The Music of the Night (Signet Eclipse) [Mass Market Paperback]

"The Music of the Night" is a refreshingly idiosyncratic and well-written historical romance set in Venice during the Victorian era. The story is basically a revenge tale with a very unique and interesting heroine caught between two feuding aristocratic rakes. There is so much to admire about this book--particularly the unusual, evocative setting and the very unconventional, flawed heroine, but unfortunately the story runs out of gas with half of the book left to go. The good news is that the first half of the book is so good that it *almost* makes up for the relatively flat second half.

The heroine of the story is Sarah Connolly, base-born and gutter-bred, she has managed to fight her way out of the slums of London and gain enough polish and education to become a lady's companion. But Sarah cannot hide the history of her low-birth since it is written on her face in the form of smallpox scars (which any middle or upper-class child apparently would have been vaccinated against during that era.) Sarah is a compelling character--worldly and intelligent, but vulnerable to the malevolent attentions of the hero and his rival due to her status as a servant and her own lack of self-esteem.

The hero of the story, Sebastian Grimsthorpe, the Earl of Wortham, is a less developed (and therefore, less interesting) character, IMO. Sebastian is a typical gorgeous, decadent, hedonist nobleman until a personal crisis forces him to re-examine his life and his priorities. When his 12-year old illegitimate daughter is raped during one of his own debauched house parties, Sebastian is devastated and has her attacker (his former friend, Bertrand de Lint) brought to trial. When de Lint is acquitted of the crime and an attempt is made on Sebastian's life, Sebastian fakes his own death and heads off to Venice after Bertrand for some serious *revenge*. Unfortunately, Sarah gets caught in the middle of all this when she signs on to the Venice trip as a companion for Bertrand's mother, Lady Merrill.

The plot during the first half of the book is *so* compelling, with Sarah being lured into a romance with Sebastian despite her conviction that his intentions are suspect (to say the least), while at the same time fighting off the unwanted attentions of de Lint. Unfortunately, the story loses a lot of its momentum (and dramatic tension) during the second half of the book, although Sebastian continues to press forward with his convoluted revenge plot against de Lint. The conventional storybook ending seems rather mismatched with the darker, more mature tone of the rest of the book.

In summary, this is very original and richly written historical romance with a marvelously unusual setting and a heroine who definitely breaks out of the traditional "historical romance formula". The story is not flawless and there are some serious pacing problems with the plot, but it is refreshing to see an author who is willing to take some chances with her characters and settings.

Recommended, particularly for historical romance lovers who enjoy darker, more complex stories with genuinely flawed heroes and heroines.

Lydia Joyce drives home a winner with THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT and presents her reader with a story far above the average. Brilliantly, Ms. Joyce unwraps a dramatic, bold, and very sexy `affaire de coeur'.

Sarah Connolly lives in the shadows. She lives among the gentry, but in the background. She is one of the ordinary souls who attend and pamper the elite. Sarah Connolly is a lady's companion; she is a servant. Sarah Connolly will never belong. Still, she wants. Yet, she does not deceive herself. Sarah knows her place in life. She is aware of her plain, scarred face and her wretched background, but still she wants - she wants someone to desire her, not her femininity, but her person - her ugly, scarred body.

Sebastian Grimsthorpe, the Earl of Wortham will have his day. He will make the person pay, the person who brutally raped and battered his daughter. Such revenge will take planning and timing, but vengeance will be his. Sarah Connolly is nothing but a means to an end. Sarah Connolly is nothing more than . . . admirable? What was this unsettling feeling flickering through Sebastian? Was it guilt? Never! He felt nothing. Sarah Connolly was nothing more than a common trollop. Sarah Connolly was a harlot of the lowest form. So what was this feeling?

THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT is intense, ambitious, and extremely adult. Ms. Joyce grabs her reader and forces them to see the ugliness of mankind. Wisely, the author shoves stark realism into the foreground and presents her reader with grim reality - reality based on poverty, disease, and class distinction. THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT is a first-class journey. Be mindful, it is not an easy journey, it is not a comfortable journey, but it is a first-class journey! So why not the perfect grade, because Joyce's ending slipped. Sebastian and Sarah deserved better than the shallow climax the author delivered. Lydia Joyce wrote a gem, but her glorious story deserved a big solid finale, not something bordering on normal!
Grade: A-

MaryGrace Meloche.

Sebastian Grimsthorpe, Lord Wortham, has nothing but revenge in mind. He wants to destroy Bertrand de Lint, the man he believes raped his young illegitimate daughter. He finds the opportunity to do so one night when he suffers an accident in his carriage. He decides to stage his own death and in Venice, under the guise of a mysterious host wearing nothing but masks, Sebastian takes advantage of the opportunity to ruin the man the same way he had ruined his daughter. Then he meets Sarah Connolly. She is a young woman who works with de Lint's family and whom he believes to be de Lint's mistress. He hopes to use her as a tool for revenge. But then the woman begins to intrigue him. There is something arresting about her. Could it be her somber mood? Could it be the scars on her face? Sarah has a dark past and feels she has finally found some normalcy working as a lady's companion to Lady Merrill. But her life soon takes an interesting spin when she encounters a man who hides in the dark, staring at her, and who invites her to masquerade balls and seduces her. These two tortured souls come together in the most unconventional way and what lies ahead is nothing but secrets and treachery. There are some twists throughout the novel.

This Victorian gothic has all of the ingredients to make this quite a dark, compelling read. The first few chapters are very entertaining and Lydia Joyce sets the right tone for the plot and its characters with the interesting prologue. I like Sebastian because he comes across as such an eccentric character from the get-go and his funky disguises and masks make him all the more mysterious. Sarah is the secretive heroine with a tortured soul and low self-esteem due to her scars. What does the tall, dark and handsome nobleman with beautiful green eyes want with a scarred, insignificant woman such as herself? She is wary of his actions and has every reason to be. Their first encounter in a masquerade ball is one of the best scenes in the novel because the sexual tension between them is almost palpable. The novel is fine and dandy until about the middle. Then it starts to lag so much that I just wanted the novel to come to an end. I think the story should have been at least fifty pages shorter. The second half of the book is mostly filler and the heroine's self-consciousness gets a bit tedious after a while. Other than that, this is a very interesting Victorian gothic with quite a fascinating backdrop of Venice and a plot and style that is far from formulaic. I am impressed with Lydia Joyce because she writes with a nice, fluid prose and adds just the right amount of darkness to the story. I wish I had given her first book (The Veil of Night) a whirl before this one. Despite its slow ending, I recommend The Music of the Night if you're in the bargain for a unique brand of Victorian gothic romance.