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Most Extraordinary Pursuit by
Juliana Grey blends Greek mythology within a fable. Juliana
Grey is a pseudonym for New York Times bestselling author
Beatriz Williams. With this novel she has a different publisher,
a different style, and a different genre.
The author commented, "As Juliana I used to write books
that were mainly historical romance where I could not mess
around with certain elements readers wanted. With this book
I tried to move in a different direction, within a Victorian
time period. I wrote about all the elements that intrigued
me and put them in the story to have a little fun. On the
other hand, the Beatriz books have the main character taking
center stage. Those fictional novels are set in a historical
period, post World War I, with drama, friendship, adventure,
and some love story with possibly more relatable characters."
Unlike her books as Beatriz Williams, this book is more plot
driven than character driven. The story begins when the Duchess
of Olympia insists that the personal secretary of the recently
deceased Duke travels to find his apparent heir, Arthur Maximillian
Haywood. The secretary, Miss Emmeline Rose Truelove, steams
through the Mediterranean on a private yacht accompanied by
Duke Silverton, a corrupt London bachelor. As they travel
from port to port they piece together Haywood's whereabouts,
finding him on the Island of Crete. Truelove gets help from
the ghostly characters of her father and Queen Victoria who
appear to be figments of her imagination. The ending of the
story sets the readers up for future time travel and possibly
more supernatural elements.
The theme, according to Gray, can people change the path set
for them? "Is there a future in which we are locked into?
Even if we know it is going to happen is it possible to break
out of this destiny? I am hoping to solve this existential
mystery with glimpses coming from the present day of the story,
as the Duke uses his power to send people through time."
At the end of each chapter she incorporated the fantasy of
the Greek myths, which became more a sub plot. The stories
of Ariadne, Theseus, and Minotaur are something the characters
try to relate to. This includes how "Theseus would then
go forth from his nuptial chamber to kill the Hippolytus,
whose only crime was to worship the chaste Artemis instead
of the vengeful Aphrodite."
Unlike her books as author Beatriz Williams, Juliana Gray
has this as the first book in the series. Readers who like
this quirky storyline will be able to continue this time travel
with the characters in future books.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
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Most Extraordinary Pursuit #1
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Strange Scottish Shore #2
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