Barbara Michaels
Barbara Michaels writes romantic suspense novels. (She also writes romantic-ish mysteries under the name of Elizabeth Peters.)
There's no better airplane reading than Barbara Michaels. She has a nicely unfussy prose style, a page-turning approach to pacing, and generally sensible heroines. her novels, which are all stand-alones, sometimes have supernatural elements, but sometimes the seemingly supernatural elements have a non-supernatural explanation. This gives her novels a pleasing unpredictability. Her historical and other research is solid.
But the main thing that makes her interesting to me is her method of plotting, which is to take some familiar genre plot and do something interesting and unusual with it. She doesn't usually deconstruct standard plots or completely invert them, but there's always something odd or non-standard going on in her books.
Because of this, they're a little difficult to discuss without spoilers, but I'll try as I want to do an overview for anyone who might be unfamiliar with her. If you want to discuss specific genre-warping elements, please do so in the comments.
The Sea King's Daughter
. "Don't call me Ariadne. That's not my name any more." There's an odd tendency for Michaels' most evocative titles to adorn her worst books, but this one's an exception, being quite good. Ariadne is a young swimming jock who goes to a Greek island to assist her archaeologist father, whom she never knew. There she gets entangled in ancient Greek... stuff. This one's fun and the atmosphere of sun and sea is vivid.
Into the Darkness
. Meg Venturi inherits her grandfather's jewelry business and lots of trouble, family and otherwise. This one is notable for the romantic lead, a moody Vietnam vet (I've never encountered a cheerful and lighthearted one in fiction), a sense of truthfulness about love and family, and great details about jewelry. The genre-bending in this one is that the hero has a serious physical disability, but I think that's been done a fair amount in Gothics before.
Wings of the Falcon
. "Authors who write in the first person cannot expect their readers to be seriously concerned about the survival of the main character." Set in 1860 Italy against a backdrop of politics and rebellion. A somewhat tongue-in-cheek Gothic pastiche with identical twin romantic leads, ancient Etruscan tombs waiting for a blonde heroine to get locked into them, and a mysterious masked rebel called Il Falcone. I can forgive Michaels for her addition to the long list of evil effeminate bisexuals in literature because of the startling plot twist which befalls him, and also because it must be the first time in the history of the genre that the heroine's father provides for her by becoming the kept man of another man.
Someone in the House
. Some critic said that the plot of the Gothic novel is "girl meets house." In this quintessential example of Michaels' peculiar approach to genre, a girl meets a possibly haunted house. A lighthearted, romantic comedy-meets ghost story approach leads to a truly startling conclusion. I imagine Michaels laughing as she wrote the last page of this one.
Shattered Silk
. After being dumped by her husband of ten years, Karen opens a vintage clothing shop. This one reminded me a bit of Jennifer Crusie, being a witty two-couple story with likable heroes, good character development, and a very funny dog. The mystery element is also pretty good.
PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Her first book, and though it shows it's still a good read. There's a horrendously bad prologue which is somewhat redeemed at the end, when we realize why everyone sounded so stilted. It's her only book which has a male protagonist, and it has some good twists. One of the few books which I enjoy despite the presence of Satanists as characters. (I usually detest books which involve Satanists.)
HOUSES OF STONE. A feminist English professor discovers works by a hitherto-unknown female eighteenth century writer. The background of this one is fascinating, but the romantic suspense part feels tacked on.
HOUSE OF MANY SHADOWS. A heroine suffering from hallucinations after an accident moves into a historic house that might be haunted. A nice intertwining of past and present mysteries.
SONS OF THE WOLF. Another historical Gothic pastiche. Not one of her best but redeemed by an unusual and clever turn of the narrative toward the end.
HERE I STAY. Another girl meets house story. This is ruined by the total unlikability of the right-wing heroine. It does have a nicely surprising end, though.
OTHER WORLDS. Her most recent novel is experimental: a re-telling of historic ghost stories in a club where famous historic figures propose various solutions. Incredibly boring.
There's no better airplane reading than Barbara Michaels. She has a nicely unfussy prose style, a page-turning approach to pacing, and generally sensible heroines. her novels, which are all stand-alones, sometimes have supernatural elements, but sometimes the seemingly supernatural elements have a non-supernatural explanation. This gives her novels a pleasing unpredictability. Her historical and other research is solid.
But the main thing that makes her interesting to me is her method of plotting, which is to take some familiar genre plot and do something interesting and unusual with it. She doesn't usually deconstruct standard plots or completely invert them, but there's always something odd or non-standard going on in her books.
Because of this, they're a little difficult to discuss without spoilers, but I'll try as I want to do an overview for anyone who might be unfamiliar with her. If you want to discuss specific genre-warping elements, please do so in the comments.
The Sea King's Daughter
. "Don't call me Ariadne. That's not my name any more." There's an odd tendency for Michaels' most evocative titles to adorn her worst books, but this one's an exception, being quite good. Ariadne is a young swimming jock who goes to a Greek island to assist her archaeologist father, whom she never knew. There she gets entangled in ancient Greek... stuff. This one's fun and the atmosphere of sun and sea is vivid.
Into the Darkness
. Meg Venturi inherits her grandfather's jewelry business and lots of trouble, family and otherwise. This one is notable for the romantic lead, a moody Vietnam vet (I've never encountered a cheerful and lighthearted one in fiction), a sense of truthfulness about love and family, and great details about jewelry. The genre-bending in this one is that the hero has a serious physical disability, but I think that's been done a fair amount in Gothics before.
Wings of the Falcon
. "Authors who write in the first person cannot expect their readers to be seriously concerned about the survival of the main character." Set in 1860 Italy against a backdrop of politics and rebellion. A somewhat tongue-in-cheek Gothic pastiche with identical twin romantic leads, ancient Etruscan tombs waiting for a blonde heroine to get locked into them, and a mysterious masked rebel called Il Falcone. I can forgive Michaels for her addition to the long list of evil effeminate bisexuals in literature because of the startling plot twist which befalls him, and also because it must be the first time in the history of the genre that the heroine's father provides for her by becoming the kept man of another man.
Someone in the House
. Some critic said that the plot of the Gothic novel is "girl meets house." In this quintessential example of Michaels' peculiar approach to genre, a girl meets a possibly haunted house. A lighthearted, romantic comedy-meets ghost story approach leads to a truly startling conclusion. I imagine Michaels laughing as she wrote the last page of this one.
Shattered Silk
. After being dumped by her husband of ten years, Karen opens a vintage clothing shop. This one reminded me a bit of Jennifer Crusie, being a witty two-couple story with likable heroes, good character development, and a very funny dog. The mystery element is also pretty good.
PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Her first book, and though it shows it's still a good read. There's a horrendously bad prologue which is somewhat redeemed at the end, when we realize why everyone sounded so stilted. It's her only book which has a male protagonist, and it has some good twists. One of the few books which I enjoy despite the presence of Satanists as characters. (I usually detest books which involve Satanists.)
HOUSES OF STONE. A feminist English professor discovers works by a hitherto-unknown female eighteenth century writer. The background of this one is fascinating, but the romantic suspense part feels tacked on.
HOUSE OF MANY SHADOWS. A heroine suffering from hallucinations after an accident moves into a historic house that might be haunted. A nice intertwining of past and present mysteries.
SONS OF THE WOLF. Another historical Gothic pastiche. Not one of her best but redeemed by an unusual and clever turn of the narrative toward the end.
HERE I STAY. Another girl meets house story. This is ruined by the total unlikability of the right-wing heroine. It does have a nicely surprising end, though.
OTHER WORLDS. Her most recent novel is experimental: a re-telling of historic ghost stories in a club where famous historic figures propose various solutions. Incredibly boring.