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I really enjoyed Moira being the convent scholar. It makes her recognizable to modern readers without the more usual tactic of having a medieval heroine dress up as a male and be skilled in fighting, etc. I always like brainy heroines, anyway. And her hiding her knowledge & her studies was a gentle reminder that at that time, learning, particularly outside of the church, was frowned upon, at the very least. Nice little red herring there with the alchemy, and it pointed out that science and magic weren't considered all that different back then. Another thing I liked about her was that she was a mixture of convent-raised naivete and intelligence, and that her intelligence manifested itself in practical ways. She didn't make foolish decisions for the sake of her own pride, which impressed me.

Ian, well, he was pretty much "practically perfect in every way," right? Not that Moira recognized that right away, with the way he deceived her into marriage. Another tribute to her intelligence is that she did forgive him once she understood that he made a "difficult decision" (love how she kept coming back to that) for everyone's benefit. He thought he'd never love again after Kathleen died, but just as Anne said, once someone has known love, they're more likely to find it again.

Blair and Anne were wonderful. I really enjoyed how they were each spying on the other. Not minding it a bit, either!

Did women enter menopause that early back then, or was it just more dangerous and/or less likely for them to conceive? That fainting worried me. I never fainted when I was pregnant. I did throw up a lot, though.

Moira's father sending her away..... I understood that at the end---he'd really loved his wife, and when she died, he shut himself off from his children. The boys, well, especially back then, they weren't supposed to be coddled anyway. But Moira was a reminder of his wife, and caring for her was too painful. He did start thawing at the end, there, so I'm thinking there's hope for him.

As for the mystery, at first I suspected Moira's father, but as soon as we met Arran, he was my prime suspect. Since Brianna didn't have a child, I didn't really see how he'd benefit (yeah, sometimes I do need to have things spelled out for me), but I figured he was involved somehow. He was so anxious to fight with the border clans, and so horrible to Brianna. I really wish he'd been found at the end. I guess I'm going to have to read the next book, huh?

Oh, and I loved when Ian discovered the "sewing room". I always enjoy it when characters don't do the usual things.

Labels: books, flashback, HistoricalRomance

// posted by Darla @ 3/21/2008 03:31:00 PM