Product Description

In British India, Paul Eliot is a wealthy, powerful merchant. In nineteenth century England, where class is all-important, he takes quick offence at the easy self-assurance of men superior in rank, sensing disdain in every word. In revenge, he determines to seduce the beautiful wife of his well-born host and fellow merchant, Gerard Forston. Eliot and Eleanor flee to India, ignorant of the tragic, far-reaching consequence of their thoughtless elopement. Mirroring Paris’s escape with Helen of Troy, all those connected with the lovers will be affected as their families are torn apart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #522594 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

About the Author
Caroline Stickland was born in 1955. She has an English and American Literature degree from the University of East Anglia and is involved in adult literacy tutoring.

Customer Reviews

Murder and romance.
I loved this book. I was gripped by it from beginning to end and really felt I was living in the 1860s while I was reading it. It's a retelling of the Greek myths about Helen of Troy and Agamemnon but it isn't necessary to know them. The story reads just as well as a straight historical novel set in the 19th century and there's a section at the back that shows how the events in the book match the ones in the myths.
The characters are three-dimensional and are written with an understanding of what makes people act as they do, even to the length of murder. ( The killing was heartrending and so was Kate's wedding and what happened to her afterwards. ) I cared about all of them, but most of all for Celia, Kate and Hermione and am glad I didn't live then when it was so easy for women to be trapped by what was expected of them. Some of the people are strongminded enough to make satisfying lives for themselves despite the difficulties and without showing the selfishness of Eleanor ( Helen ) whose elopement affects everyone around her.
The prose is poetic and the dialogue is in keeping with the times but completely natural and easy to read. The descriptions of the places are atmospheric and senuous, whether they are of the gardens and fountains of Damascus, plough-horses standing in a field in Dorset on a cold winter afternoon with a red sun setting behind them or cranes stalking on white sand-banks in India.
All the historical detail helps to give a vivid picture of what it was like to live then. I didn't know of the Christmas customs such as the games like Snappen-tongs the children played or the Ooser with its bull's horns prowling in the underground passages in the great house of Vauchurch to catch the maids.
This book has murder and romance and a real feeling for the times. It was the first by Stickland that I'd read. I'm looking forward to reading the others now.

Enthralling romance and more.
"He was wearing mourning. It was inappropriate for a bridegroom but no-one tried to persuade him to do otherwise. There were whispers , of course , and those who said that black gloves could not hide the blood on his hands."
This is the intriguing prologue to this thoroughly enjoyable book. I first picked up one of Caroline Stickland's novels because a friend told me she sets them in my home county of Dorset. I've enjoyed them all and The Kindly Ones is my favourite so far. It's different from the earlier books in two ways. Firstly,it isn't set just in Dorset. You're taken to India, Egypt and Damascus , all described in a way that brings each place to life . Secondly , Stickland has taken the Greek myth of Helen of Troy and reset it in the nineteenth century.
The story begins in a garden on a summer afternoon when Eleanor Forston/Helen and Paul Eliot/Paris first meet . The repercussions from the actions of these two shallow , selfish people set in train tragedy , passion and overwhelming love. The Greek myths have lived on because they are such absorbing stories and the author has translated the events into a believable , compelling Victorian novel with realistic characters struggling with the conventions of their times.
I read in Dorset Life magazine last month that this book was shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year . It's not only an enthralling romance but also a dramatic tale of murder and revenge . I'd recommend it to any lover of wonderfully told historical fiction.

The Kindly Ones
The Kindly Ones is a powerful story with characters and prose to match.

The way Caroline Stickland writes makes the English language the most beautiful in the world.