my new favorite book series!
Jul. 21st, 2024 06:36 pmI have a new obsession that I simply must recommend to you.
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion are the journals of a late Victorian wannabe-bluestocking who relates her her many adventures and misadventures, and I love them with all of my heart. I inhaled all 7 of the (currently existing) journals in a week and I am...overcome with affection that I must share with the world.
Emma is the daughter of a fine lady who ran away to marry a talented Irish painter. After an idyllic childhood, her parents died, and she was left more or less on her own. We join her story in March of 1883, when she's less than a year away from turning 21, becoming an adult, and getting her inheritance, which consists of small living and a house in London called Lapis Lazuli House.
So we open with Emma arriving at Lapis Lazuli House and launching into battle with her crotchety old cousin who has been living in the house for the past twenty years. Lapis Lazuli House just happens to be in St. Crispian's, a (fictional) area in London near Primrose Hill, one that is full of character and whimsy and a touch of magic.
And of course, things are not going to go as smoothly as she'd hoped they would. Complications (some very serious) are introduced right away, but they're accompanied by delights, and we get the joy of watching Emma encounter them all.
Emma is intrepid and plucky and all those other qualities I love in a heroine. She's smart and funny and clever and free-spirited. Through her eyes, we meet all kinds of interesting people and watch her as she gets into (what Anne Shirley would call) scrape after scrape.
The supporting cast is just delightful in every conceivable way. I love EVERYONE! (Except the one or two characters you aren't really supposed to love, and one of them even ends up coming around!) I think it's the wide range of characters, all with their own backstories and motivations, that reminds me most of Ibbotson.
As I told![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dollsome, these books are me-coded. (And also dollsome_coded.) Think the smart and plucky heroines of L.M. Montgomery and Maud Hart Lovelace. Think the hilarious and delightful details and eye for the ridiculous of Eva Ibbotson’s adult books. Think the eccentric neighborhood of Stars Hollow (St. Crispian's is basically Stars Hollow as Victorian London neighborhood. No one will ever be able to convince me that the writer is not a Gilmore Girls fan). Think of the way that the best classic plucky-heroine-books of our youth (Alcott and Burnett and others) manage to be both warm and fuzzy while also acknowledging the tragedy of the world.
These books are not fluff (I am…not a fan of fluff without ballast). They have weight to them. But at the same time they’re the kind of delightful escape I know I’m going to revisit frequently. They scratch a particular kind of itch which is SO hard to scratch because they just aren’t being written much these days.
Emma deals with so many ridiculous things, but she has has to confront real and profound grief, and the sections that deal with that grief are very moving and realistic. This keeps the whole thing from wandering into the too-twee area that I find a lot of "cozy" books do. Those books are...not for me. They're too much like cotton candy and I hate cotton candy. This is more like a perfect pastry paired with a strong cup of coffee. (Presumably. For people who like coffee. Which I do not.)
There is, of course a romance--one I quite like, as it is actually slow-burn enough for me--but that's not the focus of the books. The focus is on Emma and all her relationships and the world that she lives in, and that's what reminds me of the favorite books of my childhood.
There's also just a touch of the fantastic--think Emily Starr and the flash and her prophetic dreams, etc.--that is honestly just so wonderful to me.
Of course, these books will not be to everyone's taste. Everyone is wittier than people are in real life, which I know drives some people mad. And there's really no queerness to be found (though I hold out hope that there will be later--new characters and elements keep getting introduced). They are completely unconcerned with wider systemic issues (we're in the era of Imperial Britain but that just...doesn't come up much). Like I said, there's a lot about grief and death and some (and more to come) about war, certainly, but there's not much of a look at systemic injustice and imperialism--that's not what these books are for. (Again, think Montgomery/Lovelace.) If any of those things bother you, this series is not for you.
My only real complaint about them (except for the fact that I have to wait in between each one from here on out!) is that the writer is a little too taken with the idea of a girl who's one of the guys. Not that she sneers at feminine things--she does not (she mocks the marriage market, but in an understandable way). Just in that her most important friendships tend to be with her male friends (and romantic interest).
This is a shame because all of the female characters are incredible. Emma, Mary, Arabella, Aunt Eugenia, Agnes, Saffronia, Mrs. Penury, and many others! I adore them all! But Emma ends up forming a little clique with men instead of women and this is where things depart from absolute perfection for me.
Look, I get the author's idea that, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a bunch of truly wonderful and good men who all adored and appreciated me?" Like, I would also like to live in that world! But it just feels a wee too self-indulgent to me. I don't like it when the writer's id intrudes quite so much. I want to have to read a bunch of their books and pick up on things slowly in order to recognize their kinks.
But the male characters are wonderful (I have developed a truly gargantuan crush on one of them. It's the vicar. No one should be surprised. If I were 14, I would be writing self-insert fic where he finds in love with me) so this just a small complaint. I'm hopeful that in the future we'll get more time spent on the female relationships. Like I said: they're there, and they're incredible. (Aunt Eugenia in particular is right out of a Montgomery book, truly! Think Rachel Lynde meets Aunt Nancy Priest meets Miss Cornelia meets Valancy's mom! I am truly so glad I do not know her, but as a character, she is STERLING. Oh and Mrs. Penury definitely definitely wandered over from Montgomery too!)
I can afford to be very hopeful about the future because there are...so many books still to come. Just so many. And I will read all of them. Nay, I will buy them!
That's right, I love these books enough to buy them in hard copy! I actually broke my own rule and signed up for a couple of months of (discounted) Kindle Unlimited so I could read them, but never fear: the writer will be getting my money. As soon as I move since the last thing I need is more books for the movers to have to struggle with.
I also will definitely be requesting this series for Yuletide and possibly other exchanges in the future. There's so much room to explore! The one single way it reminds me of Harry Potter is just the feeling that there is so much room to explore characters and the world, and that is quite impressive for a (technically) non-fantasy series. It isn't that often that I praise the worldbuilding of a non-speculative piece of fiction, but I will gladly do it here. St. Crispian's is so real and detailed--there's even a map!--and I want to live in it.
I am yearning for a friend or two to talk about these with, so if any of you read them, please come yell at me! They are shortish--I read three in one day last Saturday--and so very readable so hopefully I won't have to wait terribly long before one of you will have been bullied into reading them.
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion are the journals of a late Victorian wannabe-bluestocking who relates her her many adventures and misadventures, and I love them with all of my heart. I inhaled all 7 of the (currently existing) journals in a week and I am...overcome with affection that I must share with the world.
Emma is the daughter of a fine lady who ran away to marry a talented Irish painter. After an idyllic childhood, her parents died, and she was left more or less on her own. We join her story in March of 1883, when she's less than a year away from turning 21, becoming an adult, and getting her inheritance, which consists of small living and a house in London called Lapis Lazuli House.
So we open with Emma arriving at Lapis Lazuli House and launching into battle with her crotchety old cousin who has been living in the house for the past twenty years. Lapis Lazuli House just happens to be in St. Crispian's, a (fictional) area in London near Primrose Hill, one that is full of character and whimsy and a touch of magic.
And of course, things are not going to go as smoothly as she'd hoped they would. Complications (some very serious) are introduced right away, but they're accompanied by delights, and we get the joy of watching Emma encounter them all.
Emma is intrepid and plucky and all those other qualities I love in a heroine. She's smart and funny and clever and free-spirited. Through her eyes, we meet all kinds of interesting people and watch her as she gets into (what Anne Shirley would call) scrape after scrape.
The supporting cast is just delightful in every conceivable way. I love EVERYONE! (Except the one or two characters you aren't really supposed to love, and one of them even ends up coming around!) I think it's the wide range of characters, all with their own backstories and motivations, that reminds me most of Ibbotson.
As I told
dollsome, these books are me-coded. (And also dollsome_coded.) Think the smart and plucky heroines of L.M. Montgomery and Maud Hart Lovelace. Think the hilarious and delightful details and eye for the ridiculous of Eva Ibbotson’s adult books. Think the eccentric neighborhood of Stars Hollow (St. Crispian's is basically Stars Hollow as Victorian London neighborhood. No one will ever be able to convince me that the writer is not a Gilmore Girls fan). Think of the way that the best classic plucky-heroine-books of our youth (Alcott and Burnett and others) manage to be both warm and fuzzy while also acknowledging the tragedy of the world.These books are not fluff (I am…not a fan of fluff without ballast). They have weight to them. But at the same time they’re the kind of delightful escape I know I’m going to revisit frequently. They scratch a particular kind of itch which is SO hard to scratch because they just aren’t being written much these days.
Emma deals with so many ridiculous things, but she has has to confront real and profound grief, and the sections that deal with that grief are very moving and realistic. This keeps the whole thing from wandering into the too-twee area that I find a lot of "cozy" books do. Those books are...not for me. They're too much like cotton candy and I hate cotton candy. This is more like a perfect pastry paired with a strong cup of coffee. (Presumably. For people who like coffee. Which I do not.)
There is, of course a romance--one I quite like, as it is actually slow-burn enough for me--but that's not the focus of the books. The focus is on Emma and all her relationships and the world that she lives in, and that's what reminds me of the favorite books of my childhood.
There's also just a touch of the fantastic--think Emily Starr and the flash and her prophetic dreams, etc.--that is honestly just so wonderful to me.
Of course, these books will not be to everyone's taste. Everyone is wittier than people are in real life, which I know drives some people mad. And there's really no queerness to be found (though I hold out hope that there will be later--new characters and elements keep getting introduced). They are completely unconcerned with wider systemic issues (we're in the era of Imperial Britain but that just...doesn't come up much). Like I said, there's a lot about grief and death and some (and more to come) about war, certainly, but there's not much of a look at systemic injustice and imperialism--that's not what these books are for. (Again, think Montgomery/Lovelace.) If any of those things bother you, this series is not for you.
My only real complaint about them (except for the fact that I have to wait in between each one from here on out!) is that the writer is a little too taken with the idea of a girl who's one of the guys. Not that she sneers at feminine things--she does not (she mocks the marriage market, but in an understandable way). Just in that her most important friendships tend to be with her male friends (and romantic interest).
This is a shame because all of the female characters are incredible. Emma, Mary, Arabella, Aunt Eugenia, Agnes, Saffronia, Mrs. Penury, and many others! I adore them all! But Emma ends up forming a little clique with men instead of women and this is where things depart from absolute perfection for me.
Look, I get the author's idea that, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a bunch of truly wonderful and good men who all adored and appreciated me?" Like, I would also like to live in that world! But it just feels a wee too self-indulgent to me. I don't like it when the writer's id intrudes quite so much. I want to have to read a bunch of their books and pick up on things slowly in order to recognize their kinks.
But the male characters are wonderful (I have developed a truly gargantuan crush on one of them. It's the vicar. No one should be surprised. If I were 14, I would be writing self-insert fic where he finds in love with me) so this just a small complaint. I'm hopeful that in the future we'll get more time spent on the female relationships. Like I said: they're there, and they're incredible. (Aunt Eugenia in particular is right out of a Montgomery book, truly! Think Rachel Lynde meets Aunt Nancy Priest meets Miss Cornelia meets Valancy's mom! I am truly so glad I do not know her, but as a character, she is STERLING. Oh and Mrs. Penury definitely definitely wandered over from Montgomery too!)
I can afford to be very hopeful about the future because there are...so many books still to come. Just so many. And I will read all of them. Nay, I will buy them!
That's right, I love these books enough to buy them in hard copy! I actually broke my own rule and signed up for a couple of months of (discounted) Kindle Unlimited so I could read them, but never fear: the writer will be getting my money. As soon as I move since the last thing I need is more books for the movers to have to struggle with.
I also will definitely be requesting this series for Yuletide and possibly other exchanges in the future. There's so much room to explore! The one single way it reminds me of Harry Potter is just the feeling that there is so much room to explore characters and the world, and that is quite impressive for a (technically) non-fantasy series. It isn't that often that I praise the worldbuilding of a non-speculative piece of fiction, but I will gladly do it here. St. Crispian's is so real and detailed--there's even a map!--and I want to live in it.
I am yearning for a friend or two to talk about these with, so if any of you read them, please come yell at me! They are shortish--I read three in one day last Saturday--and so very readable so hopefully I won't have to wait terribly long before one of you will have been bullied into reading them.
