The Betrayal of the Blood Lily

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I fell in love with Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series four years ago and I haven't shut up about it since. The latest release, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, did certainly not disappoint me. I wouldn't have put it down at all if not for the temptation of a Friday night Thai dinner out, and I promptly picked it back up the minute I walked back in the door. Blood Lily may even be one of the best in the series so far.

By far the best part of The Betrayal of the Blood Lily is Penelope, the wild child of London society. While I've liked all of Willig's characters (some are perhaps more of the "love to hate" variety) Penelope is a bit of a departure from her heroine predecessors, and one I think will resonate with readers. She's a woman who has always fought against who she wants to be and who society, not to mention her mother, says she should be. Penelope is not built for a life of ballrooms and being seen but not heard. She is not a demure flower. She's a woman who wants to ride horses as fast and as wild as she is, who not only wants to join the hunt but lead it. Her preferred weapon is a gun (that she handles very well, I might add), not a fan.

Mimi Reads understands how constrained Penelope feels.

I understand the pressures she faces when she tries to live according to expectations of others that have grounds in the person she used to be and in the person that society thinks she should be. How much of our lives we spend in pleasing others and doing what we think they expect us to do when really we should be living the paths that God's laid out for us and not caring what others think.

Because Penelope is always battling between who she is and who she is supposed to be, Penelope never seems to feel like she's good enough. She says she's not pretty like Mary Alsworthy, or perhaps as nice as Charlotte. Melissa, from Scuffed Slippers and Wormy Books, called Penelope a flawed heroine, and I think she may be right. Penelope does not start off whole.

Pen is a bit of a departure because she is easily the most flawed Pink heroine; she does not value herself as a whole person, having learned her ability to attract and tease can bring a bit of fun, and she learns how to be loved for herself as a person, not just for the value of her dowry or her father's horse-breeding ability.

It was Penelope's boredom, and perhaps her misuse of her hunting skills on men, that led to her indiscretion with Freddy Staines, which brought about their forced marriage. Penelope did not get a love match, as her flowery friends did. She had hopes that their move to India would be a good start for her and Freddy, that they'd learn to love one another. India would be a fresh start. She was correct, though her romance blossomed perhaps not quite in the way (or with whom) she expected.

Eloise, the present-day graduate student whose research guides us through these stories, acknowledges that diving into India is a tangent, but it doesn't follow that tangents are bad. It was a strong book, stronger than some of the others in the series. India was a fresh start for Penelope, and I think it was for Willig as well. In an interview with the Word Wenches, she acknowledges that Almack's Assembly Rooms (where much of the series is set) do start to lose their appeal after a while.

By moving the story to India, Willig was also freed from having to give too much backstory to the others in the series, letting Penelope stand on her own. Characters are mentioned in passing (even poor Turnip, who no one ever says anything complimentary about -- I keep telling you there's more to Turnip than meets the eye), but as Penelope is so far removed from them, they do not play a major role. While I'll admit I did miss the presence and schemes of the Pink Carnation and friends, and I look forward to getting back to them, their absence didn't detract from my enjoyment of The Betrayal of the Blood Lily.

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.