The Taming of Annabelle (The Six Sisters Series) [Paperback]

Annabelle has fallen in love with her sister Minerva's fiancé, Lord Sylvester, and is determined to take him away from her. She is convinced Sylvester really loves her and not her sister. But what about the Marquis of Brabington who has shown an interest in her in the past - could marrying him make her feel she is one up on her sister? What happens to Annabelle when she finds out that what she thinks she wants might not be what she really wants makes a fast paced and amusing tale.

At the start of the story Annabelle is a fairly unpleasant character but she gradually learns that she must change if she is to achieve happiness. I loved the scenes Annabelle creates when she is trying to be an adult, they are amusing and at times laugh out loud funny especially when she tries using slang she has overheard without knowing what it means. But Annabelle is far from stupid and gradually learns from her mistakes.

This is the second book in the Six Sisters series and it is every bit as good as the first book - Minerva (The Six Sisters Series) If you enjoy light hearted Regency romps with interesting and believable characters then you will enjoy this book and the series. Those who have read `Minerva' may be pleased to know that the marvellously comic character, Lady Godolphin, appears in this one too.

This is the second book in a charming series of six regency romances, each of which has as its central character one of the six daughters of the Reverend Armitage, a warm-hearted but reprobate "squarson" who would rather hunt than preach. It tells the story of the second daughter, Annabelle.

The full sequence of titles in "The Six Sisters" series is:

1) Minerva (The Six Sisters Series)
2) This book, "The Taming of Annabelle"
3) Deirdre and Desire (The Six Sisters Series)
4) Daphne (The Six Sisters Series)
5) Diana the Huntress (The Six Sisters Series)
6) Frederica in Fashion (The Six Sisters Series)

There is some character development through the series, so although the books can stand on their own they are best read in the above order, starting with Minerva.

The author is a prolific writer of detective stories, including the Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin books, and also of regency romances. Up to now she has usually published the former as M.C. Beaton and the latter as Marion Chesney, and this series was originally published under that pen-name, but it has now been republished under the "M.C. Beaton" label, so to speak.

At the start of this book, Annabelle falls in love with the hero of the previous book, Lord Sylvester Comfrey, in spite of the fact that he is very much spoken for: he is now the fiance of her elder sister Minerva. So Annabelle hatches an insane plan to get close to Sylvester by encouraging the attentions of his best friend, the Marquis of Brabington. As Brabington is already taken with Annabelle, an engagement is soon announced and the sisters have a double wedding.

At which point Annabelle finally realises that she has married a man who is in love with her while herself in love with a man she cannot have, and everything goes terribly wrong.

Unlike most regency romances, in this book the wedding is about a third of the way through the book rather than the fairytale ending. Apart from that the story nevertheless includes most of the classic Regency Romance cliches.

The naive, headstrong young heroine who meets an imposing but sinister man with whom she gets off entirely on the wrong foot, though rarely as disastrously as this time; the snobbish wealthy parents of one partner in the romance; the proud but penniless aristocrats; the heroine's scheming rival; servants with a heart of gold; a villain hiding behind a mask of respectability; various social successes and disasters in front of the 'ton' (high society) at formal balls; the heroine makes a complete fool of herself and nearly gets ruined/elopes/is dramatically abducted but is rescued by the hero, etc, etc, etc ...

Although the six books in the series are told in the same style and flow together as one almost continuous narrative, they avoid being carbon copies because of the very distinctive and different personalities of the six heroines. Where Minerva, heroine of the first book, had looked after all her siblings because their mother is an extreme hypocondriac, and been forced to develop a responsible attitude and a very practical, down-to-earth character, Annabelle is selfish, vain, irresponsible, and prone to develop mad schemes. The gulf in maturity between the sisters is far greater than the three-year gap (twenty to seventeen) in their ages.

Despite the title, this isn't quite a "taming of the shrew" novel - for all Annabelle's faults, shrewishness isn't one of them - but it's not far off, and unlike the other five books in the series, this is the one which some readers may not like because they can't warm to the heroine. It's saved for me by the humour of the book: e.g. the disastrous situations Annabelle gets herself into can be quite funny, and the dry wit of several of the characters.
Three things lift this book above the general run of regency romances. The first is that it does not take itself too seriously and has some good use of humour. The second is that where Beaton gives her sympathetic characters views or attitudes which are essential to keep the regard of modern readers but which were by no means universal at the time, such as a belief in education for women or opposition to slavery, she is open about the fact.

For example, the Armitage family do have a horror of slavery. The slave trade was made illegal in 1807 precisely because there really were people in George III's Britain who disapproved of this immoral trade so strongly as to want it banned even though it was then highly lucrative, but their view was by no means unanimous. Chesney explains this, adds why the heroine and her sisters were among those who did despise slavers, and integrates it well into the story.

This is one of many little nuggets of real historical information which, as with many of her novels, Beaton throws in throughout the story. Some readers will enjoy these: in some of tthe other books other readers may find them poorly integrated into the narrative and that they can come over as lecturing. I didn't have that problem with the six sisters series.

A third strength of this little sextet is the character development throughout the six books. The reprobate vicar, the Reverend Armitage, his friend, Squire Radford, and long-suffering curate, Mr Pettifor, and several other members of the Armitage vicarage staff are all gradually developed through the stories. Younger sisters in the first five books appear as minor characters and give hints of what is to come, while the elder sisters, particularly Minerva, appear from time to time in books two to six, mostly to help out the heroine of the moment. This reduces the irritating impression given by many romance stories that the only interesting part of a character's life is between puberty and marriage.

Bottom line, if you have read and enjoyed any of the other romances which Beaton published as Marion Chesney, such as the "Daughters of Mannerling," "A House for the Season" or "Poor Relation" series, you will very probably like this one. It is definately a step up from the "School for Manners" or "Travelling Matchmaker" books, or from the majority of modern books in the genre.

However, it is still not in the same league as Georgette Heyer, let alone Jane Austen.

This is another excellent book by MC Beaton. This is the second in a new series very quickly released by Beaton and it's definitely up to standard. Set in early 19th century England, it's a great read by Beaton but without the mysteries often added in her other works. Can she still write a page turning novel without a mystery put in? This proves that yes, yes she can.