Title: The Game and the Candle - Eleanor M. Ingram
Media: Novel
Approx length: Just one novel, not very long (somewhere around 220 pages on my e-reader). There are a couple of Eleanor M. Ingram's short stories that theoretically may share a universe with this book, but they don't deal with the events or characters of the novel at all, so they're just fun bonuses.
Where to find it: Here at Project Gutenberg (includes a text-page version as well as downloadable epub versions)
What is it, in summary?: This is a semi-Ruritanian political drama and romance novel published in 1909 by an American pulp-magazine author who seems to have been fairly popular in her day but has fallen out of the public eye today, and it's fantastic! The lead is John Allard, a young American man from a formerly-wealthy family about to lose their home to a financial crisis, who doesn't have any skills or a profession but does have one criminal-underworld connection and a lot of optimistic confidence in his own ability to become a master criminal on the fly and make enough money to save his family. He goes off to do some crimes and soon lands in Sing Sing prison under an assumed identity, where he languishes in noble suffering until he is discovered by a very wealthy European aristocrat who recognizes him as the man he "knew very well" five years ago, when they spent an idyllic, romantic three weeks together incognito in an Italian villa without ever learning each other's true identities. The nobleman helps Allard escape from prison and then reveals that he is actually Feodor Stanief, nephew to the Emperor of a country that is not quite Russia but also isn't not Russia, a Grand Duke, and the new imperial Regent once his ailing uncle dies, since his cousin the Emperor's son isn't yet of age. Allard pledges his life and loyalty to Stanief and sets off with him into a dark and dangerous world of poisonous imperial politics, alliances and backstabbing, assassination attempts, the fear of coup or revolution, and the triumph of true love and steadfast loyalty over all the perils of his new life.
What do you love about it?: I don't even know if my summary above got across just how much Stanief and Allard love each other, because they love each other so much and everything they say and think about each other is just ridiculously romantic and intimate:
And Allard, rising to receive him, suddenly felt his heart quicken with a strange, familiar violence. "We Allards love more than other people," Robert had said. This was what he was giving Stanief, he realized with something like dismay,—that passion of fierce un-English intensity which considered nothing and made him its plaything. He had not meant to care like that again—
"Good morning, John," said the cool, faintly imperious voice; the warmly dark eyes met his.
Sighing, Allard yielded up the last resistance and gave his all.
"Your Royal Highness—" he murmured, and hated himself for the unsteadiness of his tone.
And it's not just on Allard's side: the imperious, proud Stanief admits his own feelings for his John (...did I mention he literally calls him "my John", and John calls him "monseigneur", and it makes me a little feral every time):
"The Emperor this morning asked me to add you to his household. It is more than I hoped to gain, that he should himself make the request; yet—"
They looked at each other, Allard startled and half dismayed, Stanief's velvet eyes less tranquil than usual.
"Yet I shall miss you, John," he concluded, his voice a caress.
The regret and the tone lay unforgotten in the closed room of Allard's heart. Years after, he could turn and find them there.
What attracts me so much, personally, is not just the love between them, but the intense loyalty and the even more intense power dynamics in their relationship, where Stanief is the lord who is owed unquestioning obedience and submission, and John is his beloved vassal who is owed courtesy and protection. It's an intensely intimate relationship that they both entered out of choice, not obligation, and stay in because they love each other beyond anyone else in the world. There's this amazing moment near the end, when Stanief anticipates being sent into exile once he hands over the reins of empire to his young cousin and tells Allard he should stay with the Emperor, who favors him, rather than become collateral damage in his downfall, and John refuses to leave him:
"I will stay with you. I can come here as I always hoped to do, giving to you, not asking. [...] It is my pride to have regained my independence, monseigneur; to be able to come to you, free, and offer to do your secretary's work, Vasili's, what you choose, but to do it as a service of love. Long ago, on the Nadeja, I lent myself to aid your purpose, to make it mine. And now you have carried it through; next week the Emperor will be crowned. Now I claim the right to return to you; the work is done."
"John—"
"You can not refuse me that," he cried. "You have taken my life and made it center around you, now you can not bid me tear that core out and go on."
As on their first night together, Stanief stretched his hand across the table for his companion's clasp.
"No," he answered lovingly, "we can not go on without each other. If you will stay with a sinking ship, come; I am selfish enough to let you."
*weeping softly* I'm so emotional about them and if any of this sounds like your thing, I guarantee you will be too. (And if you like this book, please step into my parlor and I will show you the selection of Eleanor M. Ingram's other books and stories I love, some of which also approach this level of slashiness!)
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Stanief/Allard - anything about them, their three-week romantic sojourn in Palermo, missing scenes during the novel, what their life looks like after the close of the story, with or without the presence of their canonical het love interests. Their love! It's everything! But we've also got Adrian, the teenaged Emperor, who is Machiavellian and proud and impetuous and devastatingly lonely, and his relationships with Stanief and with Allard (and with Stanief's wife, whom he's openly in love with and everyone knows it). Iría, the delicate wilting-flower Spanish princess who becomes a pillar of support for her forced-marriage husband despite their rocky start. Marya, Iría's loyal lady-in-waiting who refuses to leave her side and has a loyalty thing going on almost as big as Allard's. Dalmorov, our scheming but mostly incompetent villain who has such a weird relationship with Adrian -- what even is his deal! Bertie, Allard's tragic beloved younger brother, who deserves a fix-it of some kind and the chance to experience the opulent drama of his brother's new life. Vasili, Stanief's lieutenant and aide, this charming fun-loving young guy who is just here to stay out of politics and have a good time on a boat but has exactly the wrong boss for that goal... From chatting with someone else who's nominating this book, I think we'll have a varied set of characters to choose from -- something for every taste!
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Not really, it's just one novel so very self-contained!
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Like many old books, The Game and the Candle contains content that upholds the era's inequalities and the author's biases. The big one for this novel is classism (the wealthy and nobility are beautiful/refined/noble/natural leaders, the lower classes are ugly/stupid/coarse/naturally submissive), but also some racism, a lot of institutional sexism, and pro-monarchist/imperialist politics.
The Game and the Candle - Eleanor M. Ingram
Media: Novel
Approx length: Just one novel, not very long (somewhere around 220 pages on my e-reader). There are a couple of Eleanor M. Ingram's short stories that theoretically may share a universe with this book, but they don't deal with the events or characters of the novel at all, so they're just fun bonuses.
Where to find it: Here at Project Gutenberg (includes a text-page version as well as downloadable epub versions)
What is it, in summary?: This is a semi-Ruritanian political drama and romance novel published in 1909 by an American pulp-magazine author who seems to have been fairly popular in her day but has fallen out of the public eye today, and it's fantastic! The lead is John Allard, a young American man from a formerly-wealthy family about to lose their home to a financial crisis, who doesn't have any skills or a profession but does have one criminal-underworld connection and a lot of optimistic confidence in his own ability to become a master criminal on the fly and make enough money to save his family. He goes off to do some crimes and soon lands in Sing Sing prison under an assumed identity, where he languishes in noble suffering until he is discovered by a very wealthy European aristocrat who recognizes him as the man he "knew very well" five years ago, when they spent an idyllic, romantic three weeks together incognito in an Italian villa without ever learning each other's true identities. The nobleman helps Allard escape from prison and then reveals that he is actually Feodor Stanief, nephew to the Emperor of a country that is not quite Russia but also isn't not Russia, a Grand Duke, and the new imperial Regent once his ailing uncle dies, since his cousin the Emperor's son isn't yet of age. Allard pledges his life and loyalty to Stanief and sets off with him into a dark and dangerous world of poisonous imperial politics, alliances and backstabbing, assassination attempts, the fear of coup or revolution, and the triumph of true love and steadfast loyalty over all the perils of his new life.
What do you love about it?: I don't even know if my summary above got across just how much Stanief and Allard love each other, because they love each other so much and everything they say and think about each other is just ridiculously romantic and intimate:
And it's not just on Allard's side: the imperious, proud Stanief admits his own feelings for his John (...did I mention he literally calls him "my John", and John calls him "monseigneur", and it makes me a little feral every time):
What attracts me so much, personally, is not just the love between them, but the intense loyalty and the even more intense power dynamics in their relationship, where Stanief is the lord who is owed unquestioning obedience and submission, and John is his beloved vassal who is owed courtesy and protection. It's an intensely intimate relationship that they both entered out of choice, not obligation, and stay in because they love each other beyond anyone else in the world. There's this amazing moment near the end, when Stanief anticipates being sent into exile once he hands over the reins of empire to his young cousin and tells Allard he should stay with the Emperor, who favors him, rather than become collateral damage in his downfall, and John refuses to leave him:
*weeping softly* I'm so emotional about them and if any of this sounds like your thing, I guarantee you will be too. (And if you like this book, please step into my parlor and I will show you the selection of Eleanor M. Ingram's other books and stories I love, some of which also approach this level of slashiness!)
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Stanief/Allard - anything about them, their three-week romantic sojourn in Palermo, missing scenes during the novel, what their life looks like after the close of the story, with or without the presence of their canonical het love interests. Their love! It's everything! But we've also got Adrian, the teenaged Emperor, who is Machiavellian and proud and impetuous and devastatingly lonely, and his relationships with Stanief and with Allard (and with Stanief's wife, whom he's openly in love with and everyone knows it). Iría, the delicate wilting-flower Spanish princess who becomes a pillar of support for her forced-marriage husband despite their rocky start. Marya, Iría's loyal lady-in-waiting who refuses to leave her side and has a loyalty thing going on almost as big as Allard's. Dalmorov, our scheming but mostly incompetent villain who has such a weird relationship with Adrian -- what even is his deal! Bertie, Allard's tragic beloved younger brother, who deserves a fix-it of some kind and the chance to experience the opulent drama of his brother's new life. Vasili, Stanief's lieutenant and aide, this charming fun-loving young guy who is just here to stay out of politics and have a good time on a boat but has exactly the wrong boss for that goal... From chatting with someone else who's nominating this book, I think we'll have a varied set of characters to choose from -- something for every taste!
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Not really, it's just one novel so very self-contained!
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Like many old books, The Game and the Candle contains content that upholds the era's inequalities and the author's biases. The big one for this novel is classism (the wealthy and nobility are beautiful/refined/noble/natural leaders, the lower classes are ugly/stupid/coarse/naturally submissive), but also some racism, a lot of institutional sexism, and pro-monarchist/imperialist politics.