DREAMING OF YOU (Gamblers #2) by Lisa Kleypas
Mass Market Paperback, 373 pages
Published
May 1st 1994
by Avon Books
Genre: historical romance novel
Rating: 5 stars
I enjoyed Dreaming Of You for many reasons: for the love story (which is so
challenged and hindered by all kinds of obstacles, including the male protagonist's refusal to
form any emotional attachment with any woman), for the romance and the
sensuality (although the male hero will resists any
emotional or physical connection with the heroine for a good part of the book), for the heartwarming 'happily ever after', but
most of all for the powerful characterization of the male hero.
“A
man of ruined potential”: this is how Derek Craven is described by his trustworthy and loyal factotum, Mr Worthy.
The strength and the depth of this male character, his personal quest from rugs
to riches, his loneliness, the hardships he has to face due to his low origins,
are so compelling that for me they overshadow even the love story between him
and the heroine. Derek has accumulated
wealth beyond belief, achieving a status of power that would make the bluest
and most ancient English bloodlines pale in comparison. And yet, he is the most
lonely and scarred men on earth.
The
beauty of some historical romance novels (and Ms. Kleypas is a master in this
field) is that, beyond the storyline evolving around the matters of the
heart, they provide a surprisingly
clever analysis of the social issues related to their historical background:
the rise of a new social class as a consequence of the industrial revolution (the
self-made men, outsider heroes of many a novel by Lisa Kleypas), the new role
of the aristocracy in a climate of profound social and economic changes, the
“wealth within reach” offered by the New World, a new set of moral patterns and values
shifting from the restrictive stiffness of the upper classes to the much more
liberal and unrestrained social behavior of the new comers, not to mention the new position of women in society.
The
social shifts defining the British Empire during the 1800s were of such a
magnitude that, in the fictional but plausible world of Ms. Kleypas’ historical romance Dreaming Of You, even a man without a
past, without roots or education, without blue blood or family wealth, born to
a prostitute and abandoned in a drainpipe at birth, raised by other
compassionate prostitutes in bawdy houses, nursed on gin, and put to work as a
chimney sweeper at a very young age, gigolo
for necessity, can turn into an extremely wealthy, incredibly powerful and
tremendously ruthless man of consequence. Yet, the immense wealth he has
accumulated is not enough to erase his humble origins and what is worse, it is
not enough to numb his self-disgust. He remains an outcast in the eyes of a
society that welcomes his money and enterprises, but will keep him at distance.
He denies himself every chance of real emotional connection, because he
considers himself undeserving of love.
What
a challenge to create a romance around such a strong and impenetrable male
character ! Not the usual aristocratic knight in shining armor or the
good-hearted reformed rake, Derek is the hardest, roughest, darkest, and most
edgy “hero” you could encounter in a romance novel. Ruthless to the core,
embittered by a life of brutal deprivation, alone since he was an infant, he will
open up and yield only to a woman “strong, wise, and patient enough to qualify
for sainthood”. And here comes Sara, Derek’s only chance of redemption. She is
untouched by vice and sin, an angel (like he uses to call her here and there
throughout the book) fallen in the filthy backstreets of his gambling club to
rescue his body from a horrible disfigurement, if not death, and his soul from isolation
and spiritual numbness.
The
highest moment of the novel (***LITTLE SPOILER HERE***), the final family scenes: Derek holding his woman after
the fire that has destroyed his club, him doting on his beloved daughter in a moment of utter tenderness, his soul finally in peace
with himself and the world.
