DNF. I only read the first chapter and decided this wasn’t for me.
The language is old-fashioned but fitting for the time period. Both the Chinese and the British do and say things that seem quite racist and jarring to our modern sensibilities, but represented attitudes that were probably fairly accurate for the time as well. It was interesting to compare the cultural differences. It just didn’t grab me. I’m sure it didn’t help that the publisher printed the text in a ridiculously tiny font my aging eyes did not enjoy.

A delicious gothic soap opera. You gotta love it for what it is and I certainly did. So glad I stumbled upon it on Thriftbooks.

After I got past the first third of the book, it surprised me how fast I got through it. The suspense is fantastic, the romance is incredibly sweet and squeal-worthy, and the mystery is unpredictable. Thank you to whoever recommended me this book, because it was fantastic.

Lucy Waring is an English girl who was born and raised in China. After she tries to steal to keep the girls in her Mission from starving, she is caught and meets an English man who is in prison, a death sentence on his head. After she agrees to marry him, she is whisked off to England with more questions than answers. I loved the mystery and the suspense that set the tone of the novel. I especially loved the romance. I won't spoil anything, but I got some happy tingles after finishing the book.

One of the best parts of the novel is Lucy's character development. She starts out as a meek, honest, hardworking doormat. Through her interactions with the Gremshens (the family she goes to England with), she becomes a little hardier, and starts to form opinions of her own. It was so much fun to see her become a more fiery, passionate version of herself, while still holding true to her original virtues. I was a little bored with her in the beginning, but by the end I was cheering her on.

It's been awhile since I've read such a fantastic romance, and I'm pleased that I enjoyed another one of Brent's books. I highly recommend it!

A good historical romance well worth reading.

Don't judge a book by its cover. This cover art is crap, but the book is great. You never know until the end who is good and who is not. This is my favorite of the Madeleine Brent's books.

Dated, pro-colonialism, lots of other-ing even though a big part of the MC's struggle has to do with her being an outsider. OK, I know it's flawed, but I still love the trademark Brent scrappy heroine who has special fortitude and skills due to an unconventional upbringing and re-entry into uppercrust British society near the turn of the century. This one was raised at a mission orphanage in China. Good fun and I always enjoy a re-read.

I'll be glad when all of Madeleine Brent's books are converted to digital. They're out of print at the moment but I eventually found them all on Amazon and eBay. My favorite is Golden Urchin but I enjoy all of her (his actually) novels. They're gothic adventure romance and they're clean, even when some of the books deal with sordid subjects.

Moonraker's Bride is my second favorite of all Brent's novels. The stories are always COMPLETELY unique and during the course of the adventures you might find yourself in the outback of Australia, the wilderness of China, the coast of Africa, the islands of the Caribbean: you never know where Brent will take you next.

Rating clarification: 4.5 stars

Wow...how in the world did I miss this book back in the day? I can't believe it took me over 30 years to read this one.

Moonraker's Bride was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G-L-Y wonderful. The kind of book you get that tingling feeling about by page 10 or so. The kind of book you stay up way past your bedtime reading and savouring. The kind of romantic suspense book that used to be so popular 30-40 years ago, and now can't seem to be replicated by today's crop of writers. It reminded me very much of a better written gothic by Victoria Holt, or a watered down version of M.M. Kaye's masterpiece, Shadow of the Moon. Fans of either writer should enjoy this foray into the story of Lucy Waring, a young woman raised in China during the turn of the century. Lucy is a strong, resilient woman who has to care for a group of young Chinese girl orphans after her mentor, Miss Prothero, dies in the mission. Lucy must resort to stealing in order to obtain money to buy provisions, and it is during one of her forays into town that she is caught and put in prison. Once there, she meets Nick Sabine, an adventurer with a wicked twinkle in his eyes that will change everything in her life.

The story starts strongly in China, then moves to England (where it falters a bit in pacing and interest, IMO). The last 50 pages see our heroine back in China, during the Boxer Rebellion, and that's where I literally couldn't put the book down. Gripping, intense, romantic and altogether a great gothic read, I adored Moonraker's Bride and look forward to reading more by Brent.




***
Fun facts:
1. Writer Madeleine Brent was actually a pen name for a man, Peter O'Donnell. Who knew men could write such good gothic fiction?
2. The name of the heroine, Lucy Waring, was also the name of the heroine from Mary Stewart's gothic novel, This Rough Magic.

*** MAJOR spoilers ahead!!** This book was recommended to me by my sister. It was pretty slow, but at the same time the author managed to hold my attention anyway. Not many authors have that ability. The whole story unfolded like a movie playing in my mind as I read it. I LOVE it when books do this for me!
As much as I admired Lucy for her strength, determination and bravery, my most favorite character would have to be Mr. Tom Marsh. I immediately fell in love with his gentle and loving nature. I love the relationship he shared with Lucy. I literally gasped when I read that Mr. Marsh was Nick Sabine’s father. I wasn’t expecting that at all. What surprised me even more was when I realized that Nick had managed to fake his own death with the help of Dr. Langdon. This author was very gifted, but I must say I never did like Robert Falcon’s character. Even when he seemed to be charming with noble intentions towards Lucy, in my head I kept screaming at her not to marry him.
During the confrontation with Robert, Nick and Lucy at the very end, I was shocked to read that Yu-Lan was the one who shot Robert and saved their lives. I must say what a relief it was for me to read that Mr. Marsh wasn’t killed in that struggle. I would have been FURIOUS if he had!

This book was fantastic! I feel like I just read a hidden gem.

Why is this book out of print?!! It's such a great story - like a cross between The Goose Girl, Rebecca, and the Scarlet Pimpernel (kind-of). I love the way he narrates - loved the characters and surprises. It has mystery, romance, suspense. I think I'll start passing it around to my friends if they promise not to lose it. Thanks to my sister for discovering it!!

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/moonrakers-bride-by-madeleine-brent/

It’s a romantic adventure story about young Lucy, abandoned in an orphanage in China, who finds herself sucked into a bizarre English feud between two neighbouring families over lost Chinese treasure. There are some vey effective fish-out-of-water moments for Lucy when she first arrives in England. The plot twists are pretty absurd, as hidden relatives turn up everywhere and Lucy returns to China to skip through the Boxer Rebellion, and yet I kept on being sucked back into it to find out what would happen next. I’m sure that the Chinese details are as wobbly as I know the English historical details are; but I admit that I was entertained anyway.