The Affectionate Adversary by Catherine Marshall

I am incredibly sorry to say that I was disappointed in The Affectionate Adversary. I enjoyed the setting, particularly the time period, and the opening chapter, which was set in the Indian Ocean. However, I found the rest of the book lacking. The conflict felt contrived, in so far as the hero would tell the heroine that he could never see her again, and then she would send him a note, asking to meet, in order to explain that she could never see him again. Ms. Palmer did a good job of getting the research on the big things right (i.e. the corn laws, and their effect on the poor), but I didn’t feel that she was as successful in conveying the realities or the mindset of the era. Finally, her dialogue sounded stilted, much more so than expected of a historical novel. Particularly when compared to the inner monologues, which were not just less formal, but much more modern in tone. Unfortunately, this is not a book that I can recommend.