"The Black Moth" by Georgette Heyer
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What qualities identify a hero? What qualities identify a villain? Since you read a lot (as your interest in Girlebooks indicates), you feel fairly confident that you can spot one or the other, even when one may be traveling somewhat incognito.
If so, Ms.Heyer's approach to heroism and villainy may surprise you. The first novel in a four-part series including These Old Shades, Devil's Cub, and An Infamous Army, The Black Moth comes disguised as an amusing but uncomplicated romance. The story appears so straightforward that you may be inclined to read it with half a mind. As I learned the hard way, that would be a mistake. I read all the way to the end of this fairly lengthy novel and got dropped into a denouement that was anything but uncomplicated. As a result, I reread the whole novel, this time with rapt attention.
When (notice I didn't say "if") you read this novel, it is very important that you make note (written, if possible) of the names, appearances and motivations of the various male characters. Since two of the main characters have aliases, it is easy to pigeonhole each character into a "hero / villain" category that may or may not suit his true nature. One of the strengths of The Black Moth is that the characters are multifaceted, making it hard to totally like or dislike any of them.
The Black Moth himself has three aliases, and only once does the novel hint at who The Black Moth really is. Interestingly, it is easy to miss this, because this he appears as somewhat of a peripheral character. Consider the character of The Black Moth to be a puzzle that must be put together. And a puzzle he is. His motivations defy rationalization. At times he is a guardian angel, other times he lives up to his nickname, which is anything but angelic. From descriptions of his countenance, I pictured someone very much like the actor Alan Rickman--not exactly a romantic hero, but an attractive and compelling character who usually manages to upstage the romantic hero and other characters as well.
Hints for more pleasurable reading of The Black Moth: bone up on your fencing terms. The story is pleasurable without knowing the terminology, but with two very interesting fencing matches, it would have been nice to know exactly what was taking place. Also, read the prologue with care. It may seem irrelevant when you start reading the text of the first chapters, but it contains some skillful foreshadowing.
Cover art by Janice Tarver, for sale at Etsy.
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I had to add to my review a stream of conciousness experience that came to me when I was reading another GirlEBook review. I just finished "The Leavenworth Case" by Anna Katharine Green. In it, she has some quotes from Hamlet, my favorite Shakespearean play. My favorite character in that play is Fortinbras. The person that played Fortinbras in Kenneth Branagh's production of Hamlet was an English actor named Rufus Sewell. He now plays the lead in the TV Series "Eleventh Hour." Ms. Heyer's description of The Black Moth might fit him rather nicely.
I love Rufus Sewell! I first saw him as Ladislaw in the 1994 adaptation of Middlemarch. I also saw that version of Hamlet, but I don't remember Sewell in it. I should watch that again.
Rufus Sewell would make a good screen "Black Moth" because he plays a very low-key hero (as in "Eleventh Hour") but he usually steals the show as the villain (as in "The Illusionist," as Crown Prince Leopold, "Knight's Tale," as Count Adhemar, and "Zorro" as Armand.) He in inhabits a role so fully, that sometimes you don't recognize him. I watched the excellent TV miniseries, "John Adams" all the way through and never realized that Sewell was Alexander Hamilton. He also got critical acclaim for his role as Charles II (a monarch very dear to McDonald hearts) in the mini series "The Last King." This same series was broadcast in England (unabridged) as "The Power and The Passion."
The Black Moth is such a complicated character that one could not choose someone to play him just on the basis of the way he looks. This is the reason that Rufus Sewell is so perfect. He not only looks like the character described by Georgette Heyer, (dark hair, green eyes, narrow nose, chiseled features) but he also has the dimension to play him.
Of course, if Mr. Sewell were not available, it's possible that we could go with a Sewell look-alike and similarly dimensional, Joaquim (or Joaquin, depending on who you ask) Phoenix.
Yet another Sewell sighting--I just saw him in Cold Comfort Farm. He pops up all over the place if you know who he is!
I will have to read and review more of these Heyer books just to see if our obsession with Rufus Sewell still does justice to the character of the Black Moth. Like Mr. Sewell, one never knows what direction the Black Moth is going to follow next. For the record, Mr. Sewell said that he chooses his roles on the basis of how broke he is at the time.
Another Rufus Sewell sighting! After a long absence from TV (as far as I could tell) Rufus Sewell is back in action as Zen, an English detective working in Italy. It's on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS. I caught the first episode, and, true to form, it's stylish and exciting. My favorite aspect is that he is a soft-spoken, somewhat nerdy man that lives with his mother--but he also manages to solve the tough cases, even some the police would rather not touch. And those soft-spoken words sometimes carry a big impact--especially at the end of the first episode.
Here's the link (plagiarized from Laura's comment, further down this page.)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch/index.html
I think Hugh Jackman would make a delicious on-screen Black Moth. He could also fit into so many of her other male lead characters.
Oh, Hugh Jackman would be a stunning Black Moth! About the right age, great looks, and a little undercurrent of evil as seen in some of his roles (like the one where he plays a magician, the title of which escapes me at the moment.)
Awesome, thanks for the heads up! You can watch online here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch/index.html