyone who loves a magnificent book that will make you experience a myriad of emotions, warm your heart and soul, then leave a lasting impression on you as on of the greatest reads of this century!
October 2, 2015
meleon in a Mirror, although being a Time Travel novel, is actually more of a historical novel. It is about a Phd English Lit student Billie who accidentally finds herself back in the 1700, and meets the playwright Aphra Behn who she is researching.
I loved this book, not enough for 5 stars but enough. All the characters are very well-developed making it easy for me to identify, especially with Billie and how she copes with all her different identities, she is most definitely a chameleon.
Sadly I know very little about early playwright history so I can’t honestly say whether this story is accurate or not. What I can say is that it piqued my interest enough to make me wonder if I’m doing the wrong degree! Everything sounds plausible and the facts within the story remained consistent so I’d assume most of it is accurate. It’s unusual to pick up a book like this and want to learn more, and this one definitely made me want to learn more!
If you are interested in history or even if you’re not then you will love this, just don’t expect a Time Travel book in the Sci-Fi sense, as this is not. Enjoy.
NB I Reveived this book free for an honest review
I loved this book, not enough for 5 stars but enough. All the characters are very well-developed making it easy for me to identify, especially with Billie and how she copes with all her different identities, she is most definitely a chameleon.
Sadly I know very little about early playwright history so I can’t honestly say whether this story is accurate or not. What I can say is that it piqued my interest enough to make me wonder if I’m doing the wrong degree! Everything sounds plausible and the facts within the story remained consistent so I’d assume most of it is accurate. It’s unusual to pick up a book like this and want to learn more, and this one definitely made me want to learn more!
If you are interested in history or even if you’re not then you will love this, just don’t expect a Time Travel book in the Sci-Fi sense, as this is not. Enjoy.
NB I Reveived this book free for an honest review
October 7, 2015
Pros: I love the time travel and historical aspects of this book. Some of my favorite books are time travel and historical romances.
Cons: This book moved kind of slow.
Overall, I liked this book. I really wanted Billie and Damon to end up together. I was disappointed when they didn't find a way to be together. He was willing but she wasn't willing to give up modern conveniences for love.
Cons: This book moved kind of slow.
Overall, I liked this book. I really wanted Billie and Damon to end up together. I was disappointed when they didn't find a way to be together. He was willing but she wasn't willing to give up modern conveniences for love.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews