From Publishers Weekly
Veteran author Hodge (Escapade) keeps this deft historical romance set in 19th-century Portugal moving at a crisp pace. Summoned from safety in England by her cruel and dour father, Caterina Gomez?half-British, half-Portuguese, in her late teens?is escorted to tumultuous Oporto, Portugal, by her cousin Jeremy Craddock and a female friend. Against a mise-en-scene of war and intrigue involving French, Portuguese and British forces, the three become enmeshed in romantic and political adventure. Jeremy is enthralled by a shady American masseuse while Caterina, who's soon threatened with life in a convent, naively agrees to gather information for rebel leader Luis Sanchez, with whom she had an affair at age 13. Meanwhile, the Duke of Wellington is to be the honored guest at a planned gala for Caterina, who has been told by Luis's grandmother not to trust her grandson. Though the narrative and characterization are occasionally sketchy, Hodge builds the tension to a dramatic (if not surprising) denouement and ably resolves all the story lines in time for a subtle ending.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
When teenage Caterina Gomez returns from England to Portugal, she comes back to a beloved homeland, a distant father, and a scandalous past. Traveling with Caterina are her cousin Jeremy Craddock, a young Englishman seeking a cure for his ill health, and her dear friend Harriet Brown, who is on the run from an arranged marriage. This unlikely trio arrives ian a Portugal rife with tension, for the country is at war with France, and Oporto, recently liberated, is a city in ruins and full of bitter memories. Caterina's hopes for happiness are initially frustrated, for her father seems determined to see her married or in a convent. Then the note arrives, a voice from the past that changes everything and send Caterina into the center of political and romantic intrigue. Drawn into the tangled web that binds the Portuguese and English communities together in an uneasy alliance, she discovers that no one is quite what he seems. Characterized by Jane Aiken Hodge's trademark blend of historical detail and adventure, Whispering tells the story of a young woman's search for truth and independence in a society that wants to deny her both.
