The Bluestocking Guide: Reviews by a Partial, Prejudiced, and Ignorant Reader

The Bluestocking Guide: Reviews by a Partial, Prejudiced, and Ignorant Reader

2009

This story takes place immediately after Friends & Enemies. It is right after Tommy exposes Drogo’s crime in the cathedral at Toulouse.
Spoiler Alert
Tommy and Eloise are headed back to the chateau. The Count and Countess du Romolue realized how dangerous Toulouse had become. Tommy is filling Eloise in on modern life and how there are no nobles nor indeed monarchy in France. The Count and Countess decide to send Eloise to a convent for safety.

Tommy has a brainwave and realizes that the etching the brought him to the past was made in 1599 and is probably being finished. He suspects that the etching will take him back to his own time. He is right. The etching takes both he and Eloise to the present time and takes Thomas to the past.

To say that Eloise suffers from culture shock would be the biggest understatement of the year. Her first experience with modern plumbing seems to traumatize her. Then there is the whole modern of social equality and not being able to flog hired help. I think this really changed how Tommy viewed Eloise. I don’t think he realized how blood thirsty she was, until she was in modern times!!!

The only thing that mars Eloise’s trip is Drogo’s appearance. Much like Jasper, Drogo is in the present. Much as in the past, Drogo is still a priest. The plot thickens when the paint of Eloise’s mother is cleaned and reveals a cricket pitch in the corner. It suggests very strongly that Tommy indeed returns to the past.

Meanwhile, Tommy, Eloise, and his parents search the house to determine what if anything remains from Eloise’ time. They find the Countess’ trunk in a secret room. In addition to finding all of Eloise’s mother jewels, they find Drogo’s confession. Strangely enough a spector of Drogo appears in the room when they remove the confession from the trunk. They also discover that in the past Drogo was being held at Chamblay.

Tommy and Eloise realize that the only way to bring Drogo to justice is to take him back to 1599. One night they go to Drogo’s house in the present. When they enter his house, it appears that there is a portal through time there as well. Eloise sees a spector of a man she believes is her father and end ups being transported to the past.

Tommy makes his way to the etching and ends up back in 1599. By the time he arrives, Eloise is being taken to a convent by both the Count and Countess. However, while the adults are gone, Drogo’ss brother, the Bishop tries to capture Tommy. Tommy gets away, and goes after Eloise, who is in danger. This time from a merchant who decides he will make Eloise his wife instead of conveying her to the convent as demanded by the Count. Eloise is rescued by none other than her father, who safely gets her inside the convent. He is captured by the merchant but later rescued by his crew (he’s a bit of a pirate). However she still isn’t say as the merchant has rapport with the nuns. Anyway, Tommy does rescue her with the help of Emp and the rest of his forrest friends.

The go to Chamblay (which is on the sea) in the guise of actors and put on the play Romeo and Juliet. The find Drogo and chase him into a tower, he tries to escape to the sea, but an unfortunate accident renders him unconscious, and he is swept out to the sea along with Tommy and Eloise who follow him closely. Drogo’s body is pulled out of the water by Eloise’ s father’s crew but he is dead. Before the crew can get to Tommy and Eloise, they jump to the future and are rescued by a helicopter. The story ends with Tommy assuring Eloise that Drogo is dead.

Well this book certainly raised more questions than it answered. From the first book we know that Eloise’s father was captured by pirates. They were to pay the ransom or he would be killed. Clearly he wasn’t killed. So how does this man end up a pirate.
I’m still not clear on how this whole time travel thing works.

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The Girl Who Stopped Swimming
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Beings in a Dream

April 13, 2009

by David Field

This book is rated

LI

Should we not meet

As we sometimes do,

In time’s entangled stream?

Or may we just pass,

As often we do,

Like beings in a dream?