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kellyvandamme's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up
Published four years after The Blue, The Fugitive Colours continues the story of Genevieve Planché, now Mrs Sturbridge. I had a great time reading The Blue via The Pigeonhole back in 2018, even though I wasn’t much of a hist fic reader at the time. The Blue was definitely one of the books that broadened my horizons, opening my eyes and my heart to historical fiction and when I spotted The Fugitive Colours on NetGalley I couldn’t click on that request button fast enough.
Note that The Fugitive Colours can be read without having read The Blue, to be perfectly honest I don’t recall all the details either but I had no trouble following the story.
While Genevieve was a feisty and outspoken single woman in The Blue, in The Fugitive Colours she is married with a young son. She is still feisty and she still hasn’t completely given up on the dream to become an artist but by necessity, her plans have morphed into a business deemed slightly more suitable for a woman: she has her own silk design business with two artists in her employ.
Like its predecessor, The Fugitive Colours addresses the fact that in mid-18th century London, women are still very much secondary to men. It also taught me about the continuing struggles and rivalry between England and France and their respective kings, and the plights of English Huguenots and professions like silkweavers. In this respect, it reminded me of Blackberry & Wild Rose by Sonia Velton.
While all the main characters are fictional, the author did manage to sneak in a rather impressive number of real persons. Most notably to me was the portraitist Joshua Reynolds, whose faulty technique in mixing paints led to the title of this novel.
The Fugitive Colours is a bit of a slowburner until all the storylines come to a head and everything is happening all at once. It’s a story of intrigue laced with espionage in a world where people fight tooth and nail for what they believe in.
The Fugitive Colours didn’t quite enchant me as much as The Blue or this author’s Dreamland, I’m not sure why, but I think that it lacked a certain trigger to truly spark my fascination, The Blue has the search for creating the perfect colour blue, which – to my great surprise – fascinated me to no end, and Dreamland is set on Coney Island, a place I’ve always found fascinating. So I guess I kinda missed that fascination this time around, but obviously that’s just me. I did have a good time with The Fugitive Colours and I’d recommend it to hist fic readers, especially those who enjoy stories set in the Georgian era.
Thanks to Lume Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
The Fugitive Colours will be out on 12 May.
Published four years after The Blue, The Fugitive Colours continues the story of Genevieve Planché, now Mrs Sturbridge. I had a great time reading The Blue via The Pigeonhole back in 2018, even though I wasn’t much of a hist fic reader at the time. The Blue was definitely one of the books that broadened my horizons, opening my eyes and my heart to historical fiction and when I spotted The Fugitive Colours on NetGalley I couldn’t click on that request button fast enough.
Note that The Fugitive Colours can be read without having read The Blue, to be perfectly honest I don’t recall all the details either but I had no trouble following the story.
While Genevieve was a feisty and outspoken single woman in The Blue, in The Fugitive Colours she is married with a young son. She is still feisty and she still hasn’t completely given up on the dream to become an artist but by necessity, her plans have morphed into a business deemed slightly more suitable for a woman: she has her own silk design business with two artists in her employ.
Like its predecessor, The Fugitive Colours addresses the fact that in mid-18th century London, women are still very much secondary to men. It also taught me about the continuing struggles and rivalry between England and France and their respective kings, and the plights of English Huguenots and professions like silkweavers. In this respect, it reminded me of Blackberry & Wild Rose by Sonia Velton.
While all the main characters are fictional, the author did manage to sneak in a rather impressive number of real persons. Most notably to me was the portraitist Joshua Reynolds, whose faulty technique in mixing paints led to the title of this novel.
The Fugitive Colours is a bit of a slowburner until all the storylines come to a head and everything is happening all at once. It’s a story of intrigue laced with espionage in a world where people fight tooth and nail for what they believe in.
The Fugitive Colours didn’t quite enchant me as much as The Blue or this author’s Dreamland, I’m not sure why, but I think that it lacked a certain trigger to truly spark my fascination, The Blue has the search for creating the perfect colour blue, which – to my great surprise – fascinated me to no end, and Dreamland is set on Coney Island, a place I’ve always found fascinating. So I guess I kinda missed that fascination this time around, but obviously that’s just me. I did have a good time with The Fugitive Colours and I’d recommend it to hist fic readers, especially those who enjoy stories set in the Georgian era.
Thanks to Lume Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
The Fugitive Colours will be out on 12 May.
nonbeanary98's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kendramichele's review
adventurous
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A novel of many worlds at once: the competitive realm of artists, the burgeoning interest toward chemists, the spies lingering after the Seven Years War, and the Huguenot silk-weaving community.
I enjoyed all of these threads as the novel wove them together to form a tapestry of alchemy, intrigue, ambition, and espionage. I did feel some storylines resolved more coherently than others, but Genevieve, the strong-willed heart of it all, remains easy to root for.
As good as this story was, I ultimately enjoyed its predecessor, The Blue, even more.
I enjoyed all of these threads as the novel wove them together to form a tapestry of alchemy, intrigue, ambition, and espionage. I did feel some storylines resolved more coherently than others, but Genevieve, the strong-willed heart of it all, remains easy to root for.
As good as this story was, I ultimately enjoyed its predecessor, The Blue, even more.
rebdhar's review against another edition
5.0
I love stories about art and color, and Bilyeau delivers in both of her books about Genevieve Planche. In The Fugitive Colours, we are thrust into the art world of 1764 London, with not only its artistic sensibilities and achievements, but also experimentation, failure, and jealousy. Add to this a spy element, a murder mystery, and you have a very satisfying tale. I can't wait to read Bilyeau's next one!
annarella's review against another edition
5.0
I love Genevieve and loved this well written book since I saw the gorgeous cover. Compelling, well written, and gripping.
The historical background is well researched and vivid, the characters are well developed, and I love the storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
The historical background is well researched and vivid, the characters are well developed, and I love the storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
books_with_kayleigh's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up. A fast paced HF which does work well as a stand alone, just things got a bit far fetched toward the end for me, and not everything was really explained
salreads's review against another edition
4.0
I first met Genevieve in The Blue which I read immediately before this. You don’t have to read both - there’s enough of a recap here - but you’d seriously be missing out!
The last chapters of The Blue were particularly fast paced and edge of your seat drama so I had to acclimatise myself a little at the start of The Fugitive Colours which started, not surprisingly, at a slightly slower place. Genevieve has set up home and a silk painting factory in Spitalfields. She has a young son and still nurses ambitions to be a painter when she receives a surprise invitation from an eminent artist and thinks that her fortune may be taking a turn for the better..
Well Nancy Bilyeau has done it again. Another fabulous work of historical fiction weaving in possibly even more historical characters into an entertaining story of espionage and treachery which takes the story into the heart of Government and the highest social circles of London and France. I was scurrying off to look up figures like Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds and William Hogarth..to find out more. I have no idea how tudor manages to create such a unique blend of history and fiction.
For me the stand outs of this novel were the wonderful Genevieve who continues to delight me. There is a glorious encounter where she throws wine over an obnoxious individual which had me whooping joyfully - what a heroine.
And then there’s Casanova - such a notorious figure but I had always just imagined him to be a bit of a lothario…but he is so much more. Then there is Kitty Fisher - she of Lucy Locket fame - I had absolutely no idea of her credentials and flew backwards and forwards between the history pages and this novel to check out what I was hearing!
At the start of this novel I had no idea how the author would build up the same excitement and tension ..from quiet domestic beginnings this really gathered pace!
Another fabulously entertaining novel and I cannot wait for more Genevieve!!
The last chapters of The Blue were particularly fast paced and edge of your seat drama so I had to acclimatise myself a little at the start of The Fugitive Colours which started, not surprisingly, at a slightly slower place. Genevieve has set up home and a silk painting factory in Spitalfields. She has a young son and still nurses ambitions to be a painter when she receives a surprise invitation from an eminent artist and thinks that her fortune may be taking a turn for the better..
Well Nancy Bilyeau has done it again. Another fabulous work of historical fiction weaving in possibly even more historical characters into an entertaining story of espionage and treachery which takes the story into the heart of Government and the highest social circles of London and France. I was scurrying off to look up figures like Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds and William Hogarth..to find out more. I have no idea how tudor manages to create such a unique blend of history and fiction.
For me the stand outs of this novel were the wonderful Genevieve who continues to delight me. There is a glorious encounter where she throws wine over an obnoxious individual which had me whooping joyfully - what a heroine.
And then there’s Casanova - such a notorious figure but I had always just imagined him to be a bit of a lothario…but he is so much more. Then there is Kitty Fisher - she of Lucy Locket fame - I had absolutely no idea of her credentials and flew backwards and forwards between the history pages and this novel to check out what I was hearing!
At the start of this novel I had no idea how the author would build up the same excitement and tension ..from quiet domestic beginnings this really gathered pace!
Another fabulously entertaining novel and I cannot wait for more Genevieve!!
bookswithamb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.5
historic_chronicles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
In this follow-up to the beautifully written novel The Blue, we are transported back to 18th Century Spitalfields, the Huguenot district of London as Genevieve is struggling to make it as an artist while she runs her silk design business.
When she receives an invitation from a renown artist, Genevieve is overjoyed at the possibility of finally earning the recognition she deserves, but is everything as it seems?
Like its predecessor, this novel was thrilling and a page-turning dive into intrigue.
The level of research is outstanding and creates a world that is authentic and plausible. I particularly found the backstory to the "fugitive colours" themselves particularly fascinating.
The fictional characters are fully developed and stand equally amongst their real-life counterparts.
I adore Bilyeau's writing. She weaves an intricate and complex storyline with apparent ease and is fully capable of gripping the reader right to the very end.
I truly hope that we see more of Genevieve in the future!
Thank you so much to @tudorscribe and @lumebooks for this book, and to @instabooktours for organising the read-along. I also wanted to share a special thank you to @instabooktoursadmin for the brilliant weekly chats she organised each week of the read-along!
When she receives an invitation from a renown artist, Genevieve is overjoyed at the possibility of finally earning the recognition she deserves, but is everything as it seems?
Like its predecessor, this novel was thrilling and a page-turning dive into intrigue.
The level of research is outstanding and creates a world that is authentic and plausible. I particularly found the backstory to the "fugitive colours" themselves particularly fascinating.
The fictional characters are fully developed and stand equally amongst their real-life counterparts.
I adore Bilyeau's writing. She weaves an intricate and complex storyline with apparent ease and is fully capable of gripping the reader right to the very end.
I truly hope that we see more of Genevieve in the future!
Thank you so much to @tudorscribe and @lumebooks for this book, and to @instabooktours for organising the read-along. I also wanted to share a special thank you to @instabooktoursadmin for the brilliant weekly chats she organised each week of the read-along!