REVIEW: The Adventurers by Jane Aiken Hodge
‘You may be an adventurer, but you strike me as a gentleman.’
After the French suffer a bloody defeat at the battle of Leipzig, the survivors of Napoleon’s army retreat through Germany. Plundering and pillaging along their way, a group of stragglers attack the Von Hugel estate. Hiding in the hayloft, Sonia von Hugel witnesses the massacre of her family. Apparently the sole survivor at the castle, Sonia is left desperate and alone.
Forced to flee for her safety, Sonia disguises herself in her brother’s clothes and begins a treacherous journey through the mountains. But, lost and weary, Sonia stumbles into a inn and finds her fate intertwined with charming rogue Charles Vincent. With no one left to help her, can Sonia trust this stranger with her life?
As the pair embark upon an adventure to gamble their way through the camp followers of Napoleon’s Russian retreat, they find themselves in increasing danger. But is Sonia as safe with Charles as she thought? Or does he have other more sinister motives?
Filled with action and adventure, suspense and intrigue, this sweeping historical romance set in 1813 whisks readers across 19th century Europe.
The Adventurers was first published in 1965 and was also published as Royal Gamble.
Review
Three years ago I finally read a Jane Aiken Hodge book. “Greek Wedding” might actually have been the place to start because as bad as it was for me, I could only hope that her other books would all be better. Indeed the next one I read, “Marry in Haste,” I managed to finish. But still the magic hadn’t hit me. One book that usually got rave comments is “The Adventurers” but it hadn’t been rereleased digitally so I put it on my wish list. Many times I almost bought a used copy but I kept hoping. At last, I saw it was going to be out soon as an ebook and I snagged a review copy. Fans, you did not steer me wrong.
The blurb made me pause. A heroine who witnesses her family being massacred? (TRIGGER WARNING) Hmmm, maybe not the best way to start a book but indeed that is what happens along with an implied rape of a servant by some of the French soldiers. Then rampaging Cossacks arrive and massacre the French and there are bodies everywhere. This is when we first see Sonia’s backbone. She’s a survivor and honestly couldn’t have done anything to save anyone if she’d stormed out of hiding. With survival on her mind, she makes a plan and heads off only to meet Charles Vincent at an inn. There they pass an evening playing cards with two Austrian officers and discover each is a talented card player.
By the next morning, they have another plan. They’ll pass themselves off as siblings and using their talent, they’ll play their way across Europe. With their talent, they’ll clean up and finance Sonia’s way to estranged relatives in England. Soon the plans are altered a bit more but serviceable all the same. With an older woman to lend them countenance, they catch up to the Allied Headquarters and begin to entertain the bored officers and diplomats.
Napoleon is in retreat and the squabbling Allies need to hold their alliance together long enough to put an end to his military tyranny. But Sonia and Liz begin to notice that Charles is doing more listening at times than card playing. He also disappears for a few days at a time on unknown trips to meet with people he refuses to tell the women about. Arriving in France, they rent a house only for Liz to meet up with someone from her past – a man she had loved but who had turned from her when his family objected.
But the wars aren’t over yet and there remains one mad dash across France to Paris. Will the Allies be victorious? Will the French populace turn on our adventurers? Will Charles’s mysterious journeys ever be explained? Can Liz and her former love discover the truth about their past? And what will happen when the autocratic Lady Elinor Denbigh arrives?
Yeah so the opening scene is stark. Aiken Hodge doesn’t shy away from the fact that war was raging across the European landscape and there are several close calls as the group travels from Germany through France. I was also a bit annoyed with Sonia at first as she seemed to be turning into a whining brat with Liz making excuses for her. Then it hit me that Sonia was reacting to the violence she’d seen and trying to deal with probable survivor guilt. She does settle down into sassy and gives Charles several pieces of her mind as the story continues. Their sparring matches are fun to read and show Sonia’s got more than enough backbone no matter that she’s only eighteen.
Then the second romance gets started – or restarted. And Liz doesn’t cut any corners with him either. Giles Denbigh might be highly thought of by Lord Castlereagh but Liz tells Giles exactly what she thought and still thinks of how he abandoned her with her reputation in shreds. Events keep throwing them together though and before long it’s Giles who feels on the back foot and fending off two angry women.
The historical details woven into the story gave me a great education about what happened during and after the last battles of 1813/14 but before the famous Congress of Vienna that features in so many regency novels. I liked that there are heroes and good people on all sides and that when Giles gets the chance, he doesn’t hesitate to publicly win his lady fair. This is a smart, well plotted novel with intelligent people who (pretty much) act intelligently. A-
~Jayne
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I enjoy Aiken Hodge’s writing. She doesn’t candy-coat some of the horrible things women on the fringes of society with no money or clear reputation go through. Her heroines are usually quite strong. Must see if this book is available in e-format.
I am so glad you hung in there and kept trying, especially since, iirc, mine was one of the voices praising Aiken Hodge. But this title is new to me; how wonderful is that?
I re-read WATCH THE WALL, MY DARLING a couple years ago and still enjoyed it. MARRY IN HASTE made my teenage heart swoon, hopefully it can do so again.
For some reason the link isn’t going directly to the ebook. Phooey. Maybe this one will work better
The Adventurers
I remember your distaste for GW. Your assessment wasn’t wrong, but it was my first JAH book–I read my friend’s mother’s copy during a teenage sleepover–so it will always have a sentimental spot with me. The Adventurers wasn’t one of my favorites on the first reading, but I liked it much more on subsequent reads. I think the opening scenes threw me initially. (Some of my favorites were the Purchas/Purchis books, but I’m not sure how Savannah Purchase would hold up today.)
I loved how JAH’s heroines had exciting, and often scary, things happen to them, but the books never devolved into overblown damsel in distress, bodice ripper territory. Don’t get me wrong, I read those, too, but JAH’s heroines were rarely victims. For the most part, when bad things happened, they dealt with them. Like Sonia did.
I’ve collected some of the Kindle books as they’ve been released, but it’s been years since I’ve actually revisited any of them. Maybe I need to devote part of my upcoming snowy weekend with one or two. I was pleased to see that a number of them, including several I’ve never read, are also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Thank you for this. I discovered Jane Aiken Hodge at my public library when I stumbled across Watch the Wall, My Darling, long before Kathleen Woodiwiss’ The Flame and the Flower was published.
I proceeded to track down every Aiken Hodge book I could get my hands on, not an easy task in the pre-Internet era, but she was worth it. I credit her books with inspiring much of my love of Regency Romance and historical romance in general, and I’m glad she’s still getting some love on Valentine’s Day from readers.
So glad you liked my all time fave by JAH. I even tracked down a used hardback edition for my keeper shelf. I started reading her in the mid-’60s (Watch the Wall, My Darling–hot off the new paperbacks rack!) and stuck with her through the early ’80s at least.
One comment about the ebook cover–OMG!! She’s wearing a Gunny Sax blouse!! why??? The book is set during the end of the war with Napoleon–not some pseudo-Victorian/Edwardian era. Sheesh!
Oh this sounds fabulous!
@Barb in Maryland: I know, I know! That cover … sigh. That’s why I dug out and put up the two other older covers. In this case, you really can’t judge a book by its cover. ;)