Unlike most Heyer’s romances, which are light-hearted romps, this novel is sad, almost tragic, with a brooding atmosphere of Gothic horror and a cast of characters to match. The protagonist Kate is a penniless young woman of twenty-four. Her parents are dead, she doesn’t have any other relatives, and the only person who loves her is her former nurse. Kicked out from her position as a governess, Kate is trying in vain to find a new ‘situation’. She is close to despair, when unexpectedly a rich Aunt Minerva appears and sweeps Kate into her majestic country home. Ambitious and autocratic, Minerva plies Kate with material gifts: new gowns, pearls, and shawls. Unused to the life of wealth and luxury, Kate is “crushed” by Minerva’s pointed generosity; it makes her uneasy. Wondering about her aunt’s hidden motives but trying to feel grateful, Kate navigates the complex currents of Minerva’s family. It includes the only son Torguil, a beautiful youth of nineteen with violent mood swings, a mysterious doctor, a frail uncle, and the uncle’s nephew Philip, who dislikes Kate on sight. The action, slow and ponderous, with ominous undertones, takes place in Minerva’s large house. There are too many lengthy inner monologues, sometimes occupying a couple of pages, as the plot is based mostly on what happens in people’s heads, not on their physical movements. Matrimonial schemes and concealed madness, family secrets and inexplicably disappearing letters make for a creepy tale of sorrow and deception, and the love story of Kate and Philip seems out of place in the spooky old house. Always in the background, subdued by the misfortunes of the house other occupants, this love story is undeveloped and sudden. One moment, it springs up fully formed and it feels like an afterthought, thrown in by the author to lighten the atmosphere.The antagonist Minerva, on the other hand, is meticulously developed: a ruthless woman driven by her obsession, she is an evil force propelling the plot. I wouldn’t call this story a romance, more like a psychological study in a literary frame. It was an intriguing read all the same and it kept me interested till the end.
I put off reading Cousin Kate for almost three months now because False Colours and parts of A Convenient Marriage left a sour taste in my mouth. I actually started this book twice and barely managed to get past the first ten pages; the narrative just didn’t grabbed me. And then when I finally managed to plow through and start to the enjoy the story, the plot begins to lose it’s way. It deviates and takes roads that lead to no where, which ultimately means the story stutters and stalls at the end.I think part of my difficulty with Cousin Kate is the fact that it’s two different books — a romance novel and a mystery novel — forced together. Both aspects lack any sort of power over the narrative meaning that they cancel one another out. I was supposed to feel like Kate was in real danger, but by the time she (and I) realize how danger she actually was in, she had already found a powerful, stronger-than-the-danger man to save her. And, as someone else pointed out, I found utterly ridiculous that Kate would marry a men she’s only known for a week when people are not what they appear.I thought the most interesting part of Cousin Kate was the expose on the treatment of mental illness during the Regency period, but the ending almost voided out that for me.
What do You think about Cousin Kate (2005)?
Nach dem Tod ihres Vaters, der aufgrund seiner nicht standesgemäßen Ehe schon vor langer Zeit von der Familie verstoßen wurde, betätigt sich die 24-jährige Kate zunächst als Erzieherin, bevor sie von ihrer Tante auf dem Anwesen Staplewood willkommen geheißen wird. Doch auf Staplewood scheint nicht alles mit rechten Dingen zuzugehen. Liegt es wirklich am Gesundheitszustand des Hausherren, dass nie Gäste empfangen werden? Und warum ist es ihrem aufbrausenden Vetter Torquil verboten das Grundstück zu verlassen? Welche Motive verbirgt Kates Tante hinter ihrer Freundlichkeit?Dies ist wohl einer der schwächeren Georgette Heyer Romane, denn auch wenn Kate eine bewundernswert selbstständige Frau ist, fühlt sie sich ihrer Tante gegenüber doch viel zu sehr verpflichtet. Und auch das Ende hinterlässt einen etwas schalen Beigeschmack, hat man doch das Gefühl, dass sich all der unschönen Elemente noch schnell entledigt wird, um das Happy End herbeizuführen.
—Strawberry
"Cousin Kate" is a Gothic Regency romance. It's got the screams in the night, locked doors, manipulations, and Gothic-style madness. Though not a light-hearted story, it's like Heyer couldn't let the story descend into a creepy or horror story--just some tense moments full of threat. Which is fine by me! The ending was very sad, but I felt like the author was trying too hard to convince the reader that this really was a happy ending. Also, since Kate is supposed to be world-traveled and not a sheltered miss, I was baffled by how long it took her to even suspect what was wrong at Staplewood.There was no sex and no detailed descriptions of gory aspects. There was a fair amount of bad language (almost all of it the swearing use of "God"). Overall, this isn't my type of story, but others may enjoy it.
—Debbie
Third tier Heyer. I quite like the elder Mr. Nidd, but the story is a bit of a mess; Heyer seems to have been aiming at the kind of gothic novel that was popular at the time, but she never gives the house a "personality", doesn't present the right mood, and generally doesn't have a handle on the whole concept. She also provides a surprisingly accurate portrayal of a form of insanity not even really defined at the time (narcissistic personality) with one character -- while at the same time presenting another character who is supposed to be insane but whose insanity fits no pattern known. I kind of suspect she was tripped up by some concept of insanity popular at the time (certainly I picked up inklings of then-current theories), but another part of me wonders if she even bothered to research that aspect. There are some fun bits here and there, but the uneven tone of the story can give you whiplash and the plot seems to have been deliberately developed to minimize dramatic tension, where various threats are effectively dealt with before the heroine even consciously grapples with their existence. Usually Heyer goes wrong either by being too arch or too "serious history"; it's the way she tells the story that is flawed. This book, even the plotting is inept.Theresa Medieros' Foreword is mostly fluff and froth and, when it comes to Cousin Kate itself, woefully inaccurate, but it praises a lot of what I love about Heyer and lets the newbie reader know this isn't a typical Heyer, so I'm happy with it. But I also recognize I'd have a hard time writing a foreward for this book, because it is far from Heyer's best.
—Sheryl Tribble
