A Certain Age

Summary (from the publisher): The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.

 

As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.

But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother’s cavalier, presenting the family’s diamond rose ring to Ox’s intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.

Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams’ fiction and alternating between Sophie’s spirited voice and Theresa’s vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss’s comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby’s New York.

Review: Mrs. Theresa Marshall is a society wife of Fifth Avenue. Bored with her loveless marriage and in an empty house now that her children are grown, she is shocked to find that she's fallen in love with her lover - the much younger Octavian Rofrano, a hero recently back from World War I. Her happy diversion is spoiled, however, when her longtime bachelor brother Ox informs her that intends to marry the very young daughter of a newly wealthy inventor, a Miss Sophie Fortescue. Along the way, Octavian and Sophie begin to fall for one another - and Octavian realizes he may have insight into a mystery from Sophie's childhood. Told in alternating chapters between Sophie and Theresa as the love triangle unfolds, the novel is also punctuated by the uncovering of the shocking secret from Sophie's family.

The tension between old and new is a central theme throughout this novel, with Theresa representing the older woman in the twilight of her physical beauty and Sophie representing the youthful future. This tension is also replicated in the social climate of 1920s New York, where for the first time unhappy couples can now seriously consider divorce and young women are seeking jobs. Theresa represents the old ways - of young women marrying for financial security - while Sophie represents the future - where women may choose to support themselves through their own skills. Sophie and Theresa's tussle over Octavian represents the tussle between tradition and modernity, old and new, that characterized the time in which this novel is set.

There are many supporting roles in this novel, which ultimately meant that many of them were scarcely fleshed out. In particular, Theresa's brother, husband, and sons and Sophie's sister and father are left relatively shadowy characters. I was most intrigued by Sophie's sister who returned from a trip to Europe with a wedding ring and a child - and a mysteriously absent husband. Perhaps the author intends to tell Virginia's story in another novel. Additionally, although the murder mystery was a nice addition to the plot, the story was full enough on its own and I think I would have enjoyed it just as well without this additional intrigue.

This is the third novel I've read by Beatriz Williams, having previously read A Hundred Summers and Tiny Little Thing. Williams does an excellent job at creating intriguing plotlines that don't seemly rehash the same stories often visited by historical fiction writers. Additionally, she does an excellent job of creating individual characters with their own distinct personalities. In this novel, Theresa's boredom and dry wit is sharply distinguished from Sophie's youthful exuberance. As the novel approached its conclusion, the murder mystery did seem somewhat far fetched, although I do think its conclusion reined it back in and was a satisfactory end to this tale.

Stars: 4