Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale

Narrated by Nicholas Boulton

I’m a sucker for a good “second chance” romance, and given that Lessons in French is the tale of two lovers reunited after a decade apart, it was bound to be right up my street. Throw in the words “narrated by Nicholas Boulton” and not only is it right up my street, it’s got its boots off warming its toes in front of the fire at the pub round the corner!

Lady Callista Taillefaire, daughter of the Earl of Shelford, and Trevelyan Davis d’ Augustin, descended from a family of French aristocrats who fled the Terror, fell in love as teenagers, but were separated by the earl, who didn’t believe an impoverished Frenchman was worthy of his daughter. Trev disappeared without another word to Callie, and in the intervening years, she has devoted herself to the running of her father’s house and to the raising of livestock – most specifically her prize bull, Hubert. Now twenty-seven, and having been jilted no less than three times, Callie is resigned to remaining unmarried. Since her father’s death, she and her younger sister have been living at Shelford with the new earl (their cousin) and his stuck-up wife, but they cannot remain there forever, especially as it seems that Hermonie will shortly receive an offer of marriage. After that, Callie will not like to continue under the same roof as the haughty countess and although Hermione insists she won’t marry any man who won’t also house her, Callie doesn’t want to spoil her sister’s chances, and is thinking that she will soon have to leave her home and establish herself somewhere else.

Otherwise, she is content pursuing her interest in animal husbandry, until one day at a local assembly, Trev reappears unexpectedly – perfectly groomed, expensively dressed and even more handsome than she remembers.

All she’s known of him over the past decade has come from the letters he has sent his mother, Madame la Duchesse de Monceaux, who is Callie’s neighbour. He wrote of how he had reclaimed and renovated the family estates and now owns a successful vineyard and various other business interests in letters which the duchess had Callie read to her. But madame is unwell, and Trev has returned to England in order to spend some time with her and see that she is being well cared for. He’s aghast to discover that his mother has been neglected and he asks Callie for her help in putting things to rights.

Trev is stunned to see Callie still in Shelford and is even moreso when he discovers she’s still unmarried. He’d expected her to have been wed long ago, and can’t understand why someone possessed of such beauty and brains hasn’t been snapped up. It’s clear from the start that these two people are still utterly besotted with each other. Even though they haven’t seen each other in almost a decade, their first exchanges are warm and filled with a gentle humour that immediately defines their relationship as having been a very close one, and they slip back into an easy friendship almost immediately:

“Come, I know it’s you,” he said gently. He sat down beside her. “I can see a stray lock peeking out from under that prodigious lovely turban.”

She drew a deep breath. “No, can you? And I was so hoping to be taken for a Saracen.”

She tucked at the nape of her neck without looking at him.

“You’ve mislaid your camel, it would appear.”

Though they both maintain that they are “just friends”, there’s a lovely undercurrent of unspoken desire and attraction bubbling along between them. But of course, theirs is not going to be an easy path to happiness. Trev is keeping secrets about his past activities which could prove fatal should anyone discover his whereabouts, which means he can’t offer Callie the home and the life he thinks she deserves. And Callie has suffered so much rejection that she has come to believe herself unattractive and unlovable – so when Trev tells her he loves her, she can’t bring herself to believe him.

Callie is an endearing and loveable heroine; she describes herself as a “gifted wallflower” and is used to being overlooked. She’s shy around people she doesn’t know, but she has a clever sense of humour and a kind heart; and as the novel progresses, she begins to come out of her shell and to become more assertive. But her inability to believe that Trev truly loves her does become frustrating, and smacks a little of contrivance in order to inject some tension and doubt into their relationship. This lack of confidence in her own desirability adds to her wariness and distrust by the fact that she senses there are things Trev isn’t telling her.

But other than that, I really loved the story. Trev and Callie are richly drawn characters who, as Ms Kinsale’s wonderful writing demonstrates over and over again, are two halves of the same whole. Each made a life for themselves without the other, and could continue to live that way – but together they’re complete. Their love story unfolds slowly, developing through their interactions with each other and with the many and varied secondary characters, all of which combine to provide a detailed portrait of life in a provincial village in the early nineteenth century. There’s plenty of humour in the story, too – especially in the way Trev and Callie bounce one-liners off each other, which is one of the many delights of the book.

I’ve reviewed a number of Nicholas Boulton’s performances by now, and I really am running out of superlatives to describe his work! I think that Trev is one of Ms Kinsale’s more overtly sexy heroes, and perhaps the one most closely related to the dashing dukes, earls and spies so beloved of historical romance in general. I mean that in a positive sense, as it allows both writer and performer to emphasise Trev’s attractiveness in ways which haven’t always been possible with most of the author’s other heroes, all of whom are quite unconventional when compared to the rest of the genre. In that way, perhaps Trev is an unconventional Kinsale hero. He’s troubled and secretive, yes, but he’s not a ruthless assassin or a deaf, former highwayman; he hasn’t been consigned to an asylum, isn’t being brought to the point of insanity and wasn’t brought up as a tightly controlled martial arts expert! Trev is a man who has done things he isn’t proud of for altruistic reasons. He’s got a temper on him, can be recklessly impulsive and sometimes seems a little immature, but his imperfections make him seem accessible and real in a way many romantic heroes are not.

Add Mr Boulton’s velvety tones to a flawed, sexy and incredibly charismatic character – and you’ve got a puddle of Caz on the carpet! Veering towards the shallow end of the pool for a moment, one of my Goodreads updates for this book reads:

… if you haven’t heard Nick Boulton reading this:
“I want to see your stockings.” He growled. “The plain white ones.”
– in your ear, then you really haven’t lived :P

Splashing back towards the deep end, all I can say is that his performance is flawless. His ability to find just the right persona for each character – an elderly French duchess, a pompous military officer, a slatternly cook and any manner of townsfolk and local gentry is second to none. Every single character, no matter how minor their role, is clearly differentiated, and Trev, Callie and the myriad supporting players leap to life in the ears and mind of the listener in a way which is by now familiar, but which continues to enthral every single time. It’s like a favourite treat – you know it’s going to be wonderful, but it never gets old and if anything your enjoyment increases over time as does your appreciation for the sheer skill that goes into each and every one of his performances.

If you haven’t yet discovered the brilliance that is this superb author/narrator team, then I can only encourage you to do so. Every word of every review you’ve read about the brilliance of Mr Boulton as an audiobook performer is completely true and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Caz

Narration: A+

Book Content: B+

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: Minimal

Genre: Historical romance

Publisher: Hedgehog, Inc.

Lessons in French was provided to AudioGals by Hedgehog, Inc. for review.