"A talented Storyteller"
I normally enjoy Katherine Kingsley's work. Ms. Kingsley
is blessed with a wonderful flair for words with fast paced
storylines, appealing characters and just the right touch
of humor. I tend to label her novels I've read as
heartwarming. For all these reasons, I was looking forward
to another satisfying reading experience when I started her
LILIES ON THE LAKE. While this story, the sequel to IN THE
PRESENCE OF ANGELS (that I haven't read), was well written
with a smoothly flowing storyline, I was disappointed.
This disappointment centered on the rather unappealing lead
characters, particularly Portia (Pip) Merriem. At 27, the lovely, spirited, scholarly, unmarried Pip is
finally realizing her lifelong dream of visiting and
studying in Egypt. Her dream, however, hits a snag when
her companion and friend Isabel announces on their arrival
in Alexandria that she is pregnant. For the next months,
Pip and Isabel live on a houseboat, basically keeping to
themselves to hide the unmarried Isabel's condition. When
Isabel goes into labor in an isolated part of Egypt, a
frantic Pip is aided by her old childhood playmate, John
Henry Lovell. Isabel dies in childbirth, leaving a son Pip
is determined to raise as her own. To avoid scandal, Pip reluctantly agrees to marry John
Henry. A wealthy heiress, she has always been determined to
marry for love after her wastrel father married her mother
for money. Now, she believes her worst fears to be true.
She has attained a husband who is only interested in her
money. John Henry, for his part, has loved Pip all his life. Yet
as the son of a poor tenant farmer, he has never been in
the same social class as Pip, the stepdaughter of a
marquess. He also still harbors hurt feelings over the
then class conscious Pip's rejection ten years before.
After Pip's rejection, John Henry left for India where he
amassed a fortune and gained a title for service to his
country. He is reluctant, however, to tell Pip about his
wealth or his title because he wants her
to learn to love him - not his position. Most of LILIES ON THE LAKE dwells with Pip's misconceptions
about John Henry's motives for marriage and his withholding
the truth about himself to her. These plot devices became
tedious, but the real problem I had with this book was
Pip's character. I never warmed to the stubborn,
independent, supposedly mature character. Instead, Pip came
across as selfish, childish and snobbish. John Henry fared somewhat better, but not by much. Knowing
Pip's independent streak, John Henry still courted her
alienation by becoming an overbearing boor after the
wedding. This romantic couple, keeping an emotional
distance for most of the book, just never clicked for me.
No connection, no sizzle. Lord Hugo, that irresistible
scoundrel in Ms. Kingsley's CALL DOWN THE MOON, had his
faults but he also had a sizzling relationship with his
heroine, Meggie. That type of relationship did not exist
between Pip and John Henry. Ms. Kingsley is a talented story teller, but her efforts
fell short in LILIES ON THE LAKE. Debbie Jett
Reviewed by Guest Reviewer
Courtesy Heart Rate Reviews
Posted August 3, 2001
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