2 STARS
I feel like a fish out of time.
I get where this book wanted to go: sexual exploration in a Georgian period with gritty elements, but it really didn't work for me. Things didn't make sense, specially character actions and motivations.
Temperance Dews is a widow and foundling house mistress with her brother Winter Makepeace. They do the Lord's work for the most vulnerable forgotten. Her character starts off very admirable and then swerves off, veering wildly and in the end makes no sense at all.
Lord Caire, Lazarus--yes, your first association works for he rises when he meets Temperance, both literally and metaphorically. His motivations from the onset are completely unfathomable and illogical. Lord Caire's odd obsession, stalking, brings them together in the retched venue of St. Giles. And a bargain is met between the two mismatched souls haunting the streets of London's most dangerous district.
Whispers follow Lord Caire and gossip is scathing in regards to his debauched interests in bedsports. And somehow, this devout Christian woman and the dissolute rake find themselves sharing late night confessions on the dark lonely streets.
Apathy versus empathy. The wild swings of the pendulum between the two as our protagonists interact make for a very manufactured drama. Lord Caire's swings in conversation and behavior make him appear mentally unstable. Temperance is TSTL, but lucky, very lucky.
Temperance has a carnal knowledge that makes no sense for a woman of her background. She wouldn't have heard, done or seen any of the things she describes wanting with Lord Caire. She also has startlingly unrealistic responses in crisis situations. I think we're suppose to be inspired, but in anything but a fictional story she'd end up raped, beaten, and/or dead. There are multiple melodramatic, featherbrained females tilting at windmills in the book.
This quote sums up the conversation I had with the book: "You've used me to punish yourself, haven't you?"
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