Janine, Ann, and Nicole: I am very much looking forward to Meredith’s next book, because even though this one didn’t hit home for me, parts of it did.

Maya and GrowlyCub: Rangoon is the only Monson book I’ve read and would love suggestions for others. I’ve been afraid to read Stormfire because I can take a morally ambiguous hero, but not one unremittingly cruel, and I tend to be sensitive to rape in Romance. Also, I wanted to say that I don’t feel that the writing in Rangoon is anywhere near as accomplished as that in DOS, but I thought the cultural acuity in Rangoon was really powerful.

Jayne and Jane: I understand why you feel the way you did. I am thrilled that many readers seem to love the first section, but whether my expectations were too high or something, I really struggled through that section, and had I not known Meredith at all, I probably would not have finished the book. I will say, though, that I soooo wish more books were set in locations like India, in part because the cultural issues are so compelling, IMO.

Kirsten: I had to resist the temptation to make the STF comparison in the second half of DOS, in part because STF is so beloved to me that it’s hard for any book to live up to that reading experience. STF made me cry, which is very unusual for me, and even though that book is far from perfect, again, it just feels like it’s more fully developed. IMO DOS really needed AT LEAST fifty more pages (mostly in the first section) to take me where I felt the novel wanted me to go.

I haven’t read this yet, but the second part of the book sounds like the work that Sheraton had to do (off screen) to bring Olympia back from the brink. (Kinsale’s Seize the Fire)

I also didn’t find the prose more than serviceable. Certainly not horrible but not anything out of the ordinary. Would I have enjoyed the second half more? Maybe but the effort to get there wasn’t worth it to me.

I also thought her relationship with her betrothed offered just what one might expect. He wanted a traditional English miss, who would be happy with however he chose to conduct himself. Emma was not that woman. When she began to show favor to his despised half-caste cousin, I think he went a bit mad. He might not have been so bad in other regards, but I think he utterly lost his reason where Emma was concerned. I didn’t see him so much evil as weak and envious. Envy can make people do terrible things.

I must confess, I saw little of the rake in Julian’s character. By my definition, a rake pursues excess for its own sake, as a means of driving away ennui. He games, he whores, and he drinks; he has few deep passions. Julian does not come off as jaded to me, merely a soul divided. He is passionate about India… and Emma. He loves his maternal family deeply, even though that affection is unwelcome.

As for Emma, she doesn’t fit the typical virgin profile for me either. She is assumed to have forfeited her virtue already, in fact, and I feel quite sure her betrothed only wants to marry her, despite her soiled reputation, because of her fortune. She’s not missish. She has a wild streak that makes her long for adventure (although I’m sure she comes to regret that wish). I also found a nice symbolic parallel between Emma’s wild streak and the backdrop of India, actually.

Anyway, as the world knows by now, I really loved this book.

The passages you quoted are wonderful, Robin. I can’t wait to get to them.