Category: Fiction Review

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Volume 5

by Beth Brower

Rhydon Press, 2021. 251 pages.
Review written August 1, 2024, from my own copy, purchased via amazon.com.
Starred Review

With each volume of these “Unselected Journals” I read, I get more and more obsessed. When I finished volume 5, I was sad that I only currently own two more volumes. (She’s writing more, though!)

This is historical fiction about a young woman in London in 1883, in this volume from November to December. She’s on the periphery of society, an orphan who’s going to come into her inheritance next month, but who still is supposed to act like a proper young lady – something she gets away with fudging.

But these books are way more than a simple romance novel. I love the deep friendships she is building with no less than three young single gentlemen. In this volume, Emma is dealing with having finally attended the burial of the man she’d loved, who died three years ago in Afghanistan. She read his good-by letter, and it’s hard to move on. All her friends – including those three men – are extra kind and compassionate toward her in this book.

And with that serious note, the book also has all sorts of humorous and quirky bits throughout. Emma is trying to track the Roman ghost that frequents her neighborhood – and gets reactions from everyone who knows about it. She delivers the second favor she owes to the scoundrel Jack, and it’s surprising. Her friend the artist comes back from Italy, and her friend Mary has more adventures in London – so it’s not like Emma hangs around only with young men. I also love Agnes, Emma’s cook and housekeeper, who in this volume wants to get into the St. Crispian’s Society for Senior Servants. And then there’s the marvelous Mrs. Penury, who has decided that she’s got nothing more to say, and keeps delightful company with people in complete silence.

The fact that these are presented as journals makes the episodic bits completely believable and fun. I’ve always loved a slow-burn romance. But watching Emma’s friendships grow and deepen with three different young men over time takes this to the next level. My only trouble at this point is I don’t want any of them to get their hearts broken. But I’m for sure looking forward to watching things continue.

I’m going to try to read another book before I eagerly pick up the next volume, but I’m making no promises.

bethbrower.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Volume 4

by Beth Brower

Rhydon Press, 2021. 191 pages.
Review written July 27, 2024, from my own copy, purchased via amazon.com
Starred Review

Oh, how I love Emma Lion! I have to again thank my sister Becky for introducing me, but this volume 4 is the first one I purchased on my own after Becky gifted me the first three. It’s pretty sneaky – each volume is only about 200 pages long, so you think it won’t take you any time at all, but then you find yourself reaching for the next book as soon as you finish. I’d forced myself to read a book in between Volumes 3 and 4, but I’ve had enough of that and will be picking up Volume 5 tonight. By the time I’ve finished all seven volumes I currently own, I’ll have read more than a thousand pages – all in bite-size pieces.

Emma M. Lion is a twenty-year-old young lady of St. Crispian’s region in London, and this set of her journals covers September 1, 1883, to October 31. And yes, St. Crispian’s has some interesting traditions for All Saint’s Eve.

I said after Volume 1 that I wasn’t sure whom Emma is going to end up marrying, but by now I have hopes. However, this book is remarkable in that it portrays a young lady building a solid and wonderful friendship with three eligible young men at the same time – and those men are friends with each other.

In this volume her aunt is out of town, so Emma’s freed up from most social engagements, though plans are still going for her cousin’s upcoming Season in which she is to get six or seven offers of marriage, according to the plan. But meanwhile, the scoundrel Jack takes her up on her side of the bargain she made, with amusing and slightly scandalous results. But as the book ends, her friends help her deal with the burial of her lost love’s remains, when his family gets those back from Afghanistan. The poignancy of that part carried the book far beyond the wit and situational comedy of so much of the journals.

I won’t say much because yes, you have to start with Volume 1. But yes, this saga will pull you in and delight you.

bethbrower.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/emma_m_lion_4.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Volume 2

by Beth Brower

Rhydon Press, 2019. 151 pages.
Review written July 16, 2024, from my own copy.
Starred Review

First, thank you again to my sister Becky for giving me the first three volumes of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion for my birthday. I have been devouring them. Perhaps I should be a little annoyed that her gift prompted me to order four more volumes, but it seems only fair to just send someone the beginning of a series. What if I hadn’t liked it? Though that’s hard to imagine in the case of these fictional journals.

In this volume, the plot very much thickens. And we learn more about various intriguing characters. Something I liked about these books is that by the end of Volume 2, I had no idea where Emma will find romance — there are several fine upstanding men in her acquaintance, and I like her relationship with all of them. Of course, Emma is not looking for romance, because the love of her life was killed in Afghanistan.

When I started Volume 2, I still thought the series was a trilogy, so assumed all would be revealed soon. Now I’ve ordered Volumes 4 through 7 and peeked to learn that’s not the end either – so who knows if Emma will find romance at all? But I’m enjoying her relationships (think witty banter and interesting situations) with various interesting men – all of whom are quite different from one another. (Well, except the brothers who are up to mischief. But I think of them as one character different from the other men Emma encounters.)

In this volume we also begin to learn some of the quirks of St. Crispian’s, the part of London where Emma resides. There’s a resident friendly ghost who makes appearances from time to time. But also, objects in St. Crispian’s tend to wander. So, if you don’t keep a white feather on top of an object, it may suddenly show up in someone else’s home. So you need to put your name clearly on your belongings so you can claim them on the shelves set aside for that purpose in a local tea house.

In this volume, we also learn more about the mysterious tenant in Lapis Lazuli Minor, and he and Emma get better acquainted. We get a grasp of Aunt Eugenia’s plans for Emma. She is to serve as a foil for Aunt Eugenia’s daughter, the beautiful Arabella. Emma’s fine with this, as she is not interested in romance, and Aunt Eugenia is willing to buy her a fine wardrobe so she’ll look presentable. And further intriguing situations and people kept me eagerly turning pages and again immediately grabbing the next volume as soon as I’d finished this one.

bethbrower.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/emma_m_lion_2.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Volume 1

by Beth Brower

Rhydon Press, 2019. 110 pages.
Review written July 16, 2024, from my own copy.
Starred Review

First, a great big thank you to my sister Becky for sending me the first three volumes of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion to me for my birthday. At first I thought it was one story divided into three volumes, so I was going to wait until I finished it all to post a review. But no! There’s more! I went on Amazon and ordered the books through Volume 7, and then checked the back of it and Volume 8 supposedly will be published soon. So it’s an ongoing saga, and I am decisively hooked.

Emma M. Lion is a young lady of twenty years old who arrives in London on March 5th, 1883. She comes to the house that is her inheritance, which she will own outright when she turns twenty-one, but which is now occupied by her odious Cousin Archibald.

Both Archibald and Emma are glad their relationship is not by blood. Archibald had married Emma’s father’s cousin, and that cousin had died not long after – but left the house, Lapis Lazuli House in St. Crispian’s quarter of London, to Emma’s father, but the books in the library to Cousin Archibald. Emma’s father let Cousin Archibald stay there out of compassion, and wished Emma to do the same. But three years after her parents’ deaths, Emma arrives and the relationship between the two of them is strained. He has her stay in the rooms in the garret, and before long Emma discovers more ways he is working against her.

Some of the situations in these journal selections, which cover March 5th through April 30th, are that Emma is going to let the small subsection of the house – Lapis Lazuli Minor, which was long ago sectioned off from the main house – in order to help make ends meet. A tenant has been found, and he is a man of mystery. Also, as the volume ends, her Aunt Eugenia has just learned that Emma has come to London and is poised to begin interfering. But Aunt Eugenia doesn’t know that Emma has not, after all, engaged a chaperone. Meanwhile, speaking of chaperones, Emma’s school friend Mary is also in London and has hired a man named Jack to pose as her cousin to the owner of her boarding house. Emma is convinced he’s a scoundrel, but Mary is happy with her freedom.

Emma is not a very traditional young lady. This first volume pretty much sets up intriguing situations and characters, and I challenge anyone at all to be able to stop without learning more. When I finished this short volume, I dove right into the next one. So much fun!

bethbrower.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/emma_m_lion_1.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?