Reforming Lord Ragsdale
By Carla Kelly
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Release Date: March 10, 2014
(Originally published by Signet, 1995)
Reviewed by Janga
John Staples, Marquess of Ragsdale, once a young man of
purpose and promise, has over the decade since he inherited the title become a
drunkard who lives a life of indolence and indulgence with little thought to
his responsibilities. The only strong emotion that he can summon is hatred of
the Irish. It was during a fight in Ireland that he lost one eye and saw his
father killed by an Irish mob. He deals with his guilt over his inability to
save his father by drinking himself into a stupor deep enough to blot out his
memories. He is not pleased when the visit of his American cousins, Robert and
Sally Claridge, requires some exertion on his part. Robert is to be enrolled in
Ragsdale’s own college at Oxford, and Ragsdale’s mother will introduce Sally to
the ton and find her a suitable husband.
Emma Costello is the Claridge’s indentured servant who has
accompanied the brother and sister to London to serve as Sally’s maid. Ragsdale
is initially impressed by Emma’s dignity and a degree of knowledge rare in a
servant, but when he discovers that she is Irish, he dismisses her as
worthless. Even so, when Robert, who is
as addicted to gambling as Ragsdale is to alcohol, attempts to offer Emma’s
papers of indenture as a stake in a game during which he has already lost all
his money as well as all of Ragsdale’s ready funds, Ragsdale’s essential
decency will not allow him to ignore the situation. He interferes, offering his
two high-bred horses in place of Emma. Ragsdale is then the owner of Emma’s
indenture.
One night when Ragsdale is so drunk he can reach his room
only with Emma’s help, he asks her to reform him. Emma draws up a contract and
persuades the drunken Ragsdale to sign it. She will reform him as repayment for
the two thousand pounds (the cost of the horses) he paid for her indenture and
thus earn her freedom. Emma is no ordinary servant. She is a beautiful, cultured,
educated woman whose strength has been tested by the losses she survived. She
has no more love for the English than Ragsdale does for the Irish, and her
reasons are at least as just as his. Nevertheless, she is determined to carry
out the reform of Lord Ragsdale. She secures the help of his mother and begins
her program of reform by ending Ragsdale’s access to alcohol. She pays his
bills, dismisses his mistress (but only after befriending her and devising
means for the woman to respectably earn her living), and she oversees
Ragsdale’s makeover into an acceptable husband for a proper wife, Miss Clarissa
Partridge.
During the process Emma and Ragsdale become friends. He
shares with her the horrors that have tormented him for ten years, and Emma
eventually shares with him her own horrific tale of torture and loss.
Friendship turns to love, but neither Emma nor Ragsdale have any illusions
about their future. There can be no shared future for an English marquess and a
formerly indentured Irish servant, no matter her origin.
From the time I first read Carla Kelly’s earliest
traditional Regencies back in 1989-1990, I have sung her praises to anyone
who would listen to me. When I encounter another reader who loves Carla Kelly’s
books, I add a name to my tribe. My print copies of the fifteen trads she wrote
between 1989 and 2002 have been reread until the covers are tattered and the
pages are loose. The anthologies that include her novellas have fared no
better. I was elated when her books became available in digital versions in
2012. I was thrilled to have Kindle copies of Miss Drew Plays Her Hand, Libby’s
London Merchant, One Good Turn,
and others, but I had to wait two years to add my #1 favorite Carla Kelly book,
Reforming Lord Ragsdale to my digital
collection. I have reread it once a year since then.
I consider Reforming
Lord Ragsdale as close to perfect as any romance I have ever read, and I
have read thousands. First, the characterization is superb. Romance readers
talk a great deal about strong heroines. Emma Costello is certainly one of the
strongest. Readers see her strength of mind, heart and body not only in her
past but also in her dealings with Ragsdale, in her struggle to solve her
problems, and in her walks to Newgate Prison. Ragsdale may seem weak initially,
but Kelly shows us his intelligence, wit, and core of humanity even then. These
are characters who have truly suffered. The distance between the humor of some
of the earlier scenes and the darkness of Ragsdale’s revelations—and later
Emma’s—is immeasurable, but Kelly makes the light and the darkness fit into her
remarkable story. Although Ragsdale’s growth from an indolent drunk to a mature
man of action and purpose is greater, Emma too experiences growth. She learns
that “it is better to love foolishly than to hate bitterly.”
We romance readers take our HEAs for granted. Rare are the
books that make us doubt them, but Kelly casts doubt in this book. The power of
the story she weaves is so great that on the tenth reread, my heart still leaps
into my throat as I read of the plans for Ragsdale’s June wedding and of Emma’s
emigration to Australia. And the final five pages always leave me blissful,
with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face.
If you think traditional Regencies are formulaic or lacking
in sexual tension, you should read Reforming
Lord Ragsdale. It just might send you searching for more Carla Kelly books.
If you need more recommendations, I have a list.
Thank you so much for featuring this book. I searched Carla's pages on Amazon and found a few anthologies with her stories that I may have. I find it odd that I haven't read any of her books. This is the type of story I am drawn too. Her covers are attractive and would have drawn
ReplyDeleteThis is a clever plot and I need to find it to read. I am certainly familiar with this author but, right off hand, I'm not sure if I've read any of her books. I need to fix that right away,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
I am not familiar with this author but thank you for putting her on my radar - sounds like something I would enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThis jogged my memory. I remember reading this sometime ago, and I really did enjoy it. I must now look for other books by this Author.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this author, but I keep hearing good things about her books. I'll have to check out her backlist.
ReplyDeleteI should go find this. I miss the old regencies. I remember one called, I think, The Sugar Rose, and I remember it being exquisite too. Yes, readers who think they lack sexual tension aren't reading the right books. *LOL*
ReplyDeleteI just posted over on Goodreads that I'm in a reading slump. I believe I purchased this digital copy as soon as it became available. I remember reading this for the first time years ago (at your recommendation) and loving it. Looks like it's time for a re-read. Thanks, Janga!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Janga! One more must-read book to add to my mountainous reading queue.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you (and Hellie), there's a lot to be said for well-written sexual tension. I'm a fan. :)
You are absolutely right. Ms Kelly has created such wonderful stories. I have saved the paperbacks I have and rereading is of course part of the deal. Thanks for this review. This is one I have not read.
ReplyDeleteI read this years ago, and loved it, but forgotten it. I remember how many of Carla Kelly trad regencies are perfect gems. Thanks so much for bringing this up again. I think my favorite of hers was "One Good Turn."
ReplyDelete