10-17-2007, 07:57 PM
I like humor in Gothic romances, but of the more subtle type that does not detract from the seriousness of the plot and the romantic tension. Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels' book, Crocodile on a Sandbank, has, as I recall, a entertaining infusion of humor that is primarily character based. Her heroine is an outrageously funny person, but always serious about things at the same time. If a gothic romance gets too caught up in trying to be funny, I tend to get exasperated with it. It risks being a "fluff" novel, which I don't like. I've found that attempts at humor often cause an historical gothic to slip into present day tone/language, which I really dislike. I am now reading Dolphin Summer (1977), by Carola Salisbury, which has a humorous section as follows, set in 1897, in Gibralter, Spain, as the party is getting ready to depart for a picnic atop the Rock of Gibralter:
The day looked hot and sunny, and the sky an unblemished blue. Mindful of the exertions ahead of me (riding a donkey, not to mention riding a donkey at "vertiginous heights"), I [the heroine, a lowly companion to a rich invalid] put on a simple white blouse with not overgenerous sleeves, and a serviceable black serge skirt. For headgear: my old straw boater with its bedraggled feather....Oriana Topsham [the heroine's haughty, titled rival] was dressed as for a garden party at Buckingham Palace, as I had seen the mode in the pages of illustrated magazines, in a gown of lilac silk and white lace, with a confection of French millinery on her head that must have cost the sacrifice of a whole aviary of colored birds. Her perfect features, behind the tight veil that enclosed them, were expressionless as ever; despite which, I would have sworn that her eyes were slightly pink-rimmed, as if from weeping, and there was a slight tremor in her voice when she addressed the company.
"Good morning, Jason. Mr. Bennett. Miss--er--Trewella." She scarcely spared me a glance....
Jason [the hero] himself assisted Oriana to mount up. She looked extremely out of place, on a little black donkey in her garden-party rig-out; when I turned my face to hide a treacherous smile, I met Mellony's [the heroine's mistress] glance and she gave me a broad and extremely vulgar wink. For an awful moment, I thought she would make some outrageous comment about poor Oriana--but she changed her mind....
This is the kind of humor I truly enjoy, which stems from engaging writing.
The day looked hot and sunny, and the sky an unblemished blue. Mindful of the exertions ahead of me (riding a donkey, not to mention riding a donkey at "vertiginous heights"), I [the heroine, a lowly companion to a rich invalid] put on a simple white blouse with not overgenerous sleeves, and a serviceable black serge skirt. For headgear: my old straw boater with its bedraggled feather....Oriana Topsham [the heroine's haughty, titled rival] was dressed as for a garden party at Buckingham Palace, as I had seen the mode in the pages of illustrated magazines, in a gown of lilac silk and white lace, with a confection of French millinery on her head that must have cost the sacrifice of a whole aviary of colored birds. Her perfect features, behind the tight veil that enclosed them, were expressionless as ever; despite which, I would have sworn that her eyes were slightly pink-rimmed, as if from weeping, and there was a slight tremor in her voice when she addressed the company.
"Good morning, Jason. Mr. Bennett. Miss--er--Trewella." She scarcely spared me a glance....
Jason [the hero] himself assisted Oriana to mount up. She looked extremely out of place, on a little black donkey in her garden-party rig-out; when I turned my face to hide a treacherous smile, I met Mellony's [the heroine's mistress] glance and she gave me a broad and extremely vulgar wink. For an awful moment, I thought she would make some outrageous comment about poor Oriana--but she changed her mind....
This is the kind of humor I truly enjoy, which stems from engaging writing.