LIKE A DIAMOND

by Malcolm Macdonald ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 1999

Staggeringly prolific Irish author MacDonald's 28th ladies' romance, all of them (The Trevarton Inheritance, 1996, The Carringtons of Helston, 1998, etc.), big, talky, and nostalgic bales of banter lightened by heartfelt passions and pleasurable irony. In the present installment of post-Victorian life in the Cornish countryside, Howard's End is being read and the usual stiff-mannered difficulties arise that seemingly would not be cultural, moral or social hurdles today but which were terribly important then. One, for example, should not marry for romance. ""One should choose it husband with the care that went into life's other important decisions, like what household to work in, where to live, where to worship, and so forth."" (p. 13) When the servants line up at the de Vivian Cornwall home and new housemaid Gemma Penhallow is introduced, young Peter de Vivian shakes Gemma's hand, only to he roundly smited verbally by his father for such a breach of manners between family and staff. Even so, love blooms between Peter, recently graduated with distinctions only in woodwork and metalwork, and attractive Gemma while older folk try to maintain the upstairs/downstairs rules of decorum. Gemma, of course, is ""like a diamond"" and shines only the brighter the blacker the background against which she turns. Fluffier and more charming than even MacDonald's usual tales of young ladies caught up in social rigidities.

Pub Date: June 16, 1999

ISBN: ---

Page Count: 384

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1999

Categories: FICTION