It took me quite a while to find the English title for this book. Forgive me but I searched for the translation of the Swedish title, Winds of the Sea, and came up with nothing. I wonder why…
Either way, this historical romance is written by Elisabeth MacDonald. It was published by Harlequin in 1991 and is a book that did not translate well to Swedish. I had to stop several times to try to research if it was the writers mistake or the translators and I could not always find and answer so if one of my complains actually do not exist for those who read the English version, I am sorry, as it did exist in the Swedish one.
Now, what is the plot about. It’s about a Spanish woman, Consuelo, at least spaniard is what the translators decided to use for the translation of Californio, from an aristocratic family on the downhill as her brother died in drunken brawl when he drew a gun and her father is sad and gambles away all their fortune. Anglos, as she calls them, I’m not sure what that is since the words for Americans should either be gringos or inglés but I’m guessing its from the latin word Anglo which often is used to describe English speaking people by… No one ever. But still.
Either way, Anglos as moved in to steal lands, like they apparently always do, and she hates and blames everything on them. One day she meets the handsome Anglo Lucas Morgan who becomes shipwrecked on their beach and falls in love with the man she hates because of his race. Lucas Morgan decide to stay in Estero Bay to try gaining Consuelo’s affection. Something not easily done as Consuelo has decided to blame Lucas Morgan for every fault in her life.
Consuelo is as you most likely can already determine prideful and a very strong racist. Most of what she speaks is beyond her comprehension and her pride often makes her stupid. Such as trusting her father, who throughout the book constantly makes mistakes and lies to her, over Lucas Morgan who has never done anything to her. Because he is a Anglo. Frankly, I find her annoying. The writer took one step to far with her and I cannot determine if it was intentional or the lack of knowledge from the writer’s part.
For example, Consuelo says her mother dies in the horrible American disease smallpox… The Spaniards, your ancestors, was the one that brought smallpox to the new world. Not to mentioned it has been around in Europe and Asia for almost 3000 years.
How is it an American disease? You are not a native American? Oh, speaking of native Americans. They have a lot of SERVANTS but no SLAVES even though the Spaniards or latin American had no problem keeping native Americans as slaves. Or for that matter why is she dreaming of finding a handsome dark-skinned man when the Spaniards and their descendants saw dark skinned as signs of mixed blood as it often meant some blood of Native Americans and black slaves. As an Spanish aristocrat she would had white skin that separated her from the so-called low class. Wars and revolutions have been waged in South America for this and a simply study of the history would have told the writer so…
Anyway, let’s move on. Lucas Morgan is frankly surprisingly fleshed out. He has a sensible backstory, with a no named father who abandoned them and a mother who was a whore. When she died in tuberculosis when he was 13, he became a sailor, suffering on the ship and being whipped. He wants to earn himself a living making sure never to be poor again and with the stolen gold, which are said to be at the ocean’s bottom, from the ship that was wrecked he builds himself a harbor. He is kind, openminded, ambitious and patient. Why he stands Consuelo who treat him like crap is beyond me but it is supposed to be a romance.
We also have several antagonists, such as the fat white banker who tricks locals out of their lands, and Ramon, a childhood friend of her brother who corrupts her father in order to force him to give Ramon his daughter. We also have the only sane person, the aunt, with a tragic backstory and the so-called sick father.
I liked the character well enough, and I do think that the plot flows relatively well. I just wish that it wasn’t so much drama which concludes to misunderstanding and Consuelo not being able to trust Morgan because of his race. It becomes so frustrating after a while that even other characters calls her an idiot. Her wanting to earn her own living or having trouble trusting the people around her would make sense but why she focuses so much on the one man who hasn’t betrayed her and trust those who has makes little sense. I feel it’s there more because of plot reasons than by anything else.
I would recommend this one as long as you aren’t looking for a romance about true Spanish culture. This one is, well I’m no expert but it feels very shallow. It has a strong message of racism even if it never confronts it which makes me think that the writer did not think it was racism to hate an entire race because of the actions of a few. Overall, I would give it a 5 out of 10. It isn’t extraordinary but has some interesting concepts. I do feel that it would need another edit since I notice that the writer forgets whose perspective she is writing from. For example, when Consuelo first sees the unconscious Lucas Morgan, he is called by his name but Consuelo doesn’t know his name yet. These are just nitpicking but they did break the immersion for me. Otherwise, it is a decent romance trying at least to do something new.
With Kind Regards
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