"A retelling Of "The Highwayman" poem"
In 1763 Dorset, England, though she is the daughter to the
owner of the King's Shilling public house, Bess Whately
feels more like a slave. Depressed with her lot, Bess sees
no future except serving poor farmers ale. Her only
prospect is a relatively intelligent boor, who would simply
leave Bess grinding her life away working on a job and in
his unappealing bed. Everything changes when Jason Quick enters her father's inn
as he and Bess are immediately attracted to one another and
soon falls in love. She quickly learns that he is a
highwayman with the king's troop in pursuit. Will her
wannabe-rejected lover figure out who Jason is and then
betray Bess by informing the soldiers about her so they can
use Bess as bait to trap the adventurous Jason? If the
answer is yes, will Jason bravely, yet foolishly, try to
free her? WATCH BY MOONLIGHT is a romantic tale that is a retelling
of the classic narrative poem The Highwayman (remember the
ending is not happy together). The story line is exciting,
as Jason becomes bolder even as his circle of safety
rapidly shrinks. Bess is a strong lead heroine who wants
love and something better than serving ale out of life.
However the lead couple fails the believability test, as
neither seems compassionate enough to even think of
sacrificing one's life for their soul mate. Still, Kate
Hawks provides a glowing Georgian tale that sub-genre fans
will enjoy. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 7, 2001
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