Smoke and Mirrors by Barbara Michaels, Grade: B+
In Smoke and Mirrors, young Erin Hartsock has moved to D.C. and needs a job. Her parents’ old friend, Rosemary White Marshall, is running for a Virginia Senate seat, and Erin asks her for a paid campaign job. Rosemary, though perpetually short on cash, inexplicably takes her on and is justly rewarded: Erin is a hard worker, willing not only to do menial office work, but to cook and clean and take care of fellow campaigners.
After Erin joins the campaign, there are some disturbing events, including a few cases of petty arson. Taken as a whole, they suggest that someone is taunting Rosemary about a dark secret from her past, a secret that could destroy her political career. Erin and coworker/love-interest Nick play amateur sleuth, hoping to discover the truth before anything disastrous happens.
Overall the story was a bit dull and the various elements didn’t quite gel, but there were a lot of things to like about it. For one thing, Michaels went out of her way to champion equality for women and people of color, even going so far as to imply support of the LGBTQ community (though it was not called that back then). She took stands that might have been unpopular with some readers, and I applaud her for it.
She also tried to shine a light on the dark side of politics in this country, and I suppose it might have been illuminating for some people at the time, but it’s nothing compared to what we all know these days. It did, however, remind me that all the horrible stuff that we’ve been dealing with in politics recently is all part of a continuum. Certain situations might have gotten worse since then, but they’re not new. Reading this book was good for my sense of perspective. So I gave it a B+, because reading it was a positive experience, just not quite so wonderful that I need to keep the book.
The Master of Blacktower by Barbara Michaels, Grade: B+
Damaris Gordon’s father, an eminent scholar, has died. He left her with so little money that she needs a job. As well educated as she is, she thinks she should be able to get a job as a gentleman’s secretary, even though traditionally that’s a job for men. So she advertises. Most people think it’s highly unseemly of her, but Gavin Hamilton, a very distant relative, takes an interest in her and offers her a job reorganizing his library. So accepts and sets off for Hamilton’s ancestral home in the Highlands of Scotland.
Hamilton is a frightening and mysterious figure. He has a disfiguring scar on his face, he always wears gloves, his wife is long dead but under suspicious circumstances, his daughter is unable to walk even though there’s nothing obviously wrong with her, and he lives in a faraway, isolated manor. There’s even a grouchy and untrustworthy old servant. It was all very Gothic.
The story was a bit silly at times, but it was generally likable in the way that so many Gothic romances are. Had Hamilton been a tad more likeable, and had the ending been a little less abrupt, I might have given it a higher grade. It was a close thing, but I gave it a B+ for being enjoyable to read but not worth keeping.
The Dark on the Other Side by Barbara Michaels, Grade: B+
Linda is married to Gordon Randolph, a man who excels every field, be it sports, teaching, the arts, or politics. Married to such a rich and successful man, she ought to be happy, but she sees and hears things that terrify her, things that no one else sees or hears. Dark things. Is she mad? Some people think so. She feels trapped, and when all else fails, she turns to alcohol to numb herself. A crisis is already looming when Michael, the biographer that her husband has hired, arrives on the scene and stirs things up. Can this man help her escape from her nightmare existence?
Barbara Michaels had a formula for her novels, one that went beyond the standard elements of genre fiction. In books with paranormal aspects, she always included a scene in which some of the characters, at least one of which was a skeptic, discussed the historical, philosophical, and theological ramifications of their situation. She also always had one or more characters quoting lines from old literature. She was well-educated, and it’s possible she felt like she had to show us that she knew her stuff. For me, though, these additions always seem tedious and/or cringe-worthy. This particular novel had too much of it, or I’d finally just had enough of it. Either way, the book didn’t work for me. It’s a pity, because in many ways this was one of her better written books, and she had me well and truly hooked for a while, which is why I still gave it a B+.
Oh, well. I had been hoping to find one more of her novels that was worth keeping, but now I am down to just three (The Walker in Shadows, The Wizard’s Daughter, and Be Buried in the Rain). The odds are not so good.