However, Walton builds her world and her characters so deftly that before too long I was totally engrossed. However, Victorian language has a hard time making it from my eyes to my brain (which is why I tend to listen to the classics on audiobook rather than read them), so it took me a while to get accustomed to the flow and pace of the writing, and that kept me at arm’s distance from the story for a while. Tooth and Claw is a Victorian novel not only in plot, but also in writing style, and it’s done quite effectively. In truth, the slow beginning is probably more my fault than the book’s, and might even be considered a strength rather than a weakness. This novel was a little slow to start, but by the end it wound up completely charming me.

In fact, Walton makes traditional dragon lore fit into Victorian society conventions so well that I can’t believe that no one had ever done it before. But, to my great surprise, it totally worked. I certainly read the blurb on the back that called Tooth and Claw “the Pride and Prejudice of the dragon world” with raised eyebrows. Review: I’m sure Jane Austen would never have predicted the recent rash of Austenophilic sequels and retellings and spin-off novels, and I’m very sure that she would never have predicted one with dragons as protagonists. Oh, did I mention that these are all dragons? Yeah. The younger son, meanwhile, is bringing suit against his brother-in-law over the matter of their father’s will, and the distribution of their inheritance. The other, appalled by her brother-in-law’s brutish behavior towards the servants and local tenants, secretly becomes a radical abolitionist. One, who had previously narrowly escaped having a unpleasant marriage proposal forced on her, finds herself attracted to a young adventurer who is out of her league, given her station in society and her meager dowry. Upon their father’s death, the two sisters are sent to live with their siblings.

The younger three, however, are only beginning to make their way in society: a son who is engaged in business in the city, and two unmarried daughters. The elder two are well established in society – the son as a parson of a well-respected estate, and the daughter married to a rich and powerful if rather boorish and ill-tempered nobleman. Summary: A father, who has worked his way up from humble origins to become part of the gentry, dies, leaving behind five children. How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 December 2009. Where did it come from? LibraryThing Secret Santa.

Genre: Definitely fantasy, sort of historical fiction, and kind of romance, as well.

Tooth and claw walton