Daughter of the Game
SOME SPOILERS
Daughter of the game is a surprisingly good period thriller set just a few years after the Battle of Waterloo. Charles and Melanie Fraser appear to be the perfect high-society couple, in love, with 2 delightful children, a background in espionage and diplomacy, and now, in Charles's case, a high-flying political career. This idyllic life is shattered when their son, Colin, is kidnapped, and in order to get Colin back, past histories have to be re-examined. On closer inspection the past is not quite what it seemed, and this will have major implications on the present.
The atmosphere and London settings are very well portrayed, and there's a good strong historical background, which is informative, but doesn't overwhelm the narrative. In some ways it is a rather anachronistic tale - a central theme of the novel is illegitimacy, and I wasn't entirely convinced that a nineteenth-century gentleman would have been as tolerant of suspected illegitimacy as Kenneth Fraser was. To be fair I think this would have been an issue for me even in a novel set in more modern times just because of the character of Kenneth Fraser.
However in general it was really enjoyable - a clever storyline with lots of twists and turns. I would definitely look out for more novels by Tracy Grant.
Daughter of the game is a surprisingly good period thriller set just a few years after the Battle of Waterloo. Charles and Melanie Fraser appear to be the perfect high-society couple, in love, with 2 delightful children, a background in espionage and diplomacy, and now, in Charles's case, a high-flying political career. This idyllic life is shattered when their son, Colin, is kidnapped, and in order to get Colin back, past histories have to be re-examined. On closer inspection the past is not quite what it seemed, and this will have major implications on the present.
The atmosphere and London settings are very well portrayed, and there's a good strong historical background, which is informative, but doesn't overwhelm the narrative. In some ways it is a rather anachronistic tale - a central theme of the novel is illegitimacy, and I wasn't entirely convinced that a nineteenth-century gentleman would have been as tolerant of suspected illegitimacy as Kenneth Fraser was. To be fair I think this would have been an issue for me even in a novel set in more modern times just because of the character of Kenneth Fraser.
However in general it was really enjoyable - a clever storyline with lots of twists and turns. I would definitely look out for more novels by Tracy Grant.
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