I really enjoyed this one! But it was also... what's the opposite of timely? More thoughts below.

A Fashionable Indulgence is a Regency romance with a requisite K.J. Charles dash of suspense. Harry, the orphaned son of expatriate radicals, has been lifted from poverty by his wealthy grandfather; Julius, a London society dandy with a tragic past, is tasked with turning Harry into a gentleman. A Pygmalion retelling, you say?

This was the first Charles romance I've read that was unadulterated catnip for me, because apparently emotionally stunted men in embroidered waistcoats are my type. Marlon James still wins the prize for sexiest kiss in all of literature, but this novel delivers a close second. Harry and Julius's relationship is so darn sweet; Harry is an absolute puppy dog of a character and it's great fun watching Julius succumb to his charms.

From a political angle (as ever, my favorite angle), this book is fascinating and difficult. When Harry becomes a gentleman, he makes a bargain with patriarchy, giving up his agency to become an "ornament of society." Harry is desperate to escape poverty, but he also loves physical beauty and delights in the London social scene. It's so unusual to see a male character exchange his autonomy for wealth and social currency, and the gender swap serves as a distancing effect that makes it clear how powerless women were in this era. (To be fair, the novel does acknowledge Harry's male privilege - he can drink, gamble, and find time alone with Julius, while his female cousin is literally stuck in her house with their emotionally abusive grandfather.)

Just as the book delivers #realtalk about patriarchy, it does not pull any punches when it comes to injustice in 19th century Britain. The Peterloo Massacre takes place during the course of the novel, and Charles is so unflinching in depicting the upper-class reaction to the murders of working-class protestors that I was frankly ready to guillotine the lot of them. This is also a somewhat unusual portrait of gay and bisexual men who are not politically progressive (I love queer radicals in my historical fiction, but let's be real, every era had its Log Cabin Republicans).

But this leads me back to Harry, and what a frustrating character he is. Harry is a character who's all heart, but with the object permanence of a cocker spaniel. He hated his traumatic childhood, he wants to be comfortable and safe, and the result is a young man who is utterly apolitical. Harry misses his old friends, he knows his parents would roll over in their graves if they saw him partying with Tories, but it never occurs to him to feel hypocritical or complicit. Even when he develops a moral conscience later in the book, he seems blinded to injustices that aren't happening in front of him. (Where does Harry's money comes from? We never find out; Harry never seems to wonder.)

Now to be clear, the ambiguity of this character feels right to me. Marginalized people don't have a special responsibility to fight for justice and should not be faulted for making pragmatic decisions to take care of themselves. Yet Harry's total lack of curiosity or political awareness makes for a very passive character, and feels odd considering he grew up in such an intellectually charged environment. I would have preferred to see a character willfully defying his moral compass rather than a character who seems, mysteriously, never to have developed one.

Julius is also an apolitical character (and says some pretty nasty things about Harry's working-class mother for which he never really gets taken to task). Their happy ending is not a political awakening. Which, again, is right for these characters and this setting. Romance fiction, as others have observed, is inherently conservative; a happy ending is a return to the status quo. There's something intellectually dishonest, after all, in equating personal happiness with political resistance.

So I leave Harry and Julius to their comfortable happiness, but I'm glad I finished this novel last month. This is a novel that leaves an attentive reader uneasy about its own genre conventions, of lingering in posh London ballrooms while Mary Heys, pregnant mother of six, is run down by cavalry for protesting against an undemocratic system of government.

It's a difficult moment to read about peace without justice.

Atmosphere: Harry is caught in sharply divided class frictions, his desires fighting his morals. Add to it forbidden love, Julius, who is fighting his own demons as well as working to keep Harry safe despite family and legal strife. That doesn't do it justice. If you find it slow to get into, as I did, trust me. Let Harry seep in, let Julius and the others in too. I guessed only part of how it would end. Happy to have my imagination upstaged. :) ( )

Ah, there’s nothing like a well-written historical romance…

This was perhaps a bit more politically-oriented that I would’ve normally preferred, but on the other hand, it lent authenticity to the story, so I didn’t really mind. Julius and Harry were wonderful, complex MCs, and they had AMAZING chemistry — both physical and emotional. Whew! Charles writes some hot sex scenes. ( )

This probably had above average drama, but the vast majority of it came from outside the relationship, so I didn't mind. Just a heads up that there's plenty of intrigue and things. I liked that Julius seemed to love Harry largely for his inherent joy in life, and that that's kind of what he needed to help thaw his jaded heart. It's kind of a 'sunshine and grump' dynamic actually, but Julius is more cold and jaded than he is angry. The relationship started out with one being the definite teacher of the other, but it ended up being pretty even. They both learned things from the other and were better people for it, which I love. It's well done. ( )

***28 mei 2019***
What can I say? Just as good as the first time I've read this. ( )