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Product Description
Orphaned Crispin Thorne has been taken as ward by Philip Smallwood, a man he's never met, and is transplanted from his private school to Smallwood's house on an island on the beautiful but coldly remote, Horsey Mere in Norfolk. Upon his arrival, he finds that he's not the only young man given a fresh start. Myles Graham, and Jude Middleton are there before him, and as their benefactor is away, they soon form alliances and friendships, as they speculate on why they've been given this new life. Who is Philip Smallwood? Why has he given them such a fabulous new life? What secrets does the house hold-and what is it that the Doctor seems to know?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The air of the cold Norfolk Broads seeps into your bones from the very first page of "Mere Mortals". As the novel develops, the atmosphere is tangible, I could feel it and live it along with the protagonist, Crispin, who, as an orphan, is transported from his school to his life as a ward of Philip Smallwood who lives in a dark mansion on an island in the Broads.
There was something of du Maurier's Rebecca simmering under the skin of this brilliant story and the quality of writing is just as good. My congratulations to Erastes for her obvious attention to small details: the historical aspects of Victorian school life, the bigotry of that time, the aristocracy and the arts young people were expected to be skilled at, were spot on.
There are many questions to ask such as: why are three boys all wards of the hitherto unknown Smallwood? Just who is he? Will there be any romance between any of the characters? And, do I like Smallwood or not? Just like the many-corridored mansion, Erastes is a master at leading her reader into dark corners and dead ends. As you're reading, don't take anything for granted because you'll be in for a surprise.
Thoroughly recommended. And even if you don't like m/m fiction, that is no reason for you not to enjoy "Mere Mortals".
There was something of du Maurier's Rebecca simmering under the skin of this brilliant story and the quality of writing is just as good. My congratulations to Erastes for her obvious attention to small details: the historical aspects of Victorian school life, the bigotry of that time, the aristocracy and the arts young people were expected to be skilled at, were spot on.
There are many questions to ask such as: why are three boys all wards of the hitherto unknown Smallwood? Just who is he? Will there be any romance between any of the characters? And, do I like Smallwood or not? Just like the many-corridored mansion, Erastes is a master at leading her reader into dark corners and dead ends. As you're reading, don't take anything for granted because you'll be in for a surprise.
Thoroughly recommended. And even if you don't like m/m fiction, that is no reason for you not to enjoy "Mere Mortals".
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is labelled as "gothic mystery", but to be honest the main mystery is spoilt alredy in the cover. If you read the synopsis and then watch the cover, you can understand what the "mystery" is about (at least I understood it).
The problem of this book is that it's very imbalanced.
For the first 23 chapters, we follow the three main characters in their new life in their guardian's house. We see them eating, taking classes, walking around, talking, etc etc, and every now and then the author leaves a "clue" about the above-mentioned mystery. Nothing more happens in the first 23 chapters.
In the last 3 chapters, all is revealed, and events unfold so quickly that some of the previous "clues" are left without explanation. So we are left wondering about, for example, a certain sentence, or about the behaviour of a certain character.
The real mystery of the book is "who loves who". The two love stories of the book come out the blue at the end of the book, and in this case too no great explanations are given (especially for the main love story). This happens also in another book by Erastes (standish) and I don't like it very much. I prefer when the characters take more time to fall in love with each other, and when we see the reasons why the do it.
The problem of this book is that it's very imbalanced.
For the first 23 chapters, we follow the three main characters in their new life in their guardian's house. We see them eating, taking classes, walking around, talking, etc etc, and every now and then the author leaves a "clue" about the above-mentioned mystery. Nothing more happens in the first 23 chapters.
In the last 3 chapters, all is revealed, and events unfold so quickly that some of the previous "clues" are left without explanation. So we are left wondering about, for example, a certain sentence, or about the behaviour of a certain character.
The real mystery of the book is "who loves who". The two love stories of the book come out the blue at the end of the book, and in this case too no great explanations are given (especially for the main love story). This happens also in another book by Erastes (standish) and I don't like it very much. I prefer when the characters take more time to fall in love with each other, and when we see the reasons why the do it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Sure to please fans of gay historical ficton and Gothic tales - superbly written
23 Mar 2011
Format:Paperback
When it comes to man-on-man, historical romance and adventure, the name Erastes invariably comes to the fore, and her latest creation, Mere Mortals [Lethe Press, March 23, 2011] is perhaps her best effort yet. It is in my mind, anyhow, and I've read and reviewed many of her novels and short stories in the past.
The first thing one notices about this novel is the subtlety with which the story unfolds, and the leisurely, measured pace that is so in keeping with a nineteenth-century theme. For example, the story opens with a coach ride through the countryside setting, and with this clever device the reader is invited aboard to see it for him/herself, i.e:
"There was nothing here to write about, or so it seemed. After so many years spent at school in the well manicured quadrangle and playing fields of Barton Hall, this new landscape seemed empty, untidy and bleak. A light mist covered the land as far as the horizon, little more than a thin vapour, but it was enough to drain all colour from the scene passing by the carriage window. I gave a wry smile. Colour that mainly consists of bleached dead reeds, brown ditches and brown muddy pools
"Since leaving Yarmouth the coach had travelled slowly north, following the coast road, such as it was. The coachman had warned us passengers that the roads were bad at this time of the year and he wasn't wrong; more than once the three of us - for that's all there was, travelling in the filthy weather - had to alight, braving the vicious biting wind to assist the coach out of one of the larger ruts we encountered. Even inside the coach with the curtains drawn, the wind sliced its way through any small gaps in the woodwork."
Ergo, in one deft stroke the author sets the tone, the pace, the theme, as well as introducing the narrator and some of the characters. This is writing at a very high level of the craft--almost a textbook example--and it is why Erastes has earned the respect she enjoys.
Mere Mortals is very much a Gothic story with the requisite manor located on a bleak mere, secret passageways, sphinx like servants, and a handsome but mysterious master. All of them playing their parts delightfully, as do the three boys. There is tension, too; plenty of it. Tension that is velvet-wrapped in mystery. It permeates the atmosphere but never becomes blatant or oppressive until it surfaces near the end; when the secret of Bittern's Reach is revealed.
If you are a fan of M/M romance, historical fiction or Gothic tales, all superbly written, then Mere Mortals is bound to please on all counts.
Gerry Burnie
"Two Irish Lads" & "Journey to Big Sky"
The first thing one notices about this novel is the subtlety with which the story unfolds, and the leisurely, measured pace that is so in keeping with a nineteenth-century theme. For example, the story opens with a coach ride through the countryside setting, and with this clever device the reader is invited aboard to see it for him/herself, i.e:
"There was nothing here to write about, or so it seemed. After so many years spent at school in the well manicured quadrangle and playing fields of Barton Hall, this new landscape seemed empty, untidy and bleak. A light mist covered the land as far as the horizon, little more than a thin vapour, but it was enough to drain all colour from the scene passing by the carriage window. I gave a wry smile. Colour that mainly consists of bleached dead reeds, brown ditches and brown muddy pools
"Since leaving Yarmouth the coach had travelled slowly north, following the coast road, such as it was. The coachman had warned us passengers that the roads were bad at this time of the year and he wasn't wrong; more than once the three of us - for that's all there was, travelling in the filthy weather - had to alight, braving the vicious biting wind to assist the coach out of one of the larger ruts we encountered. Even inside the coach with the curtains drawn, the wind sliced its way through any small gaps in the woodwork."
Ergo, in one deft stroke the author sets the tone, the pace, the theme, as well as introducing the narrator and some of the characters. This is writing at a very high level of the craft--almost a textbook example--and it is why Erastes has earned the respect she enjoys.
Mere Mortals is very much a Gothic story with the requisite manor located on a bleak mere, secret passageways, sphinx like servants, and a handsome but mysterious master. All of them playing their parts delightfully, as do the three boys. There is tension, too; plenty of it. Tension that is velvet-wrapped in mystery. It permeates the atmosphere but never becomes blatant or oppressive until it surfaces near the end; when the secret of Bittern's Reach is revealed.
If you are a fan of M/M romance, historical fiction or Gothic tales, all superbly written, then Mere Mortals is bound to please on all counts.
Gerry Burnie
"Two Irish Lads" & "Journey to Big Sky"
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Great Gothic by a Contemporary Master
18 May 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The conventions of Gothic romance are endlessly adaptable. While elastic enough to please fans of low-rent bodice rippers and highbrow fiction alike, the Gothic pattern of moves, symbols and character types can be woven by expert hands into something new and surprisingly contemporary. "Mere Mortals," by Erastes, is such a one.
The novel opens with a journey, first by coach, then boat, across the Norfolk Broads, a network of marshy rivers and lakes, ending at a large and mysterious mansion on a remote island. Young Crispin Thorne, a penniless orphan, having been removed from boarding school, arrives at Bittern's Reach, the seat of wealthy, well-bred Philip Smallwood, his newly named guardian. He is accompanied part of the way by another local worthy, Dr. Baynes. The latter, surprised to hear Thorne's story, indicates, without much explanation until later in the book, that neither he nor most members of the community are on close terms with Mr. Smallwood.
Thorne is greeted not by the master but by servants and by news that two other orphans, Myles Graham and Jude Middleton, have also been installed as Smallwood's wards. A program of gentlemanly education is begun forthwith. Each is given a valet, tailored clothes, handmade boots and other accouterments for every occasion, expensive watches, lessons in riding, fencing, music and dance, and tutoring on a variety of more academic subjects.
As individuals, the boys are almost entirely unalike. Where Thorne is shy, Jude is sly and sexually aggressive and Myles an athletic, more manly man type. Differences aside, what they have in common is at least a passing acquaintance with male-male desire or, to use their term, "inversion." Taken together, the trio stands in for the maiden in distress of Gothic convention. What's unconventional is that they not only discuss their previous experiences but begin to experiment among themselves.
Smallwood, all steely charm, returns, tutoring his wards further in the niceties of polite society. At odd moments, the boys explore the huge house, discovering secret doors, hidden passageways, forbidden rooms and evidence that all is not as it seems, either in their good fortune or in the mansion in which they have come to dwell. Smallwood decides to give a party, a sort of debut, to introduce his new wards to the neighboring gentry. There is a storm, a quarrel between the host and Dr. Byrne, the revelation of long buried secrets as well as new ones and ... enough! No spoilers here.
Erastes is a master of gay historical fiction. This is one of her best tales. Enjoy the ride for yourself.
The novel opens with a journey, first by coach, then boat, across the Norfolk Broads, a network of marshy rivers and lakes, ending at a large and mysterious mansion on a remote island. Young Crispin Thorne, a penniless orphan, having been removed from boarding school, arrives at Bittern's Reach, the seat of wealthy, well-bred Philip Smallwood, his newly named guardian. He is accompanied part of the way by another local worthy, Dr. Baynes. The latter, surprised to hear Thorne's story, indicates, without much explanation until later in the book, that neither he nor most members of the community are on close terms with Mr. Smallwood.
Thorne is greeted not by the master but by servants and by news that two other orphans, Myles Graham and Jude Middleton, have also been installed as Smallwood's wards. A program of gentlemanly education is begun forthwith. Each is given a valet, tailored clothes, handmade boots and other accouterments for every occasion, expensive watches, lessons in riding, fencing, music and dance, and tutoring on a variety of more academic subjects.
As individuals, the boys are almost entirely unalike. Where Thorne is shy, Jude is sly and sexually aggressive and Myles an athletic, more manly man type. Differences aside, what they have in common is at least a passing acquaintance with male-male desire or, to use their term, "inversion." Taken together, the trio stands in for the maiden in distress of Gothic convention. What's unconventional is that they not only discuss their previous experiences but begin to experiment among themselves.
Smallwood, all steely charm, returns, tutoring his wards further in the niceties of polite society. At odd moments, the boys explore the huge house, discovering secret doors, hidden passageways, forbidden rooms and evidence that all is not as it seems, either in their good fortune or in the mansion in which they have come to dwell. Smallwood decides to give a party, a sort of debut, to introduce his new wards to the neighboring gentry. There is a storm, a quarrel between the host and Dr. Byrne, the revelation of long buried secrets as well as new ones and ... enough! No spoilers here.
Erastes is a master of gay historical fiction. This is one of her best tales. Enjoy the ride for yourself.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
MYSTERY WITH A TWIST
3 May 2011
Format:Kindle Edition
Mere Mortals
Crispin Thorne has become the ward of Philip Smallwood. When Crispin arrives at Smallwood's island home, located at Horsey Mere in Norfolk, he discovers he is not the only ward. Myles Graham and Jude Middleton are there before him. All three young men have similar backgrounds, as well as similar looks, so why is Philip Smallwood giving them a new future?
Mere Mortals is a mystery with a touch of romance. The well written plot features wonderful descriptions of the setting, in addition to the etiquettes of the era. The characters are believable. Crispin is friendly, a romantic given to flights of fantasies. However, he is very cautious about revealing too much of his history at boarding school. Crispin is immediately attracted to Jude, in addition to being wary of Myles. Jude is an insecure flirt, very needy of all the attention from everyone in a room. Myles gives the appearance of being gruff, yet he is exceptionally sharp and well aware of the household's secret activities. Myles is attracted to Crispin, nevertheless he remains quiet, giving Crispin time to realize the truth regarding Jude. None of the young felt worthy of the aristocratic behavior bestowed upon them by the servants. Nonetheless, they all worked hard to gain Phillip's approval. Phillip is an enigma.
As the story unfolds, each piece of the puzzle exposes Phillip's personality, as well as his true objective for the young men. Erastes has created an impressive tale filled with suspense, a touch of intimacy and a dash of humor. I was especially surprised by the dark turn of events in the storyline. Mere Mortals is an incredibility enjoyable story.
Crispin Thorne has become the ward of Philip Smallwood. When Crispin arrives at Smallwood's island home, located at Horsey Mere in Norfolk, he discovers he is not the only ward. Myles Graham and Jude Middleton are there before him. All three young men have similar backgrounds, as well as similar looks, so why is Philip Smallwood giving them a new future?
Mere Mortals is a mystery with a touch of romance. The well written plot features wonderful descriptions of the setting, in addition to the etiquettes of the era. The characters are believable. Crispin is friendly, a romantic given to flights of fantasies. However, he is very cautious about revealing too much of his history at boarding school. Crispin is immediately attracted to Jude, in addition to being wary of Myles. Jude is an insecure flirt, very needy of all the attention from everyone in a room. Myles gives the appearance of being gruff, yet he is exceptionally sharp and well aware of the household's secret activities. Myles is attracted to Crispin, nevertheless he remains quiet, giving Crispin time to realize the truth regarding Jude. None of the young felt worthy of the aristocratic behavior bestowed upon them by the servants. Nonetheless, they all worked hard to gain Phillip's approval. Phillip is an enigma.
As the story unfolds, each piece of the puzzle exposes Phillip's personality, as well as his true objective for the young men. Erastes has created an impressive tale filled with suspense, a touch of intimacy and a dash of humor. I was especially surprised by the dark turn of events in the storyline. Mere Mortals is an incredibility enjoyable story.
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