Status
Series
Publication
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML: From gifted new writer Tasha Alexander comes a stunning novel of historical suspense set in Victorian England, meticulously researched and with a twisty plot that involves stolen antiquities, betrayal, and murder And Only to Deceive For Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to escape her overbearing mother, who was set on a grand society match. So when Emily's dashing husband died on safari soon after their wedding, she felt little grief. After all, she barely knew him. Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that Philip was a far different man from the one she had married so cavalierly. His journals reveal him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with his wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and she immerses herself in all things ancient and begins to study Greek. Emily's intellectual pursuits and her desire to learn more about Philip take her to the quiet corridors of the British Museum, one of her husband's favorite places. There, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries. And to complicate matters, she's juggling two very prominent and wealthy suitors, one of whose intentions may go beyond the marrying kind. As she sets out to solve the crime, her search leads to more surprises about Philip and causes her to question the role in Victorian society to which she, as a woman, is relegated..… (more)
User reviews
It isn’t until
When Emily becomes intimately acquainted with Phillip’s closest friends and learns of some questionable transactions, her newfound affection for her dead husband begins to waver. Mysterious letters, forged Greek antiquities, black market purchases and the sense of being watched, all contrive to sway Emily’s opinion that Phillip isn’t the decent, honourable man she has discovered through his journals. And when some disturbing news surfaces, Emily decides it is time for some answers.
For the reader, And Only to Deceive is more than a story of intrigue and mystery set in Victorian England. It is a book which encourages the reader to expand their mind with the pleasures of Greek literature or to explore the beauty of Praxiteles’s sculptures.
I thoroughly enjoyed And Only to Deceive. The characterization of Emily along with Madam Cécile du Lac and Margaret Seward were a refreshing delight and I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a well written story with an avid mix of intellect.
I admit I’ve been spoiled by Deanna Raybourn’s novels. Raybourn really knows how to create a great historical setting, intriguing characters, and a believable mystery. And Only to Deceive, I think, is a lighter version of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries. I noticed, though, that in several places, especially the proposal scenes, the author lifts lines directly from Jane Austen! I enjoyed the story—it’s fast-paced and fun—but I think the author sometimes sacrificed historical accuracy for the mystery. Would a single woman, even a widow, have addressed a member of the opposite by his first name (even if he really was courting her)? Would a woman, even one as forward-thinking as Emily, have walked around at night, in public, in her nightgown? And that leads me to another point—Emily’s sensibilities were a little too modern at times.
But as I said, the story moves at a brisk pace, and the mystery is an interesting one. A bit predictable, at the end, but good nonetheless. This is a good novel if you’re in the mood for something not too brain-taxing. Still, I’d recommend Deanna Raybourn’s books over this one.
We meet a loveable bunch of characters in this novel, from Margaret the brash American socialite to Cecile, the eccentric French widow. The story unfolds in a plethora of twists and turns, and in the background there is just a hit of romance from the many suitors Emily finds at her door. Some are earnest and don’t fully appear so, and some are not earnest at all. You will find yourself surprised at just how things all unfold and turn out to be sure. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, and some mystery. And if you’re a woman who likes to see ladies going against society’s rules, well pull up a glass of port and enjoy some time with Lady Ashton.
other reviews have expressed admiration for the narrator as an uncoventional heroine determined to achieve self-actualization. she rebells against society's strictures, educating herself, drinking port, traveling, and unmasking criminals, all of which is meant to endear her to me as a modern, independent, strong woman, i suppose. but i couldn't engage in the story on her behalf. i found her cold and boring, (mostly because the book just wasn't that well written,) an impersonal guide in the unfolding of a bland mystery. in short, i could not derive even a modicum of enjoyment from this book. boo.
Emily, however, begins to notice some unusual things about her husband's death. She begins to investigate, and finds that contrary to her own feelings, her husband was actually deeply in love with her. This situation alone raises the book above the average historical mystery. However, Lady Ashton has the misfortune to be one proto-feminist mystery solver among many: Deanna Raybourn's Silence in the Grave has many similarities with this book, and of course, it is tempting to compare this series, with a lead character fascinated with ancient Greece, to Elizabeth Peters' series about proto-feminist Amelia Peabody. Lady Ashton is much more believable than Amelia Peabody, though--Lady Ashton, at least, never spontaneously decides she is going to wear pants rather than skirts.
...Though she does decide that she will drink port with the gentlemen after dinner, rather than flit off to gossip with the women...
The use of Greek poetry and tidbits of various other classic writings lends the novel an air of elegance, which unfortunately is dispelled by the rather stilted dialogue and plodding plot. Nothing much seems to happen besides a succession of conversations and the occasional passionate kiss. The "mystery" is not terribly compelling, and I didn't find Lady Emily the memorable heroine that so many other readers have. Despite the author's laudable desire to make her characters true to the period (no 21st-century people dressed up in 19th-century clothes), I'm not sure she succeeded. In particular, I found Lady Bromley an unconvincing caricature of a marriage-mad mother, so ridiculous and over the top that she quickly becomes boring.
This novel reminded me of Deanna Raybourn's Silent in the Grave and its successors. Fairly enjoyable for an afternoon, but not something to which I'll return.
Another author's blurb noted that "had Jane Austen written the Da Vinci Code, she may have well come up with this elegant novel." Don't even go there. A) the book was not even close to something Jane Austen may have written and B) there's not a hint of the Da Vinci Code in this story.
But if you like mysteries, the core conundrum was a good one. I'd recommend it for readers who like a good puzzle to solve (this one kept me reading way into the night), or to readers who like books set within this time period.
All in all, not too bad for a series debut.
I'd give it a 3.5, really, but for some reason, the new system doesn't allow me to put in the half star.
The story line was interesting; however, the plot at times became bogged down. While I enjoyed the mystery, it was not my favorite. It was a book that you could put down rather than one that held you captive.
Emily's first reaction to news of her husband's death is relief. He wasn't a bad fellow, but she only married him to get away from her mother's constant nagging, and hey – a couple of years wearing ugly mourning colours, and now she's free and clear and can do what she wants. Yay. Unfortunately, as time goes by, Emily succumbs to her husband's friends' opinions of him, and begins to fall morbidly in love with his memory, the ideal image of the man she never bothered to get to know. He genuinely loved her; that's enough to start her falling. Too late.
In her fervor of self-flagellation for being unable to face Philip's friends and family, she begins to throw herself into his passions. Well, two of them; she still can't abide his beloved hunting (which would have been quite a can of worms if he had lived), but she plunges into the study of ancient Greek and the appreciation of ancient Greek art. In about five minutes she begins to uncover what must be a forgery ring, and, fearing her husband might have been involved, investigates.
She is shaken, trying very hard to reconcile this criminal activity with her green worship of him. Then the book catches up to my prediction (based on the classic soap opera warning "did you see the body?") and she is told Ashton might still be alive, despite his best friend's insistence that he was there and watched the man die. She is thrilled, determined to move heaven and earth to find him and nurse him lovingly back to health. A little ways into that process, I had an intuition that he couldn't be alive after all – and I was right. I've said it before: if I can predict how your book is going to turn out, you've done something wrong. And so he is revealed to yes, be dead, and in fact, have been murdered, and she basically shrugs her shoulders and swans off to revel some more in her romantic ideal of the widow who, see? Really did love her husband after all (if too late).
Excerpts from Ashton's journal never really pull their own weight; they are mostly inconsequential, unrelated to the chapters they proceed, and never echo what Emily thinks about them. Though I suppose I should be happy the author spared me the long and boring passages about hunting, still, on the flip side there was remarkably little about the wedding night. Which isn't said out of prurience, but just because Emily was sort of looking forward to what he wrote.
And the ending … the wrapup of the story was satisfying enough, but once everything was explained away there were still far too many pages left. And it just kept going. All through the book Ashton's friend (whatsit) had been encouraging Emily to go to Greece, to the villa in Santorini Ashton had prepared for her. I had rather expected that to be the next book – it would be perfect, I thought, to build it up, maybe have her planning the trip as this book ended, and then set the second book in the series on the island.
Nope.
The book was quite readable, which is why I did read it through. But it was disjointed. As a friend pointed out in her review, there was a great deal attempted, and not really succeeded at. And one major thing keeping this book from a higher rating was the completely incomprehensible handling of the forger. He is stunningly gifted, and has no problem selling copies of ancient work: he makes no pretense that they are the real thing, after all, and what his buyer does with the work once it's his isn't the artist's problem. Which … is a nice way to look at it, if you can manage it, but isn't very realistic. Up to that point it reminded me very strongly of the case of the artist Alceo Dossena and his buyer, his dealer, Alfredo Fasoli. Dossena claimed ignorance of the ultimate dispositions of his work, too, but he wasn't quite so cheerful about the fact that while he got a pittance for the art his dealer would sell it on, as original, for thousands. He sued. This guy? He has absolutely no problem with the fact that his name is still unknown, that the scores of hours of work and talent invested in every piece is being attributed to others, and – least likely – has no problem with living on the edge of poverty while his dealer is raking it in. Worst, though, is the fact that this one forger handles several different media, no problem. Sculpture? Got it. Black figure urn? No problem. And so on. I went to art school; I’ve always been interested in art forgery and I’ve read a bit about it. I know full well that artists are more than capable of great things in more than one medium – but the likelihood that a man would be so very, very good at pottery AND sculpture as to have his work pass for the best of the best among the ancients, including Praxiteles, is incredibly small. For him to be so gifted and still not be able to make a living for himself without being completely unscrupulous… maybe it's not unrealistic, but it seemed so.
Suddenly, about three quarters of the way through the book, Emily develops a very lawyerly turn of mind, knowing instinctively finer points of what is and is not strictly legal and what will and will not convict a man. The reformation of a female main character from fluffy-headed clotheshorse at the beginning to strong and capable independent woman by the end is no new thing in fiction, but (or maybe "and so") it has to be handled well to be really believable. I'm not so sure about Emily.
Delightful reads. The writing wasn't as scintillating as the Lady Julia Grey series, but the plots were better. I also liked how Colin treats Emily as an equal whereas Nicholas always treated Julia as an idiot. Probably not very realistic, but more satisfying.
And Only To Deceive was Tasha Alexander's debut novel and the introduction of Lady Emily Ashton. It's the late 1880s, and Emily has been widowed soon after her wedding. As she only married to escape her mother's incessant matchmaking, she is not
Lady Emily Ashton has since become the heroine of a series of novels, and I can't help wondering if her tendency to be attracted to every man who shows interest in her (and there are lots, because she is of course rich and beautiful) will continue. In this novel there are three distinct suitors, including her late husband, and Emily oscillates between them as their relative merits and demerits are exposed. If that was meant to be as funny as I found it, then I have to congratulate Ms Alexander on her subtlety.
Otherwise, this wasn't a subtle book. The characters are a little two-dimensional and the writing a bit loose - but hey, it's a first novel by a fairly young author, and that's what I got from the book. I also spotted a few anachronisms and Americanisms (the heroine is British) but not so many that I got annoyed; and in any case, this is a lighthearted novel to be gobbled up on the plane, boat or train, despite the detail about the Iliad and Greek antiquities (not strictly necessary in my opinion, but I suppose a widow must have some interests other than men).
And I enjoyed the read. A good one for fans of Victoriana, Greece, and writing that's heavy on dialogue and short on emotional depth. I'm hoping that Emily, who seems more passionate about her clothes than anything else, will pick up a little steam when I pick up the next book--which I'm sufficiently intrigued to do.
The Greek antiquities her husband collected become fascinating to Emily, and she starts studying them as well as Homer, the Greek language and other studies. I love that she takes that on for herself, she is such a great character!
Speaking of great characters: Colin...oh Colin. He is magnificent book crush material. Strong, smart, handsome, rich and capable. He is also understanding and even approving of Emily's attempts to release herself from the woman's normal role: even when she stays in the room with the other men for cigars and port after dinner! Shocking! But, he is definitely man enough to handle Emily in all her port-drinking-Lady Audley's Secret-reading glory, if Emily wants to let him handle her, that is. When this book ends, the jury is still out on that. She won't give up her new found independence easily.
This is a fantastic historical mystery series, with dashes of romance of course. I definitely recommend picking them up! Tasha Alexander really knows how to create fantastic characters and captivating stories!
I really enjoyed this mystery with it look inside upper class Victorian society and this fiesty character. This is the first novel featuring Lady Emily Ashton.
One of the things I really enjoyed was the idea of Emily getting to know her husband only after he’d been dead for 18 months, having married him
The outcome of the mystery – who is selling fakes to the British Museum – is fairly obvious from about halfway through the book, and the characters do start to conform to generic ideas of hero, villain etc., but this is, I hope a rookie mistake. As always with American writers writing about British characters there are anachronism which grate on this British reader. However these are minor quibbles as all in all this is good debut and I shall look out for other books in the series.
She didn't know him well, and while sad is not heartbroken at his death. He leaves her with money, social position
She mainly married to escape her harpy of a mother. Marriages in her class are arranged to secure position, fortune, and ensure the continuation of the line. Partners don't have to love each other, and often don't. Its a plus if they are compatible or even like each other.
In exploring her freedom, she finds out more about Philip from his friends and journals and finds he was in love with her, and a decent, interesting man. She also takes up his interest in ancient Greek culture. While doing so she finds what seems to be evidence that he might have been involved in stolen antiquities.
There are various characters who try to help her in her quest to educate herself, and some males who are trying to court her although she is still in mourning. Her mother is also plotting how to get Emily another marriage - though Emily is not interested.
The mystery comes in trying to decide who is doing the stealing, and commissioning the copies that are used to replace the originals. The story of Emily is interspersed with journal entries of Philip from just before their marriage, until the day before his death. The more I read about Philip the sorrier I was that he was dead and a character who would not be part of future stories.
The characters are well done, and the setting is interesting. There is a bit of a romance in the story, with hints that it will be part of future stories. The tone of the story is light and fun.
Only one big mistake that I can see: Philip writes in his journal while in Africa of the camp being beset with Howler Monkeys. They are new world monkeys, and not in Africa.
I have the next 2 in the series and will read them. I found out about the series because I saw book 4 being offered through LT ER.