Shades of Milk and Honey: Oh My!

While I have never been a huge fan of Valentine’s Day, I figured we would celebrate it in literature with a review of Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal. Kowal’s debut novel is set in England and is reminiscent of Jane Austen’s characters. In fact Kowal openly acknowledges this book is a homage to her love of all things Austen. One could really say this is Pride and Prejudice with a little magic, although not in a terrible way.

Over the past several years various authors have rewritten or borrowed the characters of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, adjusted the storyline or written a sequel and made their money off Austen’s characters. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma being the two major ones that spring to mind. I personally find the hijack of another author’s characters, even a long dead author, to be theft. That is simply my opinion, so I was a little worried when I read a few of the comments about this book on Goodreads. However, while Shades of Milk and Honey has elements of Pride and Prejudice, this is a story with original characters and a hint of magic thrown in.

This book revolves around the “on-the-shelf” spinster Jane Ellsworth. The book jacket lists Jane as a “woman ahead of her time,” which I found to be an overstatement. She spends the majority of the book attempting to convince herself, she is okay with her lot in life. She is advanced in the womanly art of glamour (think magical interior decorating) but her skill does not overshadow her unfortunate lack of beauty. Towards the end of the book she does throw decorum to the wind and the results are quite charming.

The glamour used in this book is interesting. It provides a subtle shift from the typical Regency era novels without being intrusive. When I first started looking at this novel I wondered how Kowal would force magic into such a tightly wrapped ruled based society. She does it admirably. This system of magic seems to flow freely within her narrative and provides for some fun and interesting episodes. 

This book is a very quick read and it is enjoyable but I found the characters to be underdeveloped. Jane seems to go from much attached to the neighbor to in love with the mysterious Mr. Vincent in the course of a chapter. While I think you are supposed find Jane’s sister, Melody, to be young and flighty, to me she showed a real cruel streak, making Jane’s devotion to her difficult to understand.
One of the things I loved about Pride and Prejudice is the development of Jane and Elizabeth’s parents and how those roles play off the main story. I believe Kowal attempted to accomplish this feat but it seems loosely done.

I learned about this book series through a Stuff You Missed in History Podcast discussing the Year Without a Summer.  I love this podcast and highly recommend checking it out on iTunes.
When reading Shades, it reads as a standalone story with a nice bow-tied ending. I am interested in reading the next book but it would not be strictly necessary. Overall I give this story a three and half stars out of five.

I have found no record of Shades of Milk and Honey being challenged or banned.  However magic does have the ability to make some of the masses nervous.  It would not surprise me if a few individuals have leveled local challenges on this series without it becoming a news story.  After all librarians are often the first line of defense in censorship.   According to the Christian County Library Austen’s Pride and Prejudice does not have a history of being challenged or banned. 

Next week I will discuss the intriguing story behind the rapture (or not rapture) in Tom Perrotta’s The Leftovers.