The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan

Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

The Suffragette Scandal is an extraordinary book, and one which is quite difficult to encapsulate in a review. It’s the last full-length novel in Ms Milan’s Brothers Sinister series, and like the books which precede it, contains a beautifully developed romance set against a thoroughly researched and fascinating historical background. Ms Milan is surely unique among the writers in the genre of historical romance for the incredible insight she affords her audience into the issues of the time at which her books are set and for the way in which each story is developed so that these elements are fully integrated into the plot and characterisation rather than seeming like a tacked-on history lesson.

In 1877, Frederica – or Free – Marshall is the owner and editrix of The Women’s Free Press – a newspaper by women, for women and about women. When Mr Edward Clark appears in her office one day, telling her that while he’s not a man to be trusted, he’s discovered a plot to ruin her and destroy her newspaper, Free is, of course, suspicious. Being a woman fighting for recognition in a man’s world is a dangerous occupation, after all; but she hears him out and, in spite of his confession to larcenous activities, comes to the conclusion that what he’s saying isn’t outside the bounds of possibility.

Free decides to go along with the plan Edward outlines to foil the plot – but not without a contingency plan, should the mysterious Mr Clark turn out to be as untrustworthy as he insists. When she pulls the metaphorical rug out from under his feet and outwits him, Edward is shocked – but instead of indulging in a male fit of the sulks, he finds himself admiring her for her ingenuity and sheer, bare-faced cheek.

In fact, that’s one of the many remarkable things about Edward Clark. He might think of himself as a blackguard, but if he is, he’s an extremely egalitarian one. A self-professed liar, forger and blackmailer, Edward tells Free outright that he doesn’t give a damn about her and warns her not to trust him. In fact, he tells her that repeatedly, yet every single one of his actions shows us the complete opposite (which earns Ms Milan a big bravo! for the way she SHOWS rather than just TELLS the listener the things we need to know about her characters).

He’s also one of Ms Milan’s most complex, emotionally scarred heroes. Abandoned in war-torn Europe, he had to face inconceivable horrors and then to re-invent himself just to survive. Believed dead by his aristocratic family, he is content to remain so, having no wish to return to England or to inherit the wealth and title that have become rightfully his upon the recent death of his father.

Free is an amazing heroine: a woman who is prepared to suffer indignity and abuse because of the strength of her belief that it’s down to people like her to make the world a better place. Fiercely intelligent, dedicated and passionately devoted to the cause of women’s suffrage, she’s both an idealist and a pragmatist. In fact, her pragmatism is one of the most extraordinary things about the book; it would have been easy to have written a story in which the suffragette heroine wins some sort of hugely important victory for her cause, but that’s not how things happened and it’s not what happens in this book. Free is well aware that change can’t be effected overnight and knows that for anything to happen there have to be people like her, people willing to keep chipping away at the foundations of their male-dominated society until those foundations begin to crumble and to allow for something else to take its place.

The relationship between Free and Edward is complex and beautifully developed. The friendship that grows between them is genuine, and the strength of the attraction they feel for each other is palpable and undeniable. Edward is keeping a big secret, however, one that he knows will lose him Free forever – and oh, the cruel irony of the fact that the only way he can keep her physically safe is by revealing it.

I listened to this ten-hour audiobook in two sittings because I just couldn’t bear to turn it off. (I was also fortunate enough to have been able to spare the time across two days in order to do so). The story is wonderful, and I enjoyed it every bit as much in audio as I did when I read the book. Ms Milan is a top-notch writer, and it’s hard to imagine that her work could be improved upon, but – and I mean no disrespect to her – I think The Suffragette Scandal is even better in audio.

Rosalyn Landor has fantastic material to work with, it’s true, and she always delivers a highly polished, strongly characterised performance that is expressive and possessed of a good deal of emotional sensitivity. Yet in every one of the Brothers Sinister books, I’ve felt that she’s raised her game, because she has absolutely nailed Every. Single. One. There hasn’t been one point at which I found myself wincing at an accent or having to rely on dialogue tags to remind me who was speaking; there isn’t anywhere I felt emotional nuances have been missed or exaggerated, or that a character’s motivations have been misinterpreted or a character inaccurately portrayed.

Edward is described as having a slight French accent because of his years spent living there, and Ms Landor gives him exactly that – the tiniest cast to his speech that immediately marks him out for the listener as being “different”. She’s just as successful at portraying him when he has to slip into the role of “titled gentleman”, his bored drawl and unthinking superiority of tone painting a swift portrait of a man who accepts obsequiousness as his due. While the entire audiobook is superb, there are a couple of scenes which really stood out for me. One features Oliver Marshall (Free’s half-brother) and Edward hiding in a cupboard waiting to catch a thief red-handed. It was funny in print, to envision these two rather large men who are jealously protective of Free (who would, of course, kick both their arses should she get wind of such a thing!) being forced to spend time together in a restricted space. In audio, it’s funnier, because Ms Landor has so perfectly captured Edward’s air of bored superiority and Oliver’s exasperation. The other stand-out scene features the letters Edward and Free exchange after he returns to France. Funny, poignant and tender in print, when spoken aloud with the right emotional emphasis, they’re even better.

Every audiobook in this series has gone straight onto my “favourites” shelf, and The Suffragette Scandal is going to join the others there. Ms Milan’s incredible writing combined with Ms Landor’s sensitive characterisations has proved to be a winning formula, and even though this series is (almost) finished, I hope they continue to collaborate on future projects.

Caz

Narration: A+

Book Content: A

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: Minimal

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Courtney Milan

The Suffragette Scandal was provided to AudioGals by ACX for review.