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landofnowhereChroniques du Pays des Mères, Élisabeth Vonarburg. Nearing the end; only two more weeks to go. This week we get to see a bit more of the world, learn a bit more about the worldbuilding (I am holding myself back from making demographic spreadsheets), and hang out with the Sexy Twins. The end of this installment teases a new historical discovery, which I look forward to reading about next week!
Success, Una Silberrad, 1912. Michael Annarly is a brilliant engineer who has no interest in office politics. His cousin Nan Barminster is a nondescript young woman who works for her father, an antique furniture dealer, and is quietly brilliant in her own way. After an incident completely derails Michael's promising career, Nan takes him under her wing. Previously having read three Una Silberrads, I had a good sense of how she writes relationships between men and women, even though the arcs have been different in each book I've read, which helped me figure out where this was going. I was pleased that our protagonists figure out that, while they have a real and enduring bond, they don't want to marry each other, and instead end up happily established in their separate careers. It's also interesting in reflecting the attitudes of the time on cousin marriage: nobody in the book suggests that Nan and Michael being cousins would be an obstacle to their marrying -- Nan's father does think it's a bad idea because they're "too similar", while some friends just assume they will marry because it's the obvious thing to do.
Other sociological notes: Michael works in weapons manufacture, and sells his designs to multiple countries, and only one character (whose progressive politics is portrayed as a charming character quirk) even bats an eyelid about the ethics of profiting off war. There are also some very brief mentions of the Barminsters doing business with Jews, but while the language is slightly jarring it gives a sense of them as serious businessmen.
Success, Una Silberrad, 1912. Michael Annarly is a brilliant engineer who has no interest in office politics. His cousin Nan Barminster is a nondescript young woman who works for her father, an antique furniture dealer, and is quietly brilliant in her own way. After an incident completely derails Michael's promising career, Nan takes him under her wing. Previously having read three Una Silberrads, I had a good sense of how she writes relationships between men and women, even though the arcs have been different in each book I've read, which helped me figure out where this was going. I was pleased that our protagonists figure out that, while they have a real and enduring bond, they don't want to marry each other, and instead end up happily established in their separate careers. It's also interesting in reflecting the attitudes of the time on cousin marriage: nobody in the book suggests that Nan and Michael being cousins would be an obstacle to their marrying -- Nan's father does think it's a bad idea because they're "too similar", while some friends just assume they will marry because it's the obvious thing to do.
Other sociological notes: Michael works in weapons manufacture, and sells his designs to multiple countries, and only one character (whose progressive politics is portrayed as a charming character quirk) even bats an eyelid about the ethics of profiting off war. There are also some very brief mentions of the Barminsters doing business with Jews, but while the language is slightly jarring it gives a sense of them as serious businessmen.