RA Crossroads No. 7
Julia Quinn's romance novels
By Neal Wyatt -- Library Journal, 09/08/2008
As Lewis Carroll’s Alice so aptly points out, "What is the use of a book...without pictures or conversations?" Welcome to RA Crossroads, where books, movies, music, and other media converge and whole-collection reader’s advisory service goes where it may. In this column, Julia Quinn's romance novels lead me down a winding path.
There is a moment in Jane Eyre when Jane suddenly turns and takes on Rochester, matching him sentence for sentence in a game of wits. Among classic novels beloved by romance fans, it is equaled only by the reverberating conversation between Elizabeth Bennet and Mark Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. That kind of exchange, and everything simmering beneath it, is the holy grail for many romance readers.
Fans looking for more of the same should pick up Julia Quinn, who puts her sharp pen
to outstanding use in The Viscount Who Loved Me. With a mix of dialog and scene building, the story quickly engrosses readers in the battle of Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sheffield, especially when Kate takes Anthony on in a game of Bridgerton Pal Mall and lords it over him with the Mallet of Death.Quinn’s crowing achievement, however, is Hyacinth Bridgerton, who tackles Gareth St. Clair in It’s in His Kiss. When these two cross verbal swords, barbs fly, and I swear, during the Smith-Smythe musicale scene, you can hear Jane Austen laughing.
Lauren Willig, author of the "Pink Carnation" series, is another good choice. Her most recent, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, is filled with sharp and clever writing that sparkles. Protagonist Mary’s first encounter with the darkly intriguing Lord Vaughn has all the seething anxiety of Jane turning to face down Rochester.
Mary Balogh’s Slightly Scandalous shares with Quinn’s books the same swift verbal sparring and scene building. Fans of Quinn’s more somber Kate will particularly enjoy the angst-ridden but witty tale of Balogh’s Freyja Bedwyn and Joshua Moore.
Readers who do not mind their wit interlaced with darkness can move seamlessly from Balogh to Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels. Scene after scene, from one ba
rb to the next, the indomitable Jessica Trent faces off with the Marquess of Dain in what has long been a romance genre classic.
Fans who prefer Quinn’s light touch should consider Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Crusie. Both write contemporary romances overflowing with effervescent banter. Try Phillips’s Match Me if You Can and Natural Born Charmer and Crusie’s Bet Me and Faking It. Both authors have perfect timing; their characters deliver dialog à la Tracy and Hepburn.
And speaking of movies, while romance novels, unlike their chick-lit cousins, rarely make it to the big screen, there are heaps of romantic films that crackle with wit. The classic is His Girl Friday—Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell simply shimm
er throughout the movie, exchanging lines with lightening pace and punch. Another classic, Adam’s Rib showcases Hepburn and Tracy at their best.
Other, more modern films to consider include Shakespeare in Love, the pitch-perfect Much Ado About Nothing (Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson are sublime), and An Ideal Husband with its slow-burning lines. All these movies rely on wit, understand the importance of scene, and get their charm and narrative power from rapid-fire dialog and an undercurrent of sass.
