Review by naomisorge -- First Lessons by Lina J. Potter
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Review by naomisorge -- First Lessons by Lina J. Potter
[Following is a volunteer review of "First Lessons" by Lina J. Potter.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Aliya, academic genius and medical student in modern-day Russia, dies suddenly in a tragic accident. Lilian Earton, countess of a run-down estate in a medieval parallel universe, clings to life after suffering a miscarriage. Lilian’s elderly nanny visits a witch under cover of darkness, begging for a spell to bring her Lady back to life. And that’s how Aliya wakes up in Lilian’s body. First Lessons by Lina J. Potter is the first in the historical fiction series A Medieval Tale. It answers the question: what would you do if, by some miracle, you woke up in a different period of history?
Aliya-as-Lilian is not impressed with what she finds in this new world. Women are possessions instead of people, everything is filthy, and the staff of her estate has let it go into ruin. What’s more, Aliya can’t stand her new body. While Aliya had been athletic and stylish, Lilian is hugely overweight and not exactly a likable character.
So Aliya sets about making her new world as much like her old one as possible. She demands regular baths, stops eating 12-course meals, and insists that the servants clean up the castle. But she doesn’t stop there. She starts multiple businesses using ideas from her modern life. She also hires a team of helpers from every corner of her new world. She manages to hide all of this from her husband because he spends all his time at the king’s court. He can’t stand his wife, and only visits her a couple of times a year to try to produce an heir. What will happen when he finds out that his wife has lost the child and become a completely different person?
Lilian-Aliya’s story is interspersed with the introduction of other characters. There’s the princess who has secretly married her teacher, and the king whose illegitimate children are raised by the mother’s brother. This book is the first in a series, and the reader senses that these seemingly separate stories will start to intertwine in future books.
Aliya’s knowledge and strength of will throughout the story are remarkable. She learned some of this knowledge in school, and some from serving in the Russian army and living through the perestroika. While I was reading, I kept asking myself, “How would I cope if I were in her situation?” I fear that I certainly would not have fared so well!
I thought it was interesting how Potter writes a woman coming into her own in an extremely challenging situation. At a certain point, Potter stops using Aliya’s name and only uses Lilian’s, indicating that Aliya has accepted her new life. This change is so seamless that I didn’t even notice it until I had reached the end of the book. The new Lilian consciously sets out to make the world a better place. She surrounds herself with people who respect her, going outside medieval social conventions to recruit people from different races, ages, and social classes. This is very different from the old Lilian, who didn’t seem to think of anyone besides herself.
Although the story is fascinating, Aliya’s focus on Lilian’s body struck me as distasteful. Throughout the book, Lilian’s weight is described in very negative terms, associating it with her negative personality traits. Aliya puts at least as much energy into losing weight as she puts into getting her household in order and starting new businesses. She forces everyone to live on grains and steamed vegetables and secretly does squats and lunges.
I would rate this book a 3 out of 4. There were some minor editing issues, especially toward the beginning of the book. And I felt that the body-shaming of Lilian was inconsistent with the general empowering tone of the book. That said, it’s worth a read for the pure fantastic escapism and the descriptions of a modern person’s reactions to the sights, tastes and smells of the medieval period. I was hooked by the cliffhanger ending and will be keeping an eye out for the rest of the books in the series. You will enjoy this book if you like historical fiction and pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps stories but aren’t overly concerned with historical accuracy.
******
First Lessons
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
3 out of 4 stars
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Aliya, academic genius and medical student in modern-day Russia, dies suddenly in a tragic accident. Lilian Earton, countess of a run-down estate in a medieval parallel universe, clings to life after suffering a miscarriage. Lilian’s elderly nanny visits a witch under cover of darkness, begging for a spell to bring her Lady back to life. And that’s how Aliya wakes up in Lilian’s body. First Lessons by Lina J. Potter is the first in the historical fiction series A Medieval Tale. It answers the question: what would you do if, by some miracle, you woke up in a different period of history?
Aliya-as-Lilian is not impressed with what she finds in this new world. Women are possessions instead of people, everything is filthy, and the staff of her estate has let it go into ruin. What’s more, Aliya can’t stand her new body. While Aliya had been athletic and stylish, Lilian is hugely overweight and not exactly a likable character.
So Aliya sets about making her new world as much like her old one as possible. She demands regular baths, stops eating 12-course meals, and insists that the servants clean up the castle. But she doesn’t stop there. She starts multiple businesses using ideas from her modern life. She also hires a team of helpers from every corner of her new world. She manages to hide all of this from her husband because he spends all his time at the king’s court. He can’t stand his wife, and only visits her a couple of times a year to try to produce an heir. What will happen when he finds out that his wife has lost the child and become a completely different person?
Lilian-Aliya’s story is interspersed with the introduction of other characters. There’s the princess who has secretly married her teacher, and the king whose illegitimate children are raised by the mother’s brother. This book is the first in a series, and the reader senses that these seemingly separate stories will start to intertwine in future books.
Aliya’s knowledge and strength of will throughout the story are remarkable. She learned some of this knowledge in school, and some from serving in the Russian army and living through the perestroika. While I was reading, I kept asking myself, “How would I cope if I were in her situation?” I fear that I certainly would not have fared so well!
I thought it was interesting how Potter writes a woman coming into her own in an extremely challenging situation. At a certain point, Potter stops using Aliya’s name and only uses Lilian’s, indicating that Aliya has accepted her new life. This change is so seamless that I didn’t even notice it until I had reached the end of the book. The new Lilian consciously sets out to make the world a better place. She surrounds herself with people who respect her, going outside medieval social conventions to recruit people from different races, ages, and social classes. This is very different from the old Lilian, who didn’t seem to think of anyone besides herself.
Although the story is fascinating, Aliya’s focus on Lilian’s body struck me as distasteful. Throughout the book, Lilian’s weight is described in very negative terms, associating it with her negative personality traits. Aliya puts at least as much energy into losing weight as she puts into getting her household in order and starting new businesses. She forces everyone to live on grains and steamed vegetables and secretly does squats and lunges.
I would rate this book a 3 out of 4. There were some minor editing issues, especially toward the beginning of the book. And I felt that the body-shaming of Lilian was inconsistent with the general empowering tone of the book. That said, it’s worth a read for the pure fantastic escapism and the descriptions of a modern person’s reactions to the sights, tastes and smells of the medieval period. I was hooked by the cliffhanger ending and will be keeping an eye out for the rest of the books in the series. You will enjoy this book if you like historical fiction and pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps stories but aren’t overly concerned with historical accuracy.
******
First Lessons
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The MISOGI Method by Jody B. Miller
