A Samurai Never Fears Death

Allie Byrd

The Season

By: Sarah Maclean

Main Characters:

• Lady Alexandra Stafford (Alex)- She is 17 years old, she is strong willed, sharp-tongued, and absolutely hates dress fittings, she is way more interested in adventures than the romance that her mom wants her to find. She had Stafford eyes that were the color of the clearest emeralds. Alex’s best friends are Ella and Vivi, they have been bestfriends since they were all born.
• Lady Eleanor Redburn (Ella)- Best friend of Alex since birth, the oldest daughter of of the Earl and Countess of Marlborough, she had a petite frame and had delicate features, she had blue eyes and blond hair. Ella’s personality defied her porcelain looks and she preferred books to the lavish balls of the season.
• Lady Vivian Marwell (Vivi)- Best friend of Alex since birth, she is the only daughter of the Marquess of Langford, tall and slender, she had her fathers dark hair and violet eyes, she had a sharp mind and a strong will, and perfectly mannered.
• Gavin Sewell - The son of the Ear Blackmoor who was killed in a puzzling accident. The Earl of Blackmoor.  
• William Stafford (Will)- 23 years old, oldest brother of Alex, very handsome, full lips, hair the color of midnight, regal nose, strong jaw, and famous Stafford eyes that were the color of the clearest emeralds, taller than six feet four inches. Had broad shoulders and long legs. The Marquess of Weston.
• Nicholas Stafford (Nick)- 21 years old, second brother of Alex, very handsome, full lips, hair the color of midnight, regal nose, strong jaw, and famous Stafford eyes that were the color of the clearest emeralds, taller than six feet four inches. Had broad shoulders and long legs. The Earl of Farrow.
• Christopher Stafford- 19 years old, third brother of Alex, very handsome, full lips, hair the color of midnight, regal nose, strong jaw, and famous Stafford eyes that were the color of the clearest emeralds, taller than six feet four inches. Had broad shoulders and long legs.

Main Conflict:  

The main conflict of the plot is that  Gavin’s father ends up dying by an accident where he fell off of his horse on a cliff that he knew like the back of his hand. Gavin’s father was a very good rider so Gavin never believe that his father’s death was an accident. A very big part of the story was when Gavin got the letter that said the death of Richard Sewell was considered accidental by the constable in Essex, along with several high-ranking members of the War Office. The next important action was when Alex goes to find Gavin because she had found proof that Gavin’s uncle killed his father and when she goes off to find him she finds Gavin’s uncle there with a pistol. The third big part in the story is when Gavin’s uncle admits to killing Gavin’s dad and Alex ends up stepping on his foot to get him to drop the gun as her family comes running into the room.

Quotes:

1. “ It’s the Blackmoor House. I’ve been robbed.” (Maclean 185). This quote is important because back in 1815 in London the punishment was hanging if you were caught for robbing a house. But it was very easy to get away since they had no way of tracking people like they do now, so it was a lot easier for criminals to get away back then so it was very very common.
2. The Killer, Gavin’s Uncle stated “ You forgot, child, that I am very good at making planned deaths appear accidental.” (Maclean 315). It was very easy for someone to hide their crimes since they did not have forensic evidence to use to help them convict people like they do today. So Gavin’s Uncle was able to kill without any repercussions for killing since it looked like he was just with the family because he was grevining his brother’s death with the rest of his family and they would not suspect him as the killer.
3. Gavin told Alex “ I was planning to court only one woman in my lifetime” (Maclean 335). In that time period if you got a divorce or remarriage it was frowned upon so when you got married you were stuck with that person for life because women were to do as they were told by their spouse and that was that, they had no say so. Also it was very common to court before you got married because if you were caught with a boy and you were not courting him it was frowned upon to kiss or show any affection to another person of a different sex if you were not family unless of course you were courting.  

Historical Perspective:

Historically true people were Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare. In the story it  talks about how Alex’s ancestors hosted them both for a dinner. Then it goes on to talk about how the Queen asked William to write a play for the Twelfth Night. The significance of this is that it shows how high up their family is in the classes of people and how well known their name is. It shows that they are held to even higher standards than most due to their name and keeping up their reputation for their family since the Queen and Shakespeare have meet their family. Also the play is true and is one of Shakespeare’s works that was well known. Shakespeare wrote Alex’s grandparents or great grandparents into the play, their names were Olivia and Sebastian.

Success of the Book

I really liked this book and felt like the writer Sarah did a great job of relaying the story to the readers and keeping it interesting. Sarah used a great vocabulary when writing the book and did a great job of not losing Alex’s witts and spunky attitude in the story but making sure it still shows up multiple times in her comments and the way she acts. Overall I recommend this story to many others and it's a great way to understand the ways of that time period and shows how people did whatever they could to rebel against rules and society's standards for everyone. It showed that name was a very big deal and how people do anything to keep up their name and to be as perfect as their name holds them to be and their families name reputation.

Author:

She was born on December 17, 1978 in Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States. She is the bestselling author of the novels based on the romance and young adult genres. She has wanted to be a novelist of romance novels ever since her growing years as a teenager. She grew up in a blended culture, her mother being English and her father being Italian. Sarah has won the RITA Award by the Romance Writers of America on two occasions in the category of the Best Historical Romance in the years 2013 and 2014.