Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #912255 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781605041001
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Customer Reviews

A Hidden Beauty by Jamie Craig
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, Micah ia a young letter student from Harvard. He is almost near to graduate and his professors want for him to be published as a poet. But Micah is from a middle class wealthy family that doesn't see a scholar career like something worthy or important for one of their sons. Luckily for Micah he is only the fourth son, and so he manages till now to escape the pression from his family and pursues his love for poetry. A love that lures him to Wroxham, a little village hours far from Boston, where he hopes to meet Jefferson Dering, a poet he listened to a lecture at Harvard, and that he hopes could give him some good advice for his writing.

When he meets Jefferson, he finds a man who lives like an hermit in a little village where no one seems to be aware of the great poet they have among them. Jefferson seems to be eager to have a kindred spirit to talk, but soon both Jefferson, with awareness, and Micah, without awareness, realize that there is a lot more than only love for poetry between them. It's also a physical love. But Micah is a very innocent and naivee boy, he has never had sexual experience before, nor with women or men, and the first reaction is to run away for this too much strong feelings.

Then they start a mail correspondence, first like two friends that talk about a common interest and little by little turning in a love correspondence. But Micah has to take some decision and there is also something of not human that binds Jefferson to Wroxham, something that has his rutes in Jefferson's family.

The story is very long and it's peaceful and quiet, it flows like a placid river. It starts slow and continues with a almost straight course. But it's very beautiful and romantic. The paranormal event is only a second line aspect, and this is for sure an historical romance. Reading it I remember some biography I have read of poets who chose to live alone far from the so-said civil society, to enjoy the nature and the simple life of the country. In this case there is also the matter of homosexuality, and Jefferson chooses a self-imposed exile to avoid the consequences of a sexual scandal in the scholar Harvard community.

Almost all the story is setting in Jefferson's cottage, and in a very small village, and both Micah than Jefferson come from wealthy family who provide for them, and so they live in comfort. But more than the historical accuracy of the setting, it's the sensuality between the two men that draws me, the poetry that becomes love stimulation, the words that become sex toys...

Beautiful cover that enlights you in one of the sexual game they play... you should read it!

Odd shift in the plot, but a slow, enjoyable romance
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 7/10

PROS:
- The romance develops in a deliciously gradual way. Several factors contribute to this: familial/societal constraints, one character's naïveté, the other character's reluctance to spoil his lover's innocence, etc. When added together, these factors make for a tentative, slow-paced unfolding of love and desire.
- The sex scenes aren't anything out of the ordinary, but Micah's inexperience lends him both eagerness and timidity, which combine to make the scenes very sweet. And of course, it's Jefferson's understanding of Micah's shyness that lends the sex its final, heartwarming touch.
- The poetry in the book is surprisingly good, and there's not too much of it. I worried after reading the synopsis that the book would include poems written by both characters that took up pages and pages, but there are simply snatches of verse here and there.
- Two chapters contain nothing but letters exchanged between Micah and Jefferson while the two men are separated, and they are well written and serve to advance (and voice) the men's feelings for each other beautifully.

CON:
- There's a supernatural element to the story that I almost felt belonged in its own book. There are basically two stories here: the forbidden romance between mentor and student in a time when homosexuality was a serious offense, and the scary paranormal events of a small-town church haunted by a seemingly malevolent spirit. The two ARE woven together, but I didn't find that they meshed terribly well. The first half of the book is devoted to the development of Micah and Jefferson's love and the haunting is merely hinted at, whereas the second half is so focused on the paranormal element that the sex scenes seem slotted in a bit awkwardly at times.

Overall comments: I enjoyed this quite a bit; the romance is sweet and selfless, the sex scenes are passionate and detailed (once they start, which doesn't occur until well into the story), and the plot is intriguing. My only complaint is that halfway through the book, it feels as though the "romance" conflict is resolved and the "ghost" conflict begins. I think I would have understood this more had the two halves of the story been published as discrete but related novellas.

A Real Beauty
Micah Yardley, a student of letters at Harvard, has only ever wanted one thing - to meet Jefferson Dering. Jefferson is a poet and his idol, and after hearing a speech he gave at Harvard, Micah travels by coach from Boston to Jefferson's home in Wroxham a few hours away, in hopes of discussing poetry. Micah wishes that one day he could be a published poet like Jefferson, but his family does not feel that a scholarly career is a worthy pursuit. Luckily he is the fourth son so there is not a lot of pressure on him to fit into the family mold.

Jefferson exceeds all of Micah's expectations. He is warm and welcoming and invites Micah into his home for poetry readings over dinner and drinks. Micah falls more and more under Jefferson's spell every time they meet until the natural outlet of sex can no longer be restrained. Micah, who is a virgin, realizes that he loves more than Jefferson's poetry - he is falling in love with the man as well, but when Jefferson kisses him he does not follow through with his sexual urges. Instead he returns to Boston immediately, upset at his feelings for another man.

After he returns home Micah carries on a long distance correspondence relationship with Jefferson. The letters, which take up almost one quarter of the book, reveal their feelings and everything else they cannot say in person. But Jefferson has secrets. Ten years earlier he had been caught in a compromising situation with another young man and this caused him to exile himself to Wroxham where he lives in obscurity. Jefferson does not wish to have a similar situation develop with Micah but he can't give him up, although he seems to have difficulty moving on after what happened all those years ago.

The background for this book seems to be the nineteenth century but there are no real details of when the story actually takes place except for the mode of transportation, the language, clothing and supporting characters. The pace is very slow almost like a serene and peaceful stream and the setting is romantic and sensual.

There are paranormal influences in the story that affect Jefferson and his family but I found these to be quite distracting, especially at the end of the book.

A HIDDEN BEAUTY is beautifully written and the story is finely crafted. The language is "olde worlde" and is appropriate for the period in which the story appears to take place. I thought the pace of the love affair between the two characters was quite fitting given the era, but it seemed to me that Micah's character was very juvenile and ordinary - maybe this was intentional on the part of the author. However, Jamie Craig does a great job on Jefferson in his role of seducer and experienced older lover.

I found this book to be a surprisingly good read and would recommend it to anyone who loves the genre.