A Restless Truth by Freya Marske is a fast-paced, thrilling and titillating reverse-heist on an Edwardian ocean liner. Kind of like James Cameron’s Titanic, only with less ice and more foggy windows. Oh, and magic.
The second installment in Freya Marske’s The Last Binding trilogy, A Restless Truth follows the exploits of Maud Blyth, a coy 19 year-old sister of a baronet, as she returns to Britain escorting a passenger and a valuable magical object. On the first day of the voyage she fails in her mission. A thief breaks into the rooms of Maud’s charge, murders her, and steals a few bits of silver they believe to be one third of the mythical Last Contract; a magical agreement about transfer of power between the fairy folk and humans. The assailant is a part of a wider conspiracy which seeks to take power in British magical society.
Intrepid Maud immediately beings an investigation into the identity of the culprit and the whereabouts of the missing items. Along the way she recruits several people, including Violet Debenham, the 23 year-old prodigal daughter of the English magical aristocracy, who instigated a scandal, then fled to New York and became a music-hall performer. Another member of Maud’s little army is Lord Hawthorne, a man with links both to Maud’s brother and to Violet; he happens to have been her partner in scandal. Finally, there is Alan Ross, a British-Italian journalist working aboard the Lyric, who is curiously immune to magic.
The motley crew must retrieve the lost piece of the Last Contract, and find out what the final aims of the conspirators are, within six days of the voyage to Britain. They are a formidable group, each possessing particular talents, but their tempers threaten at every corner to tear the team apart. Maud must gather every ounce of her considerable charisma and wit to fulfill her mission. That Violet Debenham is charming, pretty, and secretive, definitely does not help Maud concentrate on her task, though. Could Maud possibly return to England not only with the Last Contract, but with a new love as well?
Writing and Story
This was one of the most entertaining novels I’ve ever read. Fans of historical fiction, magic realism, or steamy romance will all be very pleased with A Restless Truth. The writing is elaborate without becoming a slog. Marske threads the line between a ‘vintage’ style and ‘modern’ sensibilities in writing her characters very well. Sure, there are a few anachronisms (‘it’s rude to fish for compliments’), but overall these feel like real people living in 1909.
Maud in particular is terribly enjoyable to read. A lonesome person with no real friends, she is thrust into a situation where she must overcome her anxieties and take control of the stage. She does so by using her incredible charm, sense of humor, resourcefulness, and a disarming honesty. She is also a bit of a perv, being a horny teenage girl and all. Oh, and when I say there is a lot of steam in this book, I do mean it. There are three explicit and lengthy sex-scenes between Maud and Violet. They are… incredibly hot, with both “bedroom aides” and magic employed. As I said, they are lengthy, each taking up a whole chapter. They’re more than “just” erotic indulgences, though. The romantic relationship between Maud and Violet gradually develops over the course of the novel. Maud is honest, and opens up to Violet, but the latter is guarded up until the very end. This is developed through the sex-scenes, making them important character-building moments.
The plot itself is fairly simple, the team of main characters tracking down the lost magical item and uncovering a plot along the way. The excitement of their heist comes from setbacks which force them to adapt and improvise, sometimes in hilarious ways. Or they chafe against each other as they encounter a difficulty after difficulty, bringing them close to falling apart. Or the sexual tension and emotional frustration threaten to do that. The Last Contract itself ends up being important less for reasons of magical power and political intrigue, but for how the main cast becomes entangled with it—or learns they already were, and just didn’t know it.
Pros
The characters are all fleshed out in depth, not only the two POV characters Maud and Violet, but secondary and even side-characters as well, from a spiritualist lady to daughters of a menagerie-manager whom Maud befriends. Lord Hawthorne is a glorious bastard in the best sense of the word, and Alan Ross, the handy newspaper-man, chafes against his noble associate with some of the wittiest jokes in the book.
Marske masterfully brings to life the atmosphere of an Edwardian ocean liner, with a style evocative of Victorian-era literature, but modernized and improved. There is great attention to detail, especially in descriptions of everyday objects such as clothes. The reader is sucked onto the deck of the Lyric, you can practically smell the sea and the fresh pain, feel the textures of clothes, taste wine and kisses.
Also, although this is a second installment in the series, Marske organically fills in the newcomers so that you should have no problems following the story.
Cons
There really are no real cons to A Restless Truth. All I can say is that it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, both with its historical setting and explicit erotic elements, but I imagine only people up for the genre(s) will end up reading it anyway. And those will have the fun of their literary lives.
Apart from the explicit sexual content, there is some moderate violence throughout the book, and period-typical homophobia.
The Conclusion
If you’re yearning for an adventure, or at least looking for a fun little escape from the dreariness of everyday life, then this is a book for you. Like the Lyric’s brief, six-day voyage, it is just a temporary flight, a pleasant dream, but one that will leave you refreshed and happier by the end of it. The erotic element deserves high praises, and you will want to catch a drink with the intrepid heroes of the novel. And there is a swearing African Grey parrot named Dorian. What more could you possibly ask for?
Excerpt from A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
It was one of the best things about Violet. Even Robin had a tendency to humour Maud’s enthusiasms in a way that said he was sure they would burn themselves out. It had taken weeks before he’d agreed to let her go to America.
Violet never told Maud not to do something. She followed cheerfully along and laughed at the consequences.
Violet had stolen Hawthorn’s white scarf. It glowed in two slim columns down the front of her gown, pearlescent in the meagre moonlight and few electric lights that turned the deck into a chessboard of shadows. The moonlight silvered her hair. Maud wanted to take it down, pin by pin, and watch it fall around Violet’s shoulders.
“Ohhh.” Maud leaned against the wall, facing the open sea, and inhaled the fresh night air. “I do love this. I could spend my whole life on boats, couldn’t you?”
“No. There are only so many games of quoits and shuffleboard I’m prepared to play in a week, no matter how nice the view.”
“It’s not…” Maud struggled to pull the words together. “We’re not in one place or another. We could be going anywhere, in the darkness. The sun could rise tomorrow and we could be in—Alexandria, or Venice, or among the islands of Japan.”
“That would take more magic than I’ve ever heard of.”
“It’s liminal,” said Maud, pleased. The word was one of Edwin’s favourites; he used it a lot when discussing Flora Sutton’s system of magic.
“Liminal,” said Violet, as if tasting it. It wasn’t quite the rasp of a voice she’d used when playacting, but it was close, and the restlessness in Maud whirled all at once into a near-hurricane of incoherent want. She really would burst. She would rend at the seams like something poorly stitched.
If she opened her mouth she just knew she would babble more nonsense about boats.
She set down the suitcase and reached out to catch Violet’s wrist, and used it to tug her closer. Fabric slid on fabric, glove on glove, but Maud held fast. Violet looked down at her, amused and questioning, and Maud seized a desperate burst of courage and moved her hands to rest on either side of Violet’s waist.
Maud’s back was on solid wood. They were in shadow. The deck was empty and the stars were kind, and glittering, and very far away.
“Maud?” said Violet softly. “What are you doing?”
“Looking,” said Maud, above the din of her heart, “for a more practical education.”
Get It Online
When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra
Series: The Last Binding
A Marvellous Light (not sapphic)
A Restless Truth
A Power Unbound (not sapphic)
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9781529080933
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
If you enjoyed A Restless Truth by Freya Marske then you should also look at
Note: I received a free review copy of A Restless Truth by Freya Marske. No money was exchanged for this review. When you use our links to buy we get a small commission which supports the running of this site
