The General's Mistress Paperback – October 23, 2012

I enjoyed this book for so many reasons. First of all, loved the heroine. I read in the interview with author at the end of the book, that she had problem publishing the novel, because the publishers considered Ida unlikable. I thought she was cool: strong and unapologetic. I looks so long to read a book with main character who isn’t shy and inexperienced innocent. True, this is just a beginning of her story. The biggest part of the book Ida goes with the flow, letting the tide to shape her life. But I enjoyed following how she builds herself and takes control over her life. I can’t wait to read more about her exploits. All her alter ego are fun in their own way: Elsa, Ida and especially Charles. I loved how Graham writes historical atmosphere. The book is so detailed, that it feels highly realistic. Most of the books written about early 19th century set in England with Napoleon as villain. It felt so fresh to read book from French Republican perspective. In addition, I loved feminist side of the story. The book shows quite well, what it meant to be a woman in this period. And what changes, as small as they are, revolution brought for women. Also, I liked how the author portraits non-binary bisexual character in times when those concepts didn’t exist. I enjoyed eroticism in the story. Sexual expression is part of Ida’s personality; this is how she experience the world. Hot scenes were very well written and pleasantly realistic. So many romance writers write those scenes as some female fantasy, which always feels “that not how people do it”. The romance part was awesome. I loved her love interest. He was both perfect and flawed. Just like her. The greatest part in this love story how receptive Michel of both Ida’s personalities. He loves and desires both Elsa and Charles . The weakest part of the story is the metaphysical one. However, there was little of that, and I didn’t feel I was missing anything because I didn’t read first 3 books.

No spoilers in my review! This book brings together spirituality, sensuality, sexuality, real history, wit, trials, deep emotion and provocative writing. The characters are not conventional "heroes" or "villains." Every character has their dark parts, their light parts, and their incredible essence. Because this book is based on real events is it not "plot oriented." There is no definitive "climax" of the book, however this author is very good at leaving books on a good note. I thoroughly enjoy Jo Graham's entire Numinous World series!

Jo Graham has great talent at bringing history to life. (I say this because I am bad at retaining history and I generally hate historical fiction. But Jo Graham's Numinous World books help me retain history and enjoy learning about it.) In The General's Mistress, she takes on the beginning of the life of Ida St. Elme, unapologetic courtesan of the Napoleonic age.The main character and narrator, Elza is sympathetic and relatable: she makes mistakes, she delights in sensual things, she struggles to find her place in the world. The characters around her are fascinating as well--it's lovely to glimpse the edges of the huge political movements through the eyes of Elza, who is not yet knowledgeable about them. And Elza's yearning for something more than pleasure and safety for herself is a motive that I think many from our jaded age will be able to relate to.Ms. Graham also uses very blunt but not gratuitous sex scenes masterfully, in a way that is both sexy and sensible. Elza learns about herself and humanity through the very vulnerable, very human act of sex.I would recommend this book to anyone who isn't squeamish about explicit sex scenes. It's exciting, suspenseful, and sexy--AND it teaches you history! What more could you ask for?

Another brilliant work of historical fiction by Jo Graham! Elza/Charles is a fascinating and heart wrenchingly compelling character. I was particularly taken with the exploration of her/his relationships with family, friends, lovers, and ultimately her/himself. A mild warning: much of this exploration is told through the lens of sexual relations, which are explicit and sometimes kinky but never gratuitous or thoughtless.

I'm a huge fan of Jo Graham's former novels. Black Ships, Stealing Fire, Hands of Isis so it was a no brainer to purchase her newer 2 novels once I saw they were out. I re-read her earlier works 2 or 3 times a year, that's how well I like them!The General's Mistress is just as easy to get engrossed into the story. It's not as epic as the previous ones on it's own but since I've read the new Emperor's Agent I'm more excited about these two books.At first I thought the tie in with the former books as Companion's was just tossed in. No spoilers but my goodness was I wrong! I highly recommend this book to fans of the previous books and really to anyone who likes exciting fiction of the Napoleonic era.Review by Rebyj

From the ins and outs of French society, to the séances, to the battlefield, this book is captivating. Elza is not quite like any other hero(ine) I know. This book does have some echoes, or ripples, of the previous Numinous World books -- but I don't think one needs to be familiar with those books in order for this one to fascinate and intrigue. I hear that sequels may be forthcoming; I dearly hope that they are, because I want to know what happens next!

The General's Mistress begins during the Directory, the period between the end of the Terror and the rise of Napoleon, and tells the story of Elza Versfelt -- also known as Elzelina Ringeling, Ida St. Elme, and Charles van Aylde -- who abandons her unsatisfying marriage for one of Napoleon's generals, only to find far more than she had bargained for. Her search for freedom is also a search for purpose, and it takes her from the bedroom to the Parisian underworld of theater and seance to the battlefield. It's a grand adventure, erotic, evocative, pitch perfect for time and place, and includes some of the best battle scenes I have ever read.

I didn't know what to expect from this book and I'm so glad I gave it a try because it is fantastic. It's the kind of historical novel I never knew I always wanted. Elsa is a fantastic character, very flawed yet charming and relatable and I love her journey into politics, spirituality and a surprisingly complex sexuality and sense of self. What makes it even better is that it sheds light on a little known real life woman.

I love Jo Graham's books. I love Elza, the main character and have just read the second book in the series "The Emperor's Agent"....can't wait for the third.

Set during the later years of the French Revolution and the start of Napoleon's Empire, this is the story of Elza, aka Ida St. Elme, a young adventuress - or rather I should say it is the beginning of her story, the first volume of several about her long and exciting life that had her go, as the author once put it, from party girl to the Napeoleonic equivalent of Judi Dench's M. Elza - who is a historical character, not an invented one - starts out in the kind of trap which you'd think doomed her in her era - married to a man who was after her money and ruthless enough to abduct and "seduce" her at age 12, two children before she grows up herself, no family support because her mother never got over the death of Elza's brother Charles when they were children and only accepts Elza when she's playing said brother. But Elza decides this won't be her life any longer. Her story is one of constant transformation - mistress, actress (she's not very good at it, but it helps paying the rent), con woman, soldier - and one in which apparant disadvantages are turned around. Being able to be "Charles" becomes part of her identity and freedom instead of a way to deal with her mother. Taking a job as a fake oracle in order to make some cash allows her to discover she actually does have psychic abilities, though this isn't easy for her to accept; being a child of the Enlightenment, Elza is a natural skeptic. (This is also what makes Elza's story part of the world created in the author's other novels, all set in different eras and based on the premise of reincarnation, though each novel also tells its own story.) Sex can be a commodity to trade with or a joy; it becomes her choice. Speaking of sex, the novel isn't coy about its sex scenes, and manages something that unfortunately not that many erotic scenes accomplish: make them (an important) part of the characterisation of the people involved instead of feeling random and interchangable with, as the saying goes Any Two Guys (or Gals).Something else: rare (though not unheard of) for a heroine in a novel is that Elza really is leaving her children behind in order to achieve her own freedom (and with her detested husband). Most fiction in any media has the ability to be a a good mother who puts her child(ren) above everything as a make or break criterium for the likeability of a female character. (Whereas male characters who are lousy fathers but in other ways sympathetic are as common as dirt.) So letting Elza do this and not trying to excuse it, but also not punishing her narratively for it, was an unusual and I think honest narrative choice on the part of the author.Lastly, Elza starts out having little to no interest in politics, no matter of which country, and then slowly and surely comes to care because the system of the society she lives in affects her directly. By the end of the novel, she's gone from drifter to active participant, and we get an inkling how she might end up as a legendary spy. I can't wait to read her further adventures in print!