Highlander Undone by Connie Brockway

Narrated by Napoleon Ryan

Connie Brockway’s latest novel Highlander Undone is a well-written story which features a mystery running alongside a tender and well-written central romance. I enjoyed reading the book, and chose the audiobook for review because it afforded me the chance to listen to Napoleon Ryan, a narrator whose name I’ve seen cropping up more and more frequently as a narrator of historical romance but haven’t yet heard.

Seriously wounded while on active service in the Sudan, Captain John (Jack) Cameron of the Gordon Highlanders is sent back to England to recover from his injuries, entrusted to the care of his only living relative, his great-uncle Lord Merritt. Jack spends a number of months confined to the dower house on his uncle’s estate, and because he is bedridden, becomes inadvertently privy to a number of conversations that take place on the terrace below his open window.

The usual participants in these discussions are Ted Pfyfe, a well-known portraitist, and his widowed sister, Addie Hoodless, whose husband Charles was a member of the Black Dragoons regiment.

Before he succumbed to his injuries, Jack had received some very disturbing information to the effect that a British officer in that very regiment had been instrumental in perpetuating the slave trade that the army had been sent to North Africa to curtail solely in order to line his own pockets; and that the same officer had also caused the delay of important orders, which ultimately led to the massacre of hundreds of soldiers at Khartoum. As he recovers, Jack becomes resolved to discover the identity of that man – but he must do it without any official assistance so as not to alert him and cause him to go to ground. Jack is at a loss as to how he can possibly go about his inquiries; but when he overhears Ted telling Addie that his latest commission is to paint the portraits of a number of Black Dragoons officers, it seems he has been handed a golden opportunity. Lady Merritt is Ted’s patron, so Jack should have no problem gaining access to his studio. He’s sure that the boredom caused by the inactivity necessitated by their sittings will loosen the men’s tongues and allow him to gather the information he needs.

There is, however, a problem with that plan in the form of Addie Hoodless. From the conversations he has overheard, Jack knows that Addie’s marriage was not at all happy and that her husband was a brute and a bully who physically abused her. She is uncomfortable around men in general and soldiers in particular, believing them all to be callous thugs like her late husband; so in order to infiltrate their circle, Jack decides to act the part of a harmless, flamboyantly-dressed and slightly effete dilettante.

When Addie meets Jack for the first time, she is astonished – and pleased – to realise that she is strongly attracted to him. She spent six miserable years learning not to feel or show any emotion, and has continued to be quiet and effacing during the year of her widowhood. But Jack’s handsome face, his kindness and his ready wit make an immediate impression on her, and before long, the two are becoming firm friends. Jack is similarly taken with Addie, and the closer they become, the more conflicted he becomes, unable to reconcile his growing feelings for her with the fact that he is deliberately deceiving her.

I enjoyed the story in spite of a few rough edges and the rather huge coincidence of Ted’s just happening to be painting the portraits of the very men that Jack is out to investigate. But the bulk of the novel is devoted to the romance between Addie and Jack, which is very well done. Both are engaging, attractive characters, and I was impressed with the subtlety with which author shows how badly Addie was affected by her husband’s cruelty. We are never witness to his brutality, but the way she withdraws into herself, both physically and mentally; the way she reacts to most of the men around her is clear indication of the trauma she suffered. On a more positive note, the author also does an excellent job in showing us how Addie, with Jack’s support, begins to reinvent herself and to rediscover the vivacious, outgoing woman she once was. And Jack is a delicious hero – handsome, honourable and highly intelligent with a biting wit that he employs to great effect on numerous occasions.

I admit to being less satisfied with the secondary plotline of the book, which is concerned with Jack’s search for the traitor. His identity is obvious early on, so it’s really a case of how Jack is going to prove his suspicions rather than a “whodunnit”, which is fine, but this element of the story doesn’t feel as well developed as the romance. I was also less than impressed with the way Addie treats Jack towards the end of the book. It’s true that he lies to Addie by omission, but she is too concerned with her own issues to be able to see the bigger picture and while her reaction is certainly plausible, it is also rather petty when all is said and done.

Napoleon Ryan’s name has been on my radar for a while, but this is the first time I have listened to him – and I’m pleased to say that his performance is polished and entertaining. He has a pleasant, cultured baritone voice that is easy on the ear, and his portrayal of Jack Cameron is very good indeed. He gives him a gentle Scottish burr that is accurate and consistent, and adds a husky note which is very attractive; and in the parts of the story when Jack has to act the ennui-laden fop, he raises his pitch slightly and drops the huskiness, his delivery reminding me a little of the camp cabin-crew character played by Alan Cumming in The High Life, an old BBC2 sitcom. The other principal male roles are equally well performed and I was very impressed with Mr Ryan’s vocal range, both in terms of pitch and dynamics. He gives the character of Paul Sherville (a former colleague of Charles Hoodless) a loud bass growl which never sounds strained, and I thoroughly enjoyed his characterisation of Ted Pfyfe – the sort of big brother every girl should have! – who sounds very 1940s BBC; a kind of cross between Noel Coward and George Sanders, which works brilliantly.

His female voices are decent, although his interpretation of Lady Merritt certainly falls over the edge into caricature. Addie is very softly spoken and while Mr Ryan doesn’t resort to falsetto, she sometimes sounds a little too “prissy”, for want of a better word. But that’s a very small niggle, and wasn’t enough to spoil my enjoyment of the overall experience. I am looking forward to listening to this narrator again.

Caz

Narration: B+

Book Content: B

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: Minimal

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Highlander Undone was provided to AudioGals by Brilliance Audio for a review.