Scarlet Shadows [Paperback]

Victoria Castledon captures the heart of wealthy aristocrat Charles Stanford, and despite her slight reluctance, good British manners don't allow one to turn down such a good offer. While staying at the Stanford's huge country estate, Charles' foster-brother Hugo Esterly arrives to recuperate from an accident and he and Victoria find something else growing from their friendship, but honor comes first and he must let her go to marry Charles. Charles is a pompous ass and makes a less than stellar husband, but Victoria tries to make the best of it, until a tragic accident shatters everyone's lives and irrevocably destroys the relationship between the two brothers.

Charles and Hugo are both officers in the Hussars, and their troop leaves with the others when war is declared in the Crimea, and Victoria accompanies her husband with the other military wives. The troops soon find that chasing off those pesky Russians isn't going to be quite the easy task they expected, and the British are ill-prepared for a long siege in a bitter winter, nor do they have the medical staff and equipment to deal with the thousands of wounded.

For those not familiar with the Crimean War I would say this is an excellent starter point to get yourself grounded on the period and puts the reader right into the heart of the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade,

"They were being ordered to make the supreme but senseless sacrifice for their country. He and six hundred and seventy-two other men were being ordered to commit suicide."

You will also see firsthand the horrific conditions of the wounded prisoners at the infamous hospital at Scutari,

"Beside a rickety wooden table was a basket full of limbs, some with uniform sleeves still upon them, or the worn remains of a boot. They stuck out at angles, just as they had been thrown..."

As for the soldiers lucky enough not to be wounded?

"Those who are not wounded have fever, those who are not fever-ridden are starving; those who are not starving are dying of frostbite."

Yes, war is hell isn't it? A darn near unputdownable read, and Drummond really has a good feel for the period, the military life and their unique social caste system. Her characters act and talk appropriate to the period and while Victoria might be in need of rescue by Hugo on occasion the situations don't come across as the contrived heroine in constant peril one is so used to coming across in today's romances.

You will loathe Charles (what a cad) and root for Victoria and Hugo (what a man), but despite the lurid red cover and jacket description there really is no sex to speak of in this one, so don't let the bodice-ripper image scare you off. From the brief bio I've seen of Drummond (who also writes as Elizabeth Darrell), she has a strong military background, both as a child and through her husband. Highly recommended.

Lots of great history in this novel which centers around a young English woman, her caddish husband and his brother, the man she really loves. When the men ship out to the Crimea in 1854, she gets to see the true horrors of war and the shameful way in which the British Empire mishandles the war (Charge of the Light Brigade) and the horrors of it's aftermath.

Excellent characters, really superb period dialog and fairly accurate history going on here. The only thing that prevented me from giving it a full five stars is that the circumstances that separated hero and heroine seemed to go on about 100 pages too long.

Great read, all around, though. Recommended!

Compelling historical fiction by Emma Drummond who also writes as Elizabeth Darrell. Lovely young Victoria Castledon marries aristocratic Charles Stanford before she knows him well enough to hesitate - and later finds out it is his notorious brother whom she truly loves. The novel moves from London to Constantinople to the valley of Balaclava as the brothers compete for her love.