FROST FAIR by Erastes

Reviewed by Mel Keegan

Here is one for the reader who relishes their Georgette Heyer: a full-blown Regency romance, set against the sooty, foggy backdrop of  Napoleonic Wars era London. It’s a story that’s been told many times before, with a fresh and welcome spin: the beautiful young person left struggling to survive -- financially, morally, physically -- in a world where the predators are just waiting to come in and feed. The only marketable commodity this young beauty has left is those looks, youth, virginity. And though the tale has been told many times in the realm of the traditional historical romance, Erastes has given it a new coat of paint -- and a new lease of life! -- by recasting the part of the poverty-stricken beauty as a young man.

The recasting works particularly well, since -- given the mores of the story’s era -- the exchange of one’s moral standing for sheer survival was much more perilous for a young man than for a girl. Sodomy was not merely a sin but a crime, punishable by long prison terms and, indeed, the gallows awaited those found guilty while serving in the military.

This era is immediately familiar to anyone who not only relishes their Heyer but also their Bernard Cornwell … the Richard Sharpe novels and tv movies, which in 2009 are still before the cameras. London, her people and their struggles, have been superbly visualized on film -- and Frost Fair plays out against these backdrops.

If there is one research point about this era that Erastes hasn’t embraced, I’d be astonished. The research behind Frost Fair is impressive indeed (I say this as a writer who’s known as a “research demon”), and the depiction of the winter carnival taking place on the frozen Thames is a delight that will linger in memory.

Frost Fair is a quick read, but since the story’s development is almost entirely internalized, giving us the events through the senses and feelings of its major players, the impression is of a much longer piece. In fact, there are enough plot twists and turns to have fleshed out a much longer novel, and I think the very brevity of Frost Fair adds to its poignancy. Developing the plot at greater length could easily have caused the “pure story” to become clouded in external detail, subplots, backstories.

The story is a one-shot piece, straight through from Chapter One to the end. Young Gideon is broke, and much though he hates to prostitute himself, he’ll do it when, and if, he must, to ensure the survival of himself, his printing business, and his assistant, Mordecai. Chance throws a number of men into his life, including one who’s going to recognize him from the “wrong side of the tracks,” one who’s going to fall in love with him, and another whose cynical, self-serving nature and lust will make him Gideon’s most dangerous enemy. Blind chance forces Gideon from scene to scene; he can only go with the ebb and flow of his fortunes -- from the engraver’s long hours and hard work, to a serendipitously profitable spree, trading on the frozen river, to an altercation with the novel’s villain, and directly into financial ruin.

What happens next is the “ham in the sandwich” of this novel, and I’m not going to give plot spoilers! Suffice to say, it’s one of those tales where the reader, with his of her God’s Eye View, wants to whisper in the characters’ ears and say, “Swallow your pride, and TALK to the man, damnit!” But, human beings being as they are, this isn’t likely to happen, and there’s one of those deliciously aggravating plot arcs where both parties blunder through life, wondering which steam roller ran them over, before it all turns out right … and I’m not about to tell you how!

Frost Fair is written with insight and refreshing verve. Erastes often has an almost poetic turn of phrase which brings a scene to life by evoking snatches of images we’ve all squirreled away from films, paintings, even Christmas cards celebrating the era. In particular, I enjoyed the “voice” in which the characters speak; the language of the period is indulged just enough to give a real “feel” for the era without the dialog becoming in any way hard to follow.

And the element that remains with me, days after finishing the book -- even ahead of the gay romance! -- is the depiction of the city. Nobody knows the London of this period better than Erastes. Full marks on the research, and two gold stars for having the courage to recast the central character as a young man, rather than one more beautiful girl trying to remain “decent” in the teeth of a city of predatory men. In fact, I’m sure this time honoured plot works much better as a gay story than as the traditional straight one!

Originally published by Linden Bay Romance, but relaunching in August 2009 with a new edition from Cheyenne Publishing.