Belles of London

a book review

Since the start of the year, I've been reading a book series called "Belles of London" by Mimi Matthews. At first, what drew me in where the horses. On each book cover, there are horses. And secondly, it seemed Bridgerton-ish. What I mean is, it's set in the Victorian era. In London, as you probably gathered from the title. If there's something I love it's a good period romance with horses. I love horses. If you know me, you probably know I'm a horse girl. Not currently, I haven't set foot near a horse in a while (except one time during a vacation and it was neat!) but once a horse girl, always a horse girl. I've always loved stories about horses. Books, comics, tv shows, movies, games... Whatever it was I gobbled it up like a famished child. When I was no much older than four, I often went of pony rides with my dad. We'd go to a farm and they'd lend us the pony, Poupette, for an hour. He would lead me in the forest and I loved that.

A few years later, I learned how to ride a horse in a small farm near my father's house and went riding every two weeks or so. The horse was called Gamin (kid in french) and was an old gelding once black but then dotted with white and grey hair all over. He was the kindest and most patient horse in the whole world. He loved children and cantering around the paddock. I learned how to stand up on his back before I learned how to sit correctly for a trot. Let me tell you, to this day I still get a side ache when I get to trot on a horse, it's my curse.

For a little while, I even got my own pony. I named him Spirit, of course, and it was a cute Shetland foal with dark brown markings and a light brown coat. To be honest, my dad bought it to me because he thought it could make me love him more. It didn't work and, after a few distasteful deeds from his part, the cute little Spirit was sold back to its owners. Thankfully, they were friends of my stepmother, the same people who taught me how to ride so I still got to see him often. And it's a fun fact about me. I once got a pony, like some rich spoiled brat.

All that to say, I love horses. I find them absolutely fascinating and lovely. Sometimes, I wish I could start riding again but I simply don't have the money nor the means. Honestly, it's a bit scary to start a new activity on my own.

But enough! We're not here to listen to me rant about how much I love horses. Well, a bit but it's mainly about the books not me!

So, the books. Each volume is about one of the Horsewomen as they're called and a love interest. We get dual points of view, alternating between the girl and her beau. And, obviously, each of the girls (and even the men later on) have a horse of her own.

In the first instalment, The Siren of Sussex, we meet Evelyn. She came to London for her Season. She loves two things: horses and fashion. But she's also what can be called a bluestocking or a wallflower. She grew up in Sussex along with her six sisters and their aunt since their parents' death. It's her passion for fashion who pushes her to sought out a fabulous habit maker. She then meets Ahmad, a dressmaker who wishes to own his own tailoring shop. His designs are almost too wonderful to be real. They make the women glow and shine and he finds himself a muse in Evelyn. I won't spoil too much of their story so you still have things to look forward to and discover but I'd like to talk about the themes of this first book.

Evelyn must marry rich for her sisters' sake but she longs for romance. It's a rather usual trope for this kind of romances. How could she fall in love with a tailor when she has to make a fortune? It's plain and simple. As for Ahmad, that's where I really started to get interested in these books. Ahmad Malik is mixed race. Indian from his mother and English from his father, a soldier who went to India when it was colonised. The story talks about the hardships of feeling like you don't belong anywhere because of your upbringing and looks. Because Ahmad left India when he was young but never felt at home in London either. It also talks about the class differences, the inherent racism of this era's society and how it affects him daily, in many ways. I found it really interesting because it seemed like the author really made her researches on these topics and I felt it was done quite well. Maybe I'm wrong, of course. I'm not Indian and even if I'm not fully white either, I'm passing so the racism and the many discrimination Ahmad has to face will never affect me. But I think it wasn't completely botched and it doesn't nullify the purpose at any point so I liked it. As for the romance, there's longing and yearning and both Evelyn and Ahmad are really interesting characters. They both have a life and goals outside of the other and neither of them are defined by their love for the other. It's something I quite loved in all of these books. None of the characters felt empty or lacking in personality. Each of them was different from the others. I love that.

As for Evelyn's horse, Hephaestus I quite liked him too! Unfortunately, the horses aren't as present as I thought they were but every time they were there, you could feel how much the author loves horses too. She just knows how to talk about them so well, it's lovely.

The second book, The Belle of Belgrave Square, is about one of Evelyn's friends we met in the first book, Julia. She's a rather shy and withdrawn girl. What she loves the most after her horse, Cossack, are books. Especially romance novels. Her parents are two hypochondriacs who keep her under their thumb, treating her as if she's not a daughter but only a nurse they brought into their lives to take care of them. This suffocating life is halted by the occasional horse ride outing or her friends' visits at home. That's how she usually escapes but, when the story starts, she's left all alone in London. All of her friends are gone for a week and since it's the middle of the Season, she's forced to face it on her own.

At the same time, Jasper is in town to find a wife. He's reputed to be a ruthless war hero with a dozen of bastards kept neatly away in his estate, far away from London. When he's first introduced to Julia, she runs away. She's deeply intimidated by him and he understands it. With his domineering height and the gruelling scar across his face, he looks more like a villain from one of the many books she loves than a war hero or even a gentleman. And Julia longs for romance. She's looking for her fairy tale ending and prince charming. I won't say too much about Jasper's character because it's better if you find out by yourself the full length of his nature. Just be assured that he's absolutely lovely and full of wonders. He's a really tender man and I think him and Julia are truly perfect for each others.

The themes of this volume are really interesting, too. Just like the first one, both Julia and Jasper are full people each on their own, fighting their own battles. It talks about child abuse in a gripping way. You get hurt as Julia does and you can feel her pain and the conflict building up inside of her throughout the book. As for Jasper, it talks a lot about identity, memories and acceptance in a way. And, obviously, it always comes back to what family is in its deepest sense.

As a romantic bookish girl myself, I'm also yearning for my own fairy tale ending so this book really resonated with me. I found a lot of me in Julia's character and her growth was truly inspiring. Also, I loved Cossack. He's described as a massive horse and I love to picture her on top of this humongous beast... I just love them so much... Jasper has a horse too! It's name is Quintus and he's even bigger than Cossack. I just love thinking about Julia and Jasper riding atop of two of the biggest horse in all of England, lmao...

The third volume, The Lily of Ludgate Hill, is telling the story of Anne, Julia's best friend and a Lady. She's the daughter of an earl and still grieving him, even seven years after his death. She lives in Mayfair with her mother, both of them always wearing black mourning clothes. For the earl but also for the death of the late Prince Albert. Anne's mother is really enthusiastic about spiritualism and even has her own spirit companion. Her daughter doesn't really believe in all that but she's always supporting her Mama in all of her endeavours, even if it makes her look like a freak in the eyes of the Society. She's a really temperamental girl who couldn't care less about others' opinions of her. Except when it comes to Felix Hartford, her foe. Most of the book is centred about their really complicated relationship because, believe it or not, they used to quite like each other. But now, they can only bicker at each other.

It's rather appealing how they constantly toe the line between anger and love, both of them having been hurt by the other in the past. They share the same feelings but neither of them know how to deal with them, it's quite a difficult affair for them. And it doesn't help that Anne's mother seems to be overbearing and Hartfield keeps more than a few secrets from everyone else in the world. But there's also so much yearning and pain... They both want to be together but feel like they can't because they made too many mistakes in the past... Ughhhhhh I just love them so much! I also love how it tackles the subject of class consciousness and the changes of the era. Once again, I don't want to say too much because there's so much mystery about them and I don't want to spoil it for you...

Anne's horse is an old stallion named Saffron she got when she was but a girl. They grew up together and, even if he can't canter like he used to and tend to be a bit passive, she loves him more than anything in the world. As for Felix, he has not one but two pretty mares named Damselfly and Kestrel! I love their names so much!!!!!! I picture them as two peas in a pod and I love that, even if he doesn't ride, Felix still has his own horses!

The last book of the series, The Muse of Maiden Lane, might be my favourite out of them all. It might be the recency bias but I just fell so much in love with Stella and Teddy and their love story. It also serves as a beautiful farewell to all the other characters and this universe the author created.

Stella, since the first book, is described as a great beauty with only one flaw: her grey hair. It wasn't always grey but it happened once she turned sixteen and, now, she's forced to keep it mostly hidden as people tend to look at her with disdain and curiosity. Her brother's a vicar and, if he could, he'd rather take all of her inheritance and marry her off to some old parishioner of his. But Stella wants to live her own life and she refuses to become less than a shadow.

On the other hand, we have Edward, Teddy, an painter. What he loves the most is art. I kind of see him as autistic because it's often mentioned throughout the book that he's single-minded about art. He's doesn't know how to speak to other people and doesn't care to learn how to be more courteous. All he wants to do all day long is painting and sketching and making art. It should also be mentioned that Teddy is a gentleman in a wheelchair, something very rare in this era. And even if not all of his character is about being disabled, it also brings a very important and interesting conversation about disabilities in this era and how it's perceived. Both from other and from Teddy himself. Just like Ahmad's story, I'm not concerned by Teddy's struggles. I'm not disabled and I don't know anyone with physical disabilities. But I thought the subject was well-written and well-brought. Teddy's character isn't shown as a poor little guy in need of saving or even wishing for a miracle recovery. Instead, he's a really strong-headed and bold artist who's not afraid of pursuing his goals.

I think the author tried a few times to put both of their situations in perspective. With Stella's hair and situation and Teddy's circumstances, she opened a conversation but it didn't fall in the easy trap of "they're the same, their sufferings are equal and so they're made for each other". On the contrary, both of them discover how to be strong on their own, each at their own pace. Their growth is great and they learn to trust other people even when it's difficult for them. I'm not sure how to articulate it well enough but, to me, they really were made for each other. As far as soulmates go, both of them were brought into the world to live with the other. I fell in love with their love story. They really are my favourite couple out of the four!

Their relationship starts with art and revolves about their shared passion for it. The Muse in the title is obviously Stella and I just love how she's described through Teddy's eyes and paintings. At some point in the book, he sketches her and it meant the world to me to read how she was portrayed. It was so lovely!

Stella is the only horsewoman in the series with a mare instead of a stallion. Locket, her grey and almost wild horse is much like her in many ways. And Teddy even has his own horse too! It's a stallion named Samuel he bought to pull his carriage and become more independent. I love that, even if he can't ride, he's still connected to his own horse.

So, as you probably gathered from this lengthy summary of the books, I loved them. Each of them in their own right. But, obviously, they're not perfect. As I said earlier, you can see in every chapter how much care the author put into researching the era. The fashion, the customs, the setting and the cultural aspects seem really well respected but, maybe a tad too much? I mean it's often referencing to people or events who really existed and, even if it's great to see she seems to be really passionate about everything, it took me out a bit of the story at times. Of course, it's only my own opinion! I know some people might prefer that to books being a bit vague about their environments.

Also, one thing I didn't mentioned at all are the ages of the characters. If all of the girls are between 22 and 23, it's not the case for their love interests. Ahmad and Jasper are both older than 30. Hartford is 29 and Teddy is 25. And it pissed me off so badly!!!!!!! I hate age gaps relationships. Always. But especially when it's a girl still in her late teens or early twenties and a man in its thirties. I just dislike it very much. Naturally, I understand it has something to do with the era and the fact that women used to get married really young compared to men. To me, Evelyn and Julia are still girls when they meet Ahmad and Jasper. They are unaware of a lot of things. A LOT. It's said many times in the books, too. Evelyn is a country girl and Julia grew up sheltered in a gilded cage. It makes their age gap even more disturbing to me.

As for Anne, even if there's less than ten years between her and Hartford and they're still both in their twenties, it's not perfect either. They knew each other as children and Felix is still eight years older than her. When she was 15 he was 23. He used to bother her as a little girl, pulling on her hair and treating her as a sister. Their families were close and even Anne's mother says at one point she thought their relationship was like siblings! It's kinda weird, right? It's not just a me problem? Hartford says he's a man and Anne is just a girl! It upset me a great deal while reading...

The silver lining is Teddy. While Stella is 22, he's 24. And even if at moments some characters treat him as a child while others call Stella a spinster for being unmarried at 22, underlying the double standard, it's still way better than throwing a poor girl in the arms of a more older and mature man. That's also probably why they're my favourite...

And my last complaint about the series is probably the lack of Evelyn. I mean, she's the main character and our introduction to this world but in the other books she kind of feels like an afterthought. Except in the last volume. Even in her own book, it felt like her friendship with the other girls was a bit forced. Maybe if I read it again, I'd see it differently but upon my first read it just felt kinda weird. They never spent enough time together on the pages for me to believe they became best friends in a flash...

I don't really have other problems with these books. I might change my mind after reading other point of views, I'm still open to learning more and seeing things under a different light. By no means I think Mimi Matthews' writing is perfect but it's not bad either. I love the way she writes and I'm looking forward to reading some of her other books! I kind of wish The Belles of London was a longer series, honestly. I just love how all the characters and their stories are connected and they all exist in the same circle... My beloved... I'll miss them!