The Nudeby Dorothy McFallsreviewed by Christine ShoupMay 2009, 358 pages, Publisher: Five Star Expressions, ISBN: 1594147671 Back Cover Blurb: After Elsbeth, Countess Mercer's husband died fighting the French on the Peninsula, the young widow hoped to quietly spend the rest of her days with her uncle and his two spirited daughters. She never expected to find herself at the center of a very public scandal.
An exhibition of a painting titled The Nude that looks shockingly like Elsbeth has set all of the tongues in Regency London wagging. This isn't the first time the painter, Dionysus, has caused havoc in her life. Though she's never met him, she fell hopelessly in love with him through his haunting landscapes nearly a decade earlier. Like Cyrano de Bergerac using his poetry to lure a woman to love another, Dionysus used his paintings to trick Elsbeth into marrying the wrong man. She refuses to let him hurt her again. She vows to find him and force him to prove her innocence.
Nigel, the Marquess of Edgeware, a reclusive but powerful figure in the ton has connections with Dionysus and reasons to protect the artist's true identity. Soon after Elsbeth begins searching for Dionysus, Nigel abducts the feisty widow and insists she accept his help. When she stubbornly refuses, he decides that seducing the lady just might be the swiftest and most effective means of diverting her attentions. Thanks to her unhappy marriage, Elsbeth is wary of men. While Nigel's playful flirting amuses her, she thwarts his attempts to draw her closer until one moonlit night when she is caught breaking into Nigel's study. Suddenly, she discovers she's torn between the artist who owns her heart and the man who can set it free.
I liked it. I liked the new twist on an old theme – nude painting surfaces of well thought of member of the ton causing huge scandal, a case of the Regency vapors ensues, reputation ruined, etc. This author has updated and twisted the tired old theme into something sparkly and new. Both of the protagonists are beautifully tortured souls, and who doesn't love those?
Nigel Purbeck, Marquess of Edgeware, is a powerful member of the House of Lords, confidant to the Prince Regent himself and, by all accounts, a recluse. Nigel is a mystery that every matron of society wishes would attend her parties and every eligible woman wants for herself. Orphaned at an impossibly young age and reared by his uncle, Nigel grew up trying to be everything he should, except himself. Now someone very close to him wishes to see him dead…and soon.
Elsbeth, Countess Mercer, is a charity case, her deceased husband having left her destitute. Having few options, she took her uncle up on an offer to act as a chaperone for his own two daughters for the Season. As the world crashed in around her and the wonderful family who had taken her in suffers from scandal, she needs to find the man who has just ruined their lives. The man who has exposed her to all of society, the man she will find and from demand reparation for ruining her and her family. Dionysus. In order to save her reputation and that of her family she will have to divulge the truth and the horror in her past. This may be too much to ask ... even to save them all from ruin.
First, let me say that for those of you who enjoy the cover of a book almost as much as the book itself, this cover is lovely. There is no Fabio-esque man and impossibly positioned air-brushed woman on this cover – this cover is subtle, classy and refreshing.
As for what's inside, it's a moving tale that will make you feel – something. At times, I was irritated, sad, mad, happy and hopeful. Each protagonist has their own tortured past which allows them to see what the other symbiotic soul is feeling, desire to support each other and get to that safe happy place we all hope is on the other side of despair. At one point, I thought I felt "The Big Misunderstanding" approaching and I nearly flipped out but this was not the case, thankfully, and the book took some twists and turns that I thought worked out wonderfully.
I would totally recommend The Nude to anyone looking for something a bit off the typical Regency formulaic track. It still has all of the necessary components we require in a good Regency novel but adds its own touch as well. I really liked it.
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