This is a very old Regency – I think I picked it up at the fabulous bookstore Paperbacks in Snellville, Georgia. One of the few stores with a great Regency backlist. These older Regencies are disappearing – I rarely see the old ones any more…
Star Sapphire by Rebecca Danton
(1979, Regency) 6/19/2012
Grade: 4
Sonia Goldfine lives a quiet life in London with her uncle, designing jewelry for the ladies of the ton. But she can never be a part of that world, due to her religion. Although Jews are accepted in England to a certain extent, they will never be accepted in society. But when Alastair Charlton, the Marquess of Fairley, finds himself deeply in debt, a marriage of convenience is his only option. But Sonia wants more than that… she wants love.
This book was definitely memorable and unique, although it wasn’t always a pleasure to read. It felt like two different books merged together. One was historical fiction centering around the status of Jewish immigrants in England during the Regency, and the exciting (slightly fictionalized) story of how Nathan Rothschild smuggled gold to Spain during the Napoleonic wars to pay the troops. This part of the story was fascinating and definitely different from a typical Regency. However, the romance part of the story wasn’t as appealing. Although the characters were fairly interesting and had moments of emotional connection, the romance was full of big misunderstandings, long separations and petty jealousies. I found the romance dated and frustrating. Overall, it was definitely worth reading, but I won’t be looking for more Regencies from the 1970’s.
When I was looking for a cover image for this book, I discovered Rebecca Danton was a pseudonym for Janet Louise Roberts. I remember reading her Gothics back in the 80’s and early 90’s when I glommed every Gothic I could get my hands on. I’m not sure I’d enjoy them now (they’d probably seem just as dated as this one) but I loved them so much back then.
Karen Wheless
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