Emily's Quest

Par Lucy Maud Montgomery, série Émilie, tome 3, chez Bantam Books.

Résumé de l'éditeur:
«Emily knows she's going to be a great writer. She also knows that she and her childhood sweetheart, Teddy Kent, will conquer the world together. But when Teddy leaves home to pursue his goal to become an artist at the School of Design in Montreal, Emily's world collapses. With Teddy gone, Emily agrees to marry a man she doesn't love... as she tries to banish all thoughts of Teddy. In her heart, Emily must search for what being a writer really means...»

Une dernière partie enlevante, brodée par la plume toujours aussi délicieusement fleurie et imaginative de L. M. Montgomery. Les personnages et leurs tribulations envoûtent plus que jamais, et les savoureux rebondissements se multiplient au sein de ce cher Blair Water aux allures pourtant si tranquilles. Un plongeon inoubliable au coeur de la création littéraire, de ses exaltations, de ses grands déserts interminables, et de ces quelques rares fois où le fameux «point de chute de l'arc-en-ciel» semble à portée de mains.

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Emily Climbs

Par Lucy Maud Montgomery, série Émilie, tome 2, chez Bantam Books.

Résumé de l'éditeur:
«Emily Starr was born with the desire to write. As an orphan living on New Moon Farm, writing helped her face the difficult, lonely times. But now all her friends are going away to high school in nearby Shrewsbury, and her old-fashioned, tyrannical aunt Elizabeth will only let her go if she promises to stop writng! All the same, this is the first step in Emily's climb to success. Once in town, Emily's activities set the Shrewsbury gossips buzzing. But Emily and her friends are confident -- Ilse's a born actress, Teddy's set to be a great artist, and roguish Perry has the makings of a brilliant lawyer. When Emily has her poems published and writes for the town newspaper, success seems to be on its way -- and with it the first whispers of romance. Then Emily is offered a fabulous opportunity, and she must decide if she wants to change her life forever.» 

Personnages toujours aussi craquants de vie!... Ce deuxième tome est un brin plus contemplatif que le premier, la majeure partie de la narration étant supportée par la lecture du journal d'Emily. Toutefois, la magie opère encore et s'installent tranquillement les bases de sa vie de jeune adulte. On ne peut s'empêcher de le lire avidement, pour savoir ce qui arrive à cette bande d'amis aux mille possibles.

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Emily of New Moon

Par Lucy Maud Montgomery, Bantam Books, Émilie 1

Résumé de l'éditeur:
«Emily Starr never knew what it was to be lonely -- until her beloved father died. Now Emily's an orphan, and her mother's snobbish relatives are taking her to live with them at New Moon Farm. She's sure she won't be happy Emily deals with stiff, stern Aunt Elizabeth and her malicious classmates by holding her head high and using her quick wit. Things begin to change when she makes friends: with Teddy, who does marvelous drawings; with Perry, who's sailed all over the world with his father yet has never been to school; and above all, with Ilse, a tomboy with a blazing temper. Amazingly, Emily finds New Moon beautiful and fascinating. With new friends and adventures, Emily might someday think of herself as Emily of New Moon.»

Le début d'une saga douce et vive, remplie de ces mots fleuris et de cette sensibilité qui caractérisent la plume de Montgomery. On sent la parenté avec cette chère Anne, mais Emily et ses singuliers comparses s'inscrivent certainement plus dans la fiction jeunesse. Savoureux et touchant à souhait, et quelle superbe galerie de personnages! À lire en version originale ou en version française, car la traduction de Paule Daveluy est on ne peut plus habile et fidèle au style de Montgomery!

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Jane and the Canterbury Tale

Par Stephanie Barron, Bantam, Jane Austen 11

«Three years ago, after a night of reckless gaming, Curzon Fiske fled England for an uncertain future in India, leaving scandal and prodigious debts behind him. When news of his death from fever in Ceylon reached his raven-haired wife, Adelaide, she mourned him for a time—then quietly restored her damaged reputation. Now Adelaide is at the altar again, her groom a soldier on the Marquis of Wellington's staff. The prospects seem bright for one of the most notorious women in Kent—until Jane Austen discovers a corpse on the ancient Pilgrim's Way that runs through her brother Edward's estate. Why is the dead stranger dressed as a pilgrim, and who wrote the summons he carries in his pocket? Who is the aristocrat masquerading as a sailor? And why will none of Adelaide's friends reveal Curzon Fiske's final wager, the night he abandoned his wife? As Chief Magistrate for Canterbury, Edward is forced to investigate, with Jane as his unwilling assistant. From the shooting parties and balls of her wellborn neighbors, to the grim and airless cells of Canterbury gaol, Jane leaves no stone unturned. When a second corpse appears beside the ancient Pilgrim's Way, Jane has no choice but to confront a murderer...lest the next corpse be her own....»

Que de plaisir dans ce frissonnant opus victorien! La plume de Stephanie Barron est au sommet de sa maîtrise, s'appropriant habilement le ton paradoxal de Jane Austen (à la fois réservé et audacieux), et entraînant le lecteur au coeur d'une intrigue noire à souhait, saupoudrée d'un brin de romance et pimentée par une fine tragédie. De la vraie bonne littérature policière comme je l'aime!

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron

Par Stephanie Barron, Bantam Books, Jane Austen 10

«The restorative power of the ocean brings Jane Austen and her beloved brother Henry, to Brighton after Henry's wife is lost to a long illness. But the crowded, glittering resort is far from peaceful, especially when the lifeless body of a beautiful young society miss is discovered in the bedchamber of none other than George Gordon-otherwise known as Lord Byron. As a poet and a seducer of women, Byron has carved out a shocking reputation for himself-but no one would ever accuse him of being capable of murder. Now it falls to Jane to pursue this puzzling investigation and discover just how "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" Byron truly is. And she must do so without falling victim to the charming versifier's legendary charisma, lest she, too, become a cautionary example for the ages.»

Non, définitivement, je ne me lasse pas de cette Jane Austen fictive, fine limière et auteure incognito... La série ne montre aucun signe d'essoufflement: je dirais même qu'elle s'est épanouie avec le temps. Encore une fois, l'intrigue est habile et fort prenante, et je l'ai dévorée goulûment jusqu'à la toute dernière page! Vivement le prochain tome!...

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Jane and the Barque of Frailty

Par Stephanie Barron, Bantam, Jane Austen 9

«Othe heels of completing Sense and Sensibility, Jane heads to Sloane Street for a monthlong visit with her brother Henry and hiw wife, Eliza. Hobnobbing with the Fashionable Great at the height of the Season, Jane is well aware of their secrets and peccadilloes. But even she is surprised when the intimate correspondence between a Russian princess and a prominent Tory minister is published in the papers for all to see. More shocking, the disgraced beauty is soon found with her throat slit on Lord Castlereagh's very doorstep. Everyone who's anyone in high society is certain the spurned princess committed the violence upon herself. But Jane is unconvinced. Nor does she believe the minister guilty of so grisly and public a crime. Jane, however, is willing to let someone else investigate—until a quirk of fate thrusts her and Eliza into the heart of the case... as prime suspects! Striking a bargain with the authorities, Jane secures seven days to save herself and Eliza from hanging. But as her quest to unmask a killer takes her from the halls of government to the drawing rooms of London's most celebrated courtesan, only one thing is sure: her failure will not only cut short her life. It could lead to England's downfall.»

J'ai retrouvé avec plaisir Jane Austen, la détective chevronnée, et son entourage victorien si délicieusement singulier! Une intrigue complexe que celle-ci et qui m'a tenue en haleine jusqu'aux dernières pages... mais dont la fin m'a incroyablement déçue. Qu'on m'offre un flou volontaire quant au véritable déroulement d'une affaire aussi touffue, aux personnages multiples et aux nombreux coupables possibles m'a déplue. Cela dit, il s'agit d'une fin très plausible en regard des outils judiciaires de l'époque et qui met en lumière que la réalité n'est jamais vraiment aussi limpide qu'on le désirerait; jadis, tout comme maintenant, les redresseurs de tort ont nagé plus souvent qu'autrement en eaux troubles...

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Jane and His Lordship's Legacy

Par Stephanie Barron, Bantam, Jane Austen 8

«It's with a heavy heart that Jane Austen takes up a new residence at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Secretly mourning the lost love of her life, she's stunned to learn that the late Lord Harold Trowbridge has made her heir to an extraordinary bequest: a Bengal chest filled with his diaries, letters, and most intimate correspondence. From these, Jane is expected to write a memoir of the Gentleman Rogue for posterity. But before she can put pen to paper on this labor of love, she discovers a corpse in the cellar of her new home. The dead man was a common laborer, and a subsequent coroner's examination shows he was murdered elsewhere and transported to Chawton Cottage. Suddenly Jane and her family are thrust into the center of a brewing scandal in this provincial village that doesn't take kindly to outsiders in general-and to Austens in particular. And just as Jane glimpses a connection between the murder and the shattering truth concealed somewhere in Lord Harold's papers, violent death strikes yet another unsuspecting vicitim. Suddenly there are suspects and motives everywhere Jane looks-local burglaries, thwarted passions, would-be knights, and members of the royal family itself who want Lord Harold hushed... even in death. As the tale of one man's illustrious life unfolds-a life that runs a parallel course to the history of two continents-Jane races against time to catch a cunning killer before more innocent lives are taken. But her determination to protect Lord Harold's legacy could exact the costliest price of all: her own life.»

Décidément passionnante cette série! Encore plus depuis quelques tomes... comme si je m'étais finalement habituée à l'idée de voir Jane Austen évoluer en tant que fin limier, comme si cela faisait maintenant partie de sa «vraie» vie. Le pari de Stephanie Barron semble donc pratiquement gagné... Il faut dire que sa plume habile mime si finement et si respectueusement la voix de l'auteure renommée qu'on s'y croirait. À découvrir définitivement!... puisque cela plaira même aux plus endurcis et puristes des amoureux de Austen.

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★   

Pour le lire en version française

Jane and the Ghosts of Netley

Par Stephanie Barron, Bantam Books, Jane Austen 7

«As Jane Austen stands before the abandoned ruins of Netley Abbey, she imagines that ghosts really do haunt the centuries-old monastery. But the green-cloaked figure who startles her is all too human and he bears an unexpected missive from Lord Harold Trowbridge, one of the British government’s most trusted advisers—and a man who holds a high place in Jane’s life.Trowbridge tells Jane about a suspected traitor in their midst—and the disastrous consequences if she succeeds. But is Sophia Challoner, a beautiful widow with rumored ties to Emperor Bonaparte, really an agent of the enemy? Dispatched to Netley Lodge, Jane sets about gaining the confidence of the mysterious and intriguing lady even as Trowbridge’s grim prediction bears fruit: a British frigate is set afire and its shipwright found with his throat cut.It’s clear that someone is waging a clandestine war of terror and murder. But before Jane can follow the trail of conspiracy to its source and unmask a calculating killer, the cold hand of murder will fall mercilessly yet again—and suddenly Jane may find herself dying for her country.»

Une merveille de suspense historique et victorien! La plume de Stephanie Barron n'a jamais été aussi agile et délectable. J'ai lu ce roman avec avidité, m'attachant au passage à cette chère Jane Austen, que Barron fait «revivre» ici avec une vérité déroutante , et à son charmant, mais provoquant, Lord Harold Trowbridge. L'intrigue est enlevante à souhait... et il y a même un brin d'humanité pour les coeurs plus tendres, comme le mien (sans tomber dans l'édulcoré, bien sûr)! Un des tomes les plus fins de la série Jane Austen...

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

Pour le lire en version française

Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House

Par Stephanie Barron, Bantam Books, Jane Austen 6

«On a raw February morning, Jane Austen first learns of the case of Captain Tom Seagrave, who faces execution for a murder he swears he didn't commit. Together, she and her brother Frank, a post captain in the Royal Navy, set out to uncover the truth. It is a journey that leads from the troubled heart of Seagrave's family, through the seaport's worst sinkholes, and finally to the prison of Wool House. Risking contagion or worse, Jane comes away with more questions than answers. Did one of Seagrave's jealous colleagues frame the unpopular captain? Was a veiled political foe at work? And what of the sealed orders under which Seagrave embarked that fateful night on his ship, the Stella Maris? Then death surfaces again... and Jane must race to untangle the final knots - before she is caught in a killer's net.»

Un leeeent départ, une mise en contexte élaborée (et un brin laborieuse parfois!) à la manière de cette délicieuse Jane Austen que Stéphanie Barron fait revivre avec une habileté troublante... mais une fois les personnages présentés, les lieux bien posés, l'intrigue devient tout simplement enlevante! Un excellent roman policier, sis dans le milieu authentique et rude de la marine britannique, et qui se lit sans prendre le temps de faire une pause pour redescendre sur la terre ferme... Décidément, un autre excellent tome de cette série, qui s'annonçait pourtant très ordinaire si on se fie aux premiers mystères. Un roman policier d'époque savamment tricoté!

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Pour le lire en version française