{"id":12026,"date":"2019-08-09T13:17:06","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T17:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12026"},"modified":"2024-01-13T09:21:56","modified_gmt":"2024-01-13T14:21:56","slug":"proper-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12026","title":{"rendered":"Proper English"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proper English<\/a><\/em> (2019) KJ Charles<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Set in England in 1902<\/p>\n

Patricia Merton is looking forward to the shooting party in the country. Now her brother’s wedding is over, she is going to have to decide what to do with herself, because remaining in the home she grew up just isn’t going to work. But she doesn’t get much time to think about her future (or shoot) because Fenella Carruth, her host’s fiancee is distracting, and her host’s brother-in-law is a complete cad, who seems set on ruining the party for everyone.<\/p>\n

This story is related to one I love, Think of England<\/em><\/a>, and is set two years prior to that, so we know going in that Fen and Pat are going to become a couple–we just don’t know how they are going to get there.<\/p>\n

Also, this is a murder mystery, so we have to discover who is murdered (it’s pretty obvious who this is going to be) and then who was the murderer. That bit was harder, since the victim had given literally every at the party reason to kill them.<\/p>\n

As with most of KJ Charles’ books, there are a variety of characters–all of whom are appropriate for the time.<\/p>\n

Miss Singh agreed. \u201cMiss Merton, I wanted to say that I hope I didn\u2019t offend you earlier.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMe? Not at all. How would you have done so?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first discussed shooting. I feel strongly on the subject, so I express myself strongly.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI had four older brothers,\u201d Pat said. \u201cI\u2019m used to people expressing themselves strongly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pat is quite eccentric, but not ridiculously so for the time.<\/p>\n

Pat did not corset. She had had no mother to train her waist to a span of eighteen inches or so; her father thought wasp-waists were for insects and preferred his daughter able to walk, climb trees, shoot, and run around the house.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And related to that, this bit amuses me.<\/p>\n

As an adherent of Rational Dress, she was able to clothe herself without a maid\u2019s assistance. She simply donned combinations, drawers, camisole, stockings, undershirt, petticoat, walking dress, and boots, and was ready to face the day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A subtle reminder that the world was very different for women.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut she isn\u2019t your daughter,\u201d Haworth said silkily. \u201cShe\u2019s my wife. I think some of you around this table are in danger of forgetting that, aren\u2019t you?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And a less subtle reminder.<\/p>\n

I also note that there are some lovely pointed comments, about things that are still problematic today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so sorry. That\u2019s wholly inadequate but I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s anything else one can say.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNot really. Certainly not, \u2018At least you still have two left.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cPlease don\u2019t tell me people say that to you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course they do,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One quick note. I did take umbrage with this.<\/p>\n

(M)y sister bedded an American jazz musician,\u201d Jimmy snapped. \u201cGeorge takes after his father. Brown as a berry.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The music might have been what we’d call jazz, but that’s too early for the name. It’s just a small nit. I’m assuming because it was a quick shorthand for what the author meant, but as someone who adores jazz, it did bug me. Ragtime would probably have been the correct genre to use here. But all that is just me being pedantic, and NOT anything that takes away from the story.<\/p>\n

And it was a fun story.<\/p>\n

Publisher: KJC Books<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proper English (2019) KJ Charles Set in England in 1902 Patricia Merton is looking forward to the shooting party in the country. Now her brother’s wedding is over, she is going to have to decide what to do with herself, because remaining in the home she grew up just isn’t going to work. But she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,48,33,148,26,56],"tags":[50,563,545,476],"class_list":["post-12026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-female","category-historical","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-boinking","tag-edwardian-era","tag-ff","tag-kj-charles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-37Y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25847,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25847","url_meta":{"origin":12026,"position":0},"title":"Proper English","author":"Michelle","date":"February 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Proper English (2019) KJ Charles Set in Shropshire England in 1902 \"Er, are you thinking of moving to London?\u201d \u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d Pat assured him, and noted the tiny relaxation on his face. If she had been metropolis-minded, everyone would have expected her to set up household with her bachelor brother.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Proper English","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Proper-English-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24249,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24249","url_meta":{"origin":12026,"position":1},"title":"Proper English","author":"Michelle","date":"February 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Proper English (2019) KJ Charles Shropshire, 1902 The table was inevitably unbalanced, due to the odd number and informal make-up of the party, with two sets of brothers and sisters to be separated plus the married couple. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry. That\u2019s wholly inadequate but I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s anything\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Proper English","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Proper-English.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23244,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23244","url_meta":{"origin":12026,"position":2},"title":"Proper English","author":"Michelle","date":"February 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Proper English (2019) K.J. Charles Set in England in 1902 If Pat stayed, she would continue running Skirmidge House, and either she would resent Olivia for treating her as an upper servant, or Olivia would resent her for usurping her rights as head of the household Pat did not corset.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Proper English","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Proper-English.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17492,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17492","url_meta":{"origin":12026,"position":3},"title":"Short Stories: KJ Charles","author":"Michelle","date":"June 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Short Stories: KJ Charles \"Five for Heaven\" (2019) A Charm of Magpies 3.5 Set in Nagasaki, three years after A Flight of Magpies (15 pages) \"A Confidential Problem\" (2016) Society of Gentleman 2.5 Set in England in 1820 (14 pages) \"A Private Miscellany\" (2016) Society of Gentlemen 3.5 Set in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/A-Private-Miscellany.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/A-Private-Miscellany.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/A-Private-Miscellany.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/A-Private-Miscellany.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/A-Private-Miscellany.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/A-Private-Miscellany.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11647,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11647","url_meta":{"origin":12026,"position":4},"title":"Any Old Diamonds","author":"Michelle","date":"February 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Any Old Diamonds (2019) K.J. Charles (Lilywhite Boys) Set in England in 1895. Lord Alexander Pyne-ffoulkes--who goes by Alec Pyne--desperately wants revenge upon his father. So he hires the Lilywhite Boys to steal the diamond parvane his father is planning to give his second wife on their 20th anniversary. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/any-old-diamonds-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24629,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24629","url_meta":{"origin":12026,"position":5},"title":"An Unsuitable Heir","author":"Michelle","date":"June 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"An Unsuitable Heir (2017) KJ Charles (Sins of the Cities, #3) Set in London and Norfolk England in 1873 I do like Mark. \"Gone back off home now to bring down the Empire, trzymajmy kciuki.\u201d He tipped his glass. \u201cWhat was that?\u201d \u201cPolish. Means \u2018Let\u2019s keep our fingers crossed.\u2019?\u201d \u201cDid\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Unsuitable Heir","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/An-Unsuitable-Heir.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12026\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}