Book Review: Against the Tide

This review may contain spoilers. Read with caution!

This review is a difficult one for me to write. I'll come right out front and say that I had huge expectations for this latest novel of Elizabeth Camden after reading "The Rose of Winslow Street" which I hugely enjoyed. "Against the Tide" turned out to be a beast of a different color.

This novel is set in 1891 and is the story of twenty-something Greek native Lydia Pallas. After the calamitous death of Lydia's family at an early age she grows up in an orphanage/school reminiscent of something from "Jane Eyre". Now a grown woman Lydia is fastidious and focused making her a perfect fit for her job translating for a prominent Admiral at the Boston Navy Yard. Lydia's job is something she does with great care and pride, it is her great calling in life and the root of her security.

Into her perfectly ordered world walks Alexander Banebridge, or Bane, as he prefers. Bane is the  literal embodiment of a Greek god walking amongst men and drifts in and out of Lydia's office mysteriously meeting with the Admiral and driving her nuts with his meddling ways. When Bane ends up needing a translator for top secret documents he hires Lydia but soon 'the plot thickens' as Lydia finds out what Bane is really up to and finds herself getting into more danger and chaos then she counted on. Soon she must confront a personal demon as she helps Bane to face his past and bring down the ruthless head of an opium trading ring.

Along the way a romance developers between Lydia and Bane that felt was rather uncomfortable. Bane makes it clear to Lydia from the onset that a) He is a Christian and has dedicated his life to God; b) He will not be sticking around; and, c) He cannot be involved in any relationship- ever. Lydia however, despite his enigmatic ways, falls for him, and when he does leave falls into a deep, life threatening depression.  As a result of her desperation to prove herself to him she puts herself in ever increasing danger even as she falls deeper into a serious illness. Even though I liked Lydia at the beginning of the book I found her increasingly annoying as I read on because she does not behave in a way that seems true or consistent with the Lydia to which we are first introduced. As for Bane I didn't care for him from the beginning of the book, he felt unreachable as a character and proved to be wholly unpredictable- and I felt- unprincipled because of the way he dallys with Lydia. I found him frustrating as he at one moment is falling for Lydia and pursuing a relationship with her (while he can enjoy it) and then turning on her and 'switching off' the relationship when it suited him. There is nothing gallant in a 'hero' who acts so callously towards a woman. I really wanted to smack him! Overall, I really didn't like the romantic plot that runs throughout the story and found it weak and hair-pulling.

In the end I think that the plot/story had great potential but the puzzle pieces were cut so crazily that it had a difficult time coming together in a pretty picture. Something that really bothered me was a revelation in the authors notes at the end of the book. It seems that while "Winslow Street" was a stand alone book "Against the Tide" is something of a sequel to Camden's first book "The Lady of Bolton Hill"! As I hadn't at the time of finishing "Tide" read that first book I was quite frosted at learning that Bane's character was introduced there! It really explained a number of things. I have since gone back and read "Bolton Hill" and liked Bane in that book, I really believe that if I had read that first book first I would have liked him, or at least understood him, better in this third book.

Despite having issues with the characters in this book I still enjoyed Camden's writing style and the overarching plot. I will look eagerly forward to reading more of Elizabeth Camden's books at time goes on!

Overall rating: 2.5

I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for a honest review and opinion of the product.