GENTLEMANLY PREFERENCES
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is a bit of a ridiculous story.
The story revolves around two young Englishmen. One is Monty, a handsome scoundrel and rake, and the other is Percy, his dutiful best friend. They go on a grand tour of Europe before taking their next life step (college, job, etc). Felicity, Monty’s sister, also joins them, so that they can drop her off to finishing school. This is historical fiction, so we’re talking about a time when black people were mostly slaves. Although Percy is upper class, like Monty, he is dark-skinned and that makes him an obvious target for abuse. There’s racism, sexism, homophobia, and much more all of which is handled appropriately by the author. It does appear that Monty was largely blind to it all, although he learns more as the tour progresses.
The main thrust of this book is how Monty and Percy come to terms with the feelings they have for each other and the desperation of trying to escape from their horrid future prospects. Monty, who narrates the story, is a very unlikable character. I wanted to strangle him for the first half of the book, but then he started to redeem himself (there’s a lot beneath the immature and selfish surface, thank God). I didn’t like the miscommunication aspect, but I think it was appropriate in this particular story for many reasons.
The boys are lovely. I rooted for their relationship the whole time, even when I hated Monty. I think this was due to the authors’ mastery of storytelling. Most of all, I was impressed at how the author managed to dig deep inside every character and show us their fears, even though something ridiculous was happening at the same time. I think the line between humor and serious introspection is thin, and the author managed to give both sides appropriate care and importance. The story made me laugh and cry and fear and love… all of it.
I really enjoyed Monty fighting with himself the whole time to become a better person. It was shockingly realistic because most of the time he failed. I think this is one of those rare unlikable-character-gets-redeemed stories that usually fail to land, but this one did.
Overall, I loved this book. It was a crazy adventure through Europe that made me laugh many times. Everything that happened was funny and unlikely, but also heart-warming in unexpected places. I didn’t expect the three of them to fall into so much trouble so often (the way Monty got them into trouble and out of trouble was proper hilarious). It was utterly satisfying, to see how they handled it, to learn more about Monty, Percy, and Felicity as they went along on their journey. There was alchemy and pirates and mystery, and it was all worth it. A roller coaster of ludicrous adventures peppered with true moments of fear and longing in a time that doesn’t permit those things. Aw.
If you want a story about two young gentlemen who live in difficult times, whose queerness, blackness, and illnesses stand in the way of happiness, and who find themselves in so many ridiculous and dangerous situations on their tour of Europe… then proceed. You’ll get both the heavy and the light in one unforgettable package.
Reviewed by Violeta Nedkova
