As a reader, nothing upsets me more than putting a massive amount of time and effort into reading a book only to be given nothing in return. Unfortunately, with STORM AND SILENCE by Robert Thier, after pushing through the ridiculous and unbelievable characters, the romance novel clichés, and the more than 500 pages of glacially paced, overly narrated and repetitive prose, that is exactly what the readers will get: Nothing. No resolution. Just an end, as if someone's hard drive crashed and these 500+ pages were the only ones recovered. I give it 1 star.
In the novel, Lillian Linton is a nineteen year-old suffragette in early Victorian England who meets Mr. Rikkard Ambrose, the wealthiest man in London, on the street outside a polling place. Lilly is garbed in her uncle's clothing, intending to vote in the current election, and hears a gentleman attempting to swindle Mr. Ambrose by misrepresenting a property for sale. Lilly can't help but speak up (the reader never gets confirmation of how exactly she knows about this property), and by doing so gains employment with Mr. Ambrose as his private secretary. Of course, difficulties arise when Lilly carelessly reveals herself at the polling place - curtseying instead of bowing to the pollster- and Mr. Ambrose learns she is, in fact, female.
Mr. Ambrose has enough difficulties of his own running his business (which is never really explained to the reader) and he has no intention of actually employing Lilly. After she "tricks" him into hiring her, a devastating security breach is uncovered in his office, and he is determined to recover the stolen papers. His challenges are amplified by Lilly's determination to be a part of the recovery efforts, even if it kills her – literally.
As may be obvious, I did not enjoy this novel in the least. The idea was interesting, but the execution failed epically. As far as substance goes, the characters were annoying and didn't quite act according to the parameters and world in which they lived. I don't know whether this was because the time period wasn't well-researched, but it certainly seems like the times and the characters don't quite align. Lilly is determined to have her own way regardless of the consequences – for her or anyone else, including her family. For an orphan who has no family to take care of her if something happens to her aunt and uncle, she's unbelievably flippant about her and their reputations. She's also initially portrayed as someone who has smarts, but she does the most idiotic things that even modern women in 2016 wouldn't do, despite having similar passions. She honestly can't keep her mouth shut to save her life. In the middle of breaking into a fortified and heavily guarded buildings, she's chatting away and asking questions and dragging her heels until she gets an answer. I wanted to smack some sense into her.
Mr. Ambrose's character has similar idiotic deficiencies. First off, the reader never does quite learn anything about him. How old is he? Where does he come from? Who is his family? He is supposed to be this ruthless and cunning businessman, but sometimes, he acts like someone needs to hold his hand while crossing the street. One would think that with his business and worldly knowledge that he would be smarter in certain situations, not needing silly Lilly to deduce obvious aspects of a problem.
On the more technical side, this novel moves at a glacial pace. When I want to read a book, I want to escape the mundanities of real life, not suffer through some fictional character's drudgery for the length of a Bible. This book FEELS and moves at a real life pace; it drowns in minutia and scenes that do not progress the plot. This problem is not aided by the length of the novel. At over 500 pages, it should either be two separate books, or simply edited to get it down to 300 pages, which could easily be done by cutting out or summarizing in narration several lengthy and ridiculous subplot scenes. Another contributor to this issue is the overuse of narration during suspenseful dialogue, and over-narration of Lilly's snarky inner monologue in general. In the beginning, the inner monologue narration is important to help sketch Lilly's character, but after a certain point, it become a hindrance to the progression of the plot and pace of the novel.
There are also too many romance novel clichés and too many instances where the reader has to suspend reality to believe the story. One of my biggest pet peeves – even during a full moon, a person cannot possibly see someone blush or go pale in the moonlight, especially if they are ten or twenty feet away hiding in the bushes. I challenge any writer to go outside at midnight and see what a person can and cannot really see in the dark. When Lilly and Mr. Ambrose are shoved into a carriage with several other people, via narration she comments that she feels something rigid up against her leg and that she hopes it's Mr. Ambrose's walking stick. He's sitting next to her. Anatomically and logistically, this cliché is an impossibility. When the ship Lilly and Mr. Ambrose are on runs into a storm, why are the passengers sent into the lifeboats? That's ridiculous. The ship isn't sinking, and the tiny lifeboats have a decidedly LESS chance of surviving the approaching storm. So many contrivances made this book difficult to read.
There were many editing issues with missing words or extraneous words from a previous revision. There were inconsistences in the setting (e.g., Lilly gets to work at 9, but later she "always" gets to work at 8; she takes off her waistcoat and then in the next sentence has trouble unbuttoning it). The progression of time is also not well done. A twenty-minute dialogue does not equate to seven hours at sea. After a full day's work, a three hour conversation with Sir Phillip and another three hours waiting for Lieutenant Ellingham would put the setting well into the middle of the night, rather than dinnertime. Better and more accurate markers of time passing are needed. The reader sees Lilly get up, rushes through dressing, goes to work, comes home and rushes through dressing for balls. There is no mention of her bathing or eating dinner. These things are irritating in general, but with everything else, they become yet another hurdle to enjoying the story.
Finally, as if wading through the quagmire of the foregoing weren't enough, the novel just ends without any resolution! Just ends. One minute you think there may finally be a happily ever after in the next chapter, and then the words "THE END" appear, resulting in reader's whiplash. There are so many unanswered questions: Most importantly, what happens with Mr. Ambrose and Lilly? Do they EVER get together, and do they even survive the trip back to England? On a smaller scale, the issue of Lilly's clothing is also never resolved. Is she wearing the SAME clothes EVERY DAY?! Why can't she sneak in and trade them with some others of her uncle's so that her clothes can be washed? How is it that no one has commented on how bad she smells? Is Mr. Ambrose actually Lord Ambrose, what connection does he have with the Earldom in the north, and who is the lady who sends him letters on perfumed stationery? What really happened to Lieutenant Ellingham? There is just too much time spent on extraneous scenes and not enough time wrapping up the main plotline.
Overall, STORM & SILENCE had some potential in its conception, but it dies a tragic watery death on the sea. I really want to find out what happens with Mr. Ambrose and Lilly in the sequel to this novel, but honestly, I just cannot bear to think about having to read another word if it's like this novel. I want a refund of the entire day of my life that I spent trudging through this novel. By page 300 I was skimming most of the novel just to get to the important bits and get to the (most unsatisfying) end, so I can't recommend this novel to anyone.
**Review originally written for The Romance Reviews.com
