Dear Mary Balogh,
Those who read Always Remember may recall that the carpenter in the village of Boscombe made Lady Jennifer Arden a wheeled chair and a new crutch, both of which helped her become mobile in a way she had not been before. That carpenter was Matthew Taylor.
As it happens, Matthew Taylor was born and raised a gentleman on the property neighbouring that of Clarissa Greenfield and her family. Clarissa, now the Dowager Countess of Stratton and Matthew were very close as children, spending most of their summer days and many of the winter ones too, together. When Clarissa was 17 and Matthew was 18, everything changed. Clarissa was in anticipation of an offer of marriage from the Earl of Stratton and it would not be possible for Matthew and Clarissa to remain friends. Both were half in love with one another at the time but each understood that a relationship between them would not have worked – at least, not then. (Most of what I know about social mores in the Regency era is from romance novels but I wondered if it was entirely realistic that a mixed gender couple of that age would be allowed such freedom and privacy, even in the country?)
Matthew was a rebellious and “sullen” child/young man. He did not fit in with his family and was forever getting into trouble. His parents were unimaginative and puritanical. They had a very strict sense of what their son should be and would not waver from it. Matthew had been close with his elder brother, Reggie, as a young boy but something changed between them and all of a sudden, Reggie became stern and distant, telling Matthew that they could not do anything fun together unless Matthew was obedient to their parents – something that just wasn’t going to happen.
Readers of the series know what happened to Clarissa. She married Caleb Ware and raised five children of her own (Devlin, Nicholas, Phillipa, Owen and Stephanie) and one not her own (Ben). Caleb was a cheating cheatypants and there was a great scandal when it was discovered by Devlin in the night of the Ravenswood summer fete about ten years before this book is set. Now a widow, Clarissa has presided over Stephanie’s launch into society, leaving her at something of a crossroads. For the first time, she is now thinking of what she might want to do with her life and has decided to spend some time alone (relatively speaking that is) at Ravenswood to do it. Clarissa left London two months before the season ended, much to the shock and dismay of her family and travelled back to Ravenswood on her own (relatively speaking).
Ben and Jennifer are expecting their first child together and Clarissa decides to call upon Matthew to ask him to design and build a crib as her gift to them when the baby is born. As well as a carpenter, Matthew is a talented wood artist, carving designs which appear to have life and movement.
More than the crib though, Clarissa wants to see whether they might rekindle their friendship which was put on pause 33 years earlier.
Much of the book is Clarissa and Matthew finding themselves or resolving outstanding hurts. Each is on something of a journey of self-discovery. The romance which develops between them felt much more subtle than in the other books of the series (or previous series’). While they spent a lot of time together (much to the keen interest of the local gossips), their romance was quiet and slow-moving.
Matthew married a woman five years his senior after Clarissa married Caleb. That woman was pregnant with (probably) his child. His daughter was stillborn and his wife died suddenly of complications following the birth. He then left home and travelled in Europe and East Asia for 10 years. When he returned, he did not go home. His parents had passed away by that point and his brother had inherited the farm and family mansion but Matthew did not go there. He went instead to Boscombe and set up shop as a carpenter, living simply and quietly, eschewing societal mores about class.
The biggest complication in a relationship between Matthew and Clarissa is the difference in their stations. Matthew was born a gentleman – something the book (and many characters in it) is quick to remind the reader – but he is also the local carpenter. And Clarissa is a countess.
Matthew has income from a property adjoining that of his brother, which was formerly owned by their grandmother. He’s not been to the property since he left England after the death of his wife and daughter. He leased the property out and keeps the income aside, preferring to live by his own means.
Over the course of the book, as the tongues wag and just about all of Clarissa’s family members come to Ravenswood to find out what is going in and ultimately to give their approval of her relationship with Matthew, the couple become close and at least two paths become available to them to find their HEA. I suppose one has to suspend disbelief a little more than usual to buy it but it was fairly clear to me that Clarissa did not intend to spend very much or any time in London with the haute ton and would prefer a quiet life in the country with Matthew, whatever that looked like.
Matthew finds out some information about his family that causes him to rethink his stance; Clarissa decides what she wants to do in the next phase of her life. Along the way, they rekindle their love. It did not feel like the romance was the main story really. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but it is a thing I noted.
I was a little apprehensive when Matthew started to talk about his time in India and possibly Nepal (or thereabouts, it wasn’t exactly specified). There has been some cultural insensitivity in previous books. Overall, I think the author did better this time round. The discussion of the culture was respectful. The Indian (or Nepalese) characters were still not named however. So, better, but not great.
In the first book of the Ravenswood series, Remember Love, Devlin was sent away from home after the disastrous scandal caused by his public accusation of his father’s infidelity. Devlin didn’t handle that situation very well and Caleb was a cheater but I never did quite understand why Clarissa sent him away afterwards. I never did feel it was properly addressed when Devlin finally returned home and eventually made peace with his mother. In this book, the subject is touched upon, with three slightly different explanations.
“I believed the world as I knew it had come to an end. I sent Devin away. He saw it as open rejection on my part, and in some way perhaps he was right—to my shame. But mostly, I believe, I wanted to shield him from the crashing inward of his world. For he had not known. I do not believe any of our children had.”
I thought this explanation was very convenient and I did not believe it for a second.
But had she been equally weak? Had she convinced herself that it was better to have half a life than none at all? Had Devlin’s moral outrage when he found his father up in the temple with that woman in the middle of a ball exposed her own weakness of character as much as it had Caleb’s? Was that why she had sent Devlin away? Had it been not so much to protect him as to save herself from having to look inward and admit the truth about herself?
Getting closer, Clarissa.
“We must not judge,” her mother said, rubbing her hand in a light circle over Clarissa’s back. “None of us are perfect. None of us behave wisely all the time, especially toward our own children, whom we love most in the world.”
“Like the time I sent Devlin away and he cut himself off completely from us for six interminable years,” Clarissa said.
And at this point I was feeling like she was just about there. But then:
“I let you down very badly once, Devlin,” she said. “I sent you away because you had tried to defend my honor publicly. I suffered for that decision for six long years. I suffered because I love you, as I love all my children, perhaps more than I love my own life.
Then Clarissa went and ruined it all by making it all about her. Lady – you sent him away and you suffered? Boo hoo. Why should he feel bad for you about that??
So, four books in, I still don’t think there has been sufficient explanation or grovel from Clarissa about banishing her eldest son in favour of her cheating husband. I don’t think it will be addressed at all in future books. The above is the best I’ll get. It did not satisfy me but YMMV.
If I forget about my feelings toward Clarissa over sending Devlin away, I otherwise liked her well enough. To some extent, her sending Devlin away did seem like something that happened for plot reasons rather than being based on character. Matthew was an interesting character because he was described as difficult, troubled and sullen as a boy. I’m not sure I would have liked him and I don’t quite know why Clarissa did back then either, to be honest. But the Matthew Taylor who is nearly 51 is a good man, even-tempered and comfortable in his own skin and I liked him very much. I felt some discomfort that the “saving grace” to their social acceptance as a couple was Matthew’s status as a gentleman by birth. It’s unfair because that’s how it was back then. But viewed from here I still felt some discomfort about it. And, contrarily I wondered if the social acceptance they found was verging on preposterous, even within the confines of a romance book. What can I say? I contain multitudes.
Remember When felt quiet and introspective. I did not struggle to read it or to finish it. I liked it well enough but I do not think it is one of the author’s better books and it’s not one I expect to revisit.
Grade: B-/C+
Regards,
Kaetrin