Chapel Orahamm

M/M historical romance

Jed Trevithick, able seaman, has just escaped from the Royal Navy, and he’s determined never to return. But the war against Napoleon is never-ending, and Naval press gangs scour the coast, looking for cannon fodder.

He meets Solomon Dyer, a London ostler who has his own reasons for avoiding the press gang. Together, they flee across the countryside, quickly coming to rely on each other to survive—and tumbling into bed together soon afterwards.

But Jed still bears the scars from his time in the Navy, and Solomon’s secret may be the very thing that puts him in danger again.

That was a clean read. Not sure I want to read it again – thanks for triggering certain types of anxiety flashbacks, but that was masterfully well done. Well researched, thoroughly built, flawless character design and progression. The editing was spot on.

Now, let me circle round to something I’ve noticed with a certain section of the romance books I’ve been reading. Het-romance doesn’t utilize the word ‘spent’ that I’ve encountered yet, and not all lgbtq+ does either. Is it a British phrase? I can’t say it is. C.S. Poe utilizes it. But I’ve noticed the propensity for the adage recently and find it a bit odd.

That off my chest, I have to say, I suffer from medical PTSD. A lot of people call it ‘white-coat syndrome’, but it doesn’t trigger with all doctors, or needles or such. It triggers when I am in pain and in dark places or when I have doctors suddenly keen to perform a test without proper pain management. “It’ll only take a minute.” Then I’m stuck in a different time and place, like I’m watching my present world three feet back on a tv screen over my shoulder. And that dissociation can last minutes into hours. I’ve become more aware of it – almost like sleep paralysis. But I can’t hurry it along. I do have the waking nightmares, but those have eased a little.

And to see flashback style PTSD portrayed robustly here with frequency was actually nauseating. Not to say the author was bad at their work. But to say it is uncannily accurate to how these types of waking hells work. It just literally gave me the building anxiety that can trigger it for me while reading. I had to take this one in increments and started flipping past those instances or skimming to keep my brain from checking out.

There’s much to be discussed when it comes to tagging works for ‘triggers’. I used to with my books, but I get so very few readers, and it’s webserialized so it’s not read all in one sitting, that I haven’t figured out how much to tag and how much to just let viewer discretion tolerate. I didn’t even look to see if this piece was tagged out for triggers or not. And for me, who has triggers, I’m okay with that, because I’ve gone through some of my recovery far enough to know better than to read those sections when I start encountering and just to skip through them. But others might find it different. So, here’s your heads up if witnessing flashbacks can trigger your own, I guess?

I understand the notion of claiming this story to be something of a similar nature to Cat Sebastion’s works. Hither, Page is historical romance in this same lgbtq vein. I found Hither, Page cozy. A little bit of murder intrigue. A little bit of ptsd. A lot of world build. But By Marsh and By Moor was something different. It was thoroughly researched. As was Hither, Page. The historical aspect of it wasn’t traipsed up as background work, but in your face necessary, again like Hither. I wish a lot more of those Highland Romances paid any little inkling of attention to this kind of world building. I’m trying to place my finger on why it was not cosy. And I think it has more to do with the anxiety. The anxiety of being caught by the pressers and the anxiety of being caught for being who they are. It was built heavily, slowly, and extensively, rather than making it a subplot for the sake of the romance to come through.

I think the book would do a lot of good as a study for other authors who want to improve their world building skills and pacing. It is a longer read, and may in some ways be arduous for those who much prefer fantasy or sci-fi. It doesn’t come off like a literary read like Of Mice and Men or Pride and Prejudice. But it holds its own. It’s of a time and a place and crafted to the nth degree. Other authors are who I would suggest this one for. Preferably ones that like on-page spice. Makes it easier to pay attention to the overall story that way.

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