Forbidden Places (Penny Vincenzi)*****

The first Penny Vincenzi book I read, An Absolute Scandal, was an absolute struggle. There were just too many characters for me to keep up with them all. At least fifteen with their own storylines, all of them having similar experiences with subtle differences. But the writing was excellent, and Blue was one of the most gorgeous men who ever existed in fiction. So I thought Forbidden Places, with its much shorter Dramatis Personnae, was worth a try.

I’m so glad I read it. Once again, the protagonists have similar experiences, but there are really only four of them to keep up with, and one of them is killed off halfway through. This is very sad, of course, but it makes things easie, and it paves the way for something really sweet so I forgive Vincenzi for that. There's so much to enjoy: the writing, the story, the characters, and especially Ben. Blue has officially been surpassed in my affections, something which I never thought would happen. Ben is sweet, emotional, a bit pathetic, very kind, and very thoughtful. I just wanted to tear him out of the book, and marry him immediately. But I don’t think he’d like it if I did that. He’s too committed to everything and everyone I’d be making him leave behind. Come to think of it, my boyfriend might be a bit pissed off too.

Now I’ve just got to read the rest of Vincenzi’s books. If each of them has a character as half as wonderful as Ben and Blue, I know it’s going to be worth reading every word of the 900 pages.

Vincenzi has also created some great female characters. I absolutely adore the tactless Florence. I think she might be slightly autistic, as she is always offending people, apparently by accident. I think she’s actually really nice and although I understood why people were offended, most of what she said wouldn’t offend me. Then there’s Clarissa, who is very sexy, raunchy and naughty and undeniably a bit of a slut, but she’s so brave and funny and affectionate and loving to everyone, it’s very difficult not to love her. Linda is feisty, sexy, and rather witty. She wouldn’t take any crap off anyone, but she has a gentle side. She’s someone who would very easily fit into the world now.

The main character, Grace, is slightly more of a problem. She can be the nicest person in the world. She’s very kind to Ben when he shows up at her house unexpectedly and very distraught. She probably did do rather well to put up with all Florence’s insults when Florence was giving birth to Imogen, but I think a lot of women in labour get a bit like that. Grace is very tolerant of her unreasonable husband Charles and the way his family and friends treat her, and she’s very brave and determined during the challenges of the Second World War.

But she does seem to spend a lot of time hating people. Most of the time, it’s clear why she might be a little bit annoyed, but sometimes she really seems to be going completely over the top. She quite rightly finds the class structure a bit unfair – she marries the upper-class Charles, but is probably only middle class herself and a lot of people look down on her. But Grace has a horrible habit of thinking she’s superior to other people, and most of the time, she’s not. She can be extremely nosy and interfering, and she’s very lucky most of the people in the book end up liking her. Grace’s sweetness makes up for a lot.

But she hits two people. Yes, one of them had behaved badly (if in very difficult circumstances), and the other was being a pompous twat (and I can understand why Grace might think about hitting him), but it just didn’t seem right. If she’d hit the wanker who attacked her, I would have applauded her (even though that’s a bit dodgy too), but she doesn’t. The violence is partly a shock because Grace’s behaviour is usually very gentle, so it seemed very out of character. But it also puts her quite severely into the wrong where she had been in the right, and that was disappointing. There is no need for Grace to be perfect, but I don’t think she needs to be violent.

In some ways, Forbidden Places is a violent book. Most of the men in the book go away to fight in the war, and come back injured. Some of it is quite horrible to read about, but it’s very compellingly written. It’s an inspiring book in some ways because all the characters have to be brave in all kinds of circumstances, yet there is a slight distancing effect because things such as the class structure don’t really belong to our world now. But all the emotions experienced by the characters are very real, and Vincenzi explains the realities of the situation in a thoroughly informative way without taking you away from the story.

The book tells the story of the war, but also the story of people making mistakes but making the best of horrible situations, and working towards being happy. I suppose all books are like that really. But this one hits you hard.