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Shades of Milk and Honey  By  cover art

Shades of Milk and Honey

By: Mary Robinette Kowal
Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
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Publisher's summary

The fantasy novel you’ve always wished Jane Austen had written, Shades of Milk and Honey is exactly what we could expect from Austen if she had been a fantasy writer: Pride and Prejudice meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It is an intimate portrait of a woman, Jane, and her quest for love in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality.

Jane and her sister Melody vie for the attentions of eligible men, and while Jane’s skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face.

When Jane realizes that one of Melody’s suitors is set on taking advantage of her sister for the sake of her dowry, she pushes her skills to the limit of what her body can withstand in order to set things right—and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.

©2010 Mary Robinette Kowal (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about Shades of Milk and Honey

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great if you love speculative fiction and Austen

I was a little worried that I wouldn't like this book, but overall I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not a complete Austen fangirl, but I love her writing enough that I would have been entirely put off if the characters, setting, etc, had seemed fake or over the top. The characters were familiar, but this was mostly a positive and only occasionally distracting. I liked the addition of glamour to the world, which was a relief as that could have easily ruined everything if not done well.

The author's reading was great, although the accent was a little distracting occasionally. I could tell when she'd had a break and started again, but she soon settled into the voices and I would forgot about it until the next time. Overall it gets better as you go along.

I listened to this recording all in one day, with only a couple of breaks. It was exactly what I needed that day, as I pottered around the house doing odd jobs and a bit of drawing. To begin with it was a nice backdrop to my other activities, but by the end it had drawn me in so I was sitting by the computer with my stomach in a knot, wanting a good outcome for my favourite characters.

Overall the author has taken on a concept which would have been very easy to do wrong, and has delivered an entertaining read/listen. I'm looking forward to her next book in this series being released on Audible, and hope she will be reading it herself.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Light, even by Regency standards

I finished this light Regency fantasy with mixed feelings. It read like a young adult novel, which I didn’t expect, and I grew weary at times with the petty sisterly jealousies and bickering, or frustrated by the simple plot. About a third of the way through, I realized the novel was exactly as advertised, a Austen-esque comedy of manners, and I stopped expecting more frequent action or plot twists. I allowed the author to draw me in with the intricacies of her characters' conversations and subtle emotions as she painted a picture of the constraints of the time, which kept people from truly understanding one another as they honored the social conventions. By the end I was well satisfied with the results, although I might have wished for a romance more deeply drawn or for a less hasty resolution to difficulties.

The novel’s greatest strength is how the author integrates a form of magic known as glamour into the Regency setting. Considered an essential domestic art, glamour allows practitioners to create illusions of light, scent and sound, used to entertain guests or bring comfort and cheer to a home. Jane, the novel’s protagonist, is unusually skilled at weaving glamour, but her plain face has relegated her to life as a wallflower. Her beautiful sister, Melody, gets all the attention and suitors. Glamour – as an art form and as a means of “dressing up” one’s ordinary life – fit well with the period’s artifice and strict societal rules. Jane begins to learn it can also be an acceptable outlet for passions she is not able to express otherwise.

I appreciated the author's narration, which I think allowed me to catch subtleties in conversations I might otherwise have missed.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable Light Read

While there are definitely elements of various other classic regencies here (Jane Austen and all that), the idea was to blend them together, along with the magic of glamour, to create a story that is entertaining because you want to see how it plays out. Not how it turns out mind you, that is a pretty foregone conclusion, but how it plays out. What are the various turns of the story to be? How will the characters react to the foreshadowed events? It was like watching a story one is familiar with redone in a truly engrossing way. I found that the story immersed me, and I wanted to see how the author was going to pull the various strands together.

I also found that the magic of glamour, which I think is central to the story, was perfectly suited for the era. For a society so wrapped up in appearances and concerned over image this was a perfectly suited form of magic to emphasize. It also allows a different take on some of the events we know are going to happen as the story plays along. The scene involving the "tableaux vivant" (won't give more details away in a review) for example smoothly integrates glamour into a historical parlor entertainment (dressing up and posing as a sort of living statue). That was a nice bit of setting detail, but the scene itself -- how the characters perform it and so forth -- says quite a lot about the characters involved as well. Overall, I thought "glamour" was a good selection for the author to make that was also quite well executed within the story.

The performance was also very good. I was interested in that it was the author performing the narration, and I think that added to the story (it doesn't always, but it did in this case). I am interested in seeing what other work the author has narrated.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful Period Piece

Narration - I have listened to Mary Robinette Kowal on the Pod Cast Writing Excuses for a good many months now and I have heard mention of this book from there. While she may not have the skill as some of the other Narrators I've heard on Audible, she is by far nowhere near as bad as many are. If you enjoy the sample reading then you will likely find the Author's Reading of her book to be a wonderful way to enjoy this tale. I could close my eyes and picture myself listening to her weaving her tale as if I was too in a drawing room listening to a young lady read a passage from a book.

Story - This IS NOT a typical Romance novel. This is a very well done Jane Austin Style Romance Novel (not the movies, the novels ??? mostly anyhow). The men are not rushing about like half tamed barbarian taking off their shirts and delivery breathless kisses, etc. The author did a masterful job with setting this tale in the Jane Austin style while keeping it fresh enough that readers/listeners of this day and age will understand what is going on.

The plot deals with the two sisters, one plain with amazing talents in weaving/creating glamour and her sister who is younger, far lovelier and far less skilled with glamour. In the story we follow the troubles and dreams of the eldest, along with some interesting side characters including two or three possible suitors. (fun)

The use of glamour, while magical is not fashioned as a truly magically thing. It is common place in the world that is created in this book. Men and Women both have the ability to use it/see it in differing degrees. Some uses are as simple as helping to keep items cool or complex in the creation of stunning works of art.

The book (if a movie) would likely gain a G rating and does not contain anything explicate. I believe there is one reference to a kiss on the head.

All and all I would highly recommend this book for those people that enjoy the more subtle and proper times of the Jane Austin period of novels with a trace of magic thrown in to add a new and interesting twist to the world.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Annoying and boring

I'm sorry to say that this book was very disappointing. The story had a somwhat interesting premise, but ended up being a mix of girl tantrums and excuses. The main character has no backbone and only thinks about how to appear proper, with the consequence of being extremely not likeable. Her sister is incredibly annoying. The male leads are as bland as still water and the plot makes no sense whatsoever: it just drones on and on until it ends, with a bit of action that seems to come out of nowhere and is totally out of place both in the novel and in the time period in which it occurs. By the way, do not be fooled by the whole glamour thing: the fantasy element doesn't go beyond this capability of women of generating pretty pictures that look like holograms. Boring.
The worst thing was the narration: the author has a terrible british accent. It was almost unbearable to listen to! She should have left the reading to a professional.
All in all a disappointment.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not my cup of tea!

Definitely not my cup of tea. I found the story boring and predictable. The only semi-interesting part was the idea of the magic of creating illusions that could alter the environment. Even this was dealt with heavy handed to where I was bored.

The author does the narration on the audio and while her accents and voices where acceptable she often used the wrong voice for a character and pulled me out of the story immediately.

I was really disappointed in the book because I had heard and read so many good things about it. It barely rates the two stars I gave it.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely store, wonderfully read

This is a lovely, sweet story that was a joy to listen to. There is a wonderful sense of setting, and the characters are delightful. There is something special about having the author narrate the book - you know that you are going to hear the conversations the way they were imagined. (And it helps that Kowal is a very talented narrator in her own right.)

I highly recommend this, especially to fans of Jane Austen and the lighter fantasy romances.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

So Dull

This is a hard book to rate - yes, it is well researched and reads like a book from the Regency period. It hasn't been updated for modern vernacular like so many Austen homages. But at the same time, the wit, spark, and yes, magic, of Austen's works are greatly missing here. So although this is a very mannered rehash of nearly every Austen work (throw all her characters into a hat, mix up their histories, and rewrite Sense and Sensibility) it never elevators into an enjoyable read. Having the author narrate the Audible version doesn't help.

Story: Mousy Jane Ellsworth (aka Margaret Dashwood) and her emotional, petulant sister (aka Marianne Dashwood), like the same somewhat boring man (aka Edward Ferrars) who has a damaged younger sister (aka Georgiana Darcy). Jane is a talented glamourist - able to create intricate illusions but her sister, who only has beauty to her name, resents Jane. When the mysterious Mr. Vincent (aka Mr. Darcy) arrives on the scene making exquisite glamours, Jane is curious but his abrupt manner puts her off. Enter a cast of characters including a scheming lieutenant (aka Wickham) and you can guess what happens.

First and foremost, I was bothered by the magic itself. What should have been amazing was instead dull - and kind of pointless, too. If making pretty pictures was the best anyone could think to do with the talent (same as embroidery or singing), then that's a sad indictment on the society. I believe someone figures out military tactical uses later - but really only because of Napoleon? In addition to the bland magic, the characters themselves were also very bland. Jane Ellsworth is a dowdy bore, her sister completely unlikable, and Vincent (Darcy) really unlikable. Where Darcy wins us over, Vincent never does, perhaps because Margaret is a wet towel lacking all of Elizabeth Bennet's wit and witticisms.

As the story progresses, nothing happens. There's a dinner. There's some magic now and then, a picnic......but nothing to keep me returning to the page. Sadly, this dullness is sandwiched in solid writing that feels like it could have been from Austen's time. But the homage falls flat when it is so literal in characterizations but without the smart character studies. Perhaps because the DNA here is most closely tied to Sense and Sensibility that it was a bit flat.

The narration was as flat, unfortunately. Not a spark to be found amongst story, characters, or reading. I had a very hard time finishing it, always deciding that a podcast would be more interesting. It just all ended up being so completely dull.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narration Ruins Audiobook

Would you try another book from Mary Robinette Kowal and/or Mary Robinette Kowal?

I would definitely read the print or ebook or listen to another book from her if it were read by someone else.

Would you be willing to try another one of Mary Robinette Kowal’s performances?

If she were not attempting English accents, perhaps.

Any additional comments?

Ms. Kowal's work was featured on online & John Scalzi's blog, so I purchased it without listening to a sample. My fault. As other readers have noted, her ability to perform an English accent is not good.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

All of Austen's characters with none of the charm.

As a Jane Austen fan, and a fan of fantasy writing, I was duped into buying this book not once, but twice.

What I liked:
*Kowal's character's are exact copies of various players in Austen's works. If you're familiar with the stories, you can pick them out as you go, which is fun. Seems like a complete cop-out by the author, but alas, that was the most enjoyable part of the book for me.
*The descriptions of the setting and magics involved were vivid and complete.

What I didn't like:
*Character motivations seemed cloudy and counterintuitive.
*Plot was stale. Just a jumbled-up rip off of several Austen novels with some magic thrown in. You can trace entire scenes back to a Jane Austen novel.
*The narration was done in a terrible fake english accent which changed and dropped throughout the book.

If you liked the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies type books, or just need an Austen fix, this might be for you, but I'd borrow the book.

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7 people found this helpful