A Curious Beginning, Audio Edition

A Curious Beginning (2015) Deanna Raybourn narrated by Angèle Masters (Veronica Speedwell)

Set in England in 1887

Michael and I have a fair amount of overlap in what we like to read, but there are plenty of genres we separately like. It makes selecting an audiobook to listen to in the car both easier and harder, since he enjoys books he has not read, and I can only listen to books I have previously read.

Since he does like mysteries, I decided to see if he’d enjoy the Veronica Speedwell series–especially since I wanted to read A Sinister Revenge, the newest book in the series.

He enjoyed it, and we started the next book in the series.

Veronica is an early feminist, and quite strident about it, which can make her off-putting. But she feels true to some of the bluestockings of her time.

“I have faith that men can be as reasonable and logical as women if they but try.”

He shook his head. “I cannot seem to formulate a clear thought in the face of such original thinking, Miss Speedwell. You have a high opinion of your sex.”

I pursed my lips. “Not all of it. We are, as a gender, undereducated and infantilized to the point of idiocy. But those of us who have been given the benefit of learning and useful occupation, well, we are proof that the traditional notions of feminine delicacy and helplessness are the purest poppycock.”

Veronica and Stoker have a contentious relationship, but they work well as a team, and do attempt to understand each other when the pause in their arguments.

“There are times when it is entirely safe to show one’s vulnerability, to roll over and reveal the soft underbelly beneath. But there are other times when pain must be borne without a murmur, when the pain is so consuming that if you give in to it, even in the slightest, you have lost everything.”

“I suppose one might say the same of mental and emotional pain as well as physical,” I mused.

Publisher: Recorded Books

Rating: 8/10 | Michael: 7/10

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