I just finished Well Met by Jen Deluca this morning and thought to myself that whenever all this Covid-19 madness is over (hopefully sooner rather than later) I will make it to a local Renaissance Faire whenever possible. I hope you all are doing well and have found yourself comforted by good reads. The following is an honest account of my opinions on this novel.
The story centers around Emily’s relocation to Willow Creek, Maryland, a small town that’s close-knit and not at all what she’s used to. Emily’s plans this Summer are to assist her recovering sister, April her daughter, Caitlin. Emily accepts her duties wholeheartedly and knows that all that she currently has is right in front of her. She’s serious need of a life do-over and finds the prospect of throwing herself into these plans as a welcome escape. But when these plans involve her participating in the small town’s annual Renaissance Faire she’s game to play along if it means making her sister and niece's lives easier. What Emily doesn’t know is that this is exactly what she needed in more ways than one.
This book was fun and whimsical. The Renaissance Faire adds plenty to the plot and the characters. Before reading this book I had a vague idea of what a ren faire was probably like but the book and the visuals that it provided gives readers a peek into what that community is like. Deluca describes the setting as “...an Elizabethan village...brightly colored flags hung from poles at certain intervals along the lane...there was activity everywhere” (100). It’s a bustling polychromatic event that people took seriously. But above all, it is a chance to be someone else and have fun with it. As a person who enjoys Halloween and the prospect of glamour (the act of changing one’s outward appearances), it was just the right amount of lighthearted and exciting. This is best seen in Simon’s transformation to Captian Blackthorne: “he’d slid into this new identity like a second skin and he wore it now with ease” (98). The Blackthorne character was the time that Simon uses to enact and bring back what his brother, Sean, brought to his life. The swagger that Sean wanted to Simon to develop was something that Simon jettisoned away and pulls out every summer in the form of his black leather pirate costume. This alter ego is reserved for this occasion.
What turned me off with the book was the constant miscommunication between Emily and Simon. Their “bantering” made me uncomfortable at times because frankly, he came off as a bitter and angry man who treated Emily like a punching bag. The fact that everyone around him asked Emily to give him a chance verbally or by excusing his behavior did not help. Simo would make snide and unnecessary comments. You know the mean behavior little boys would quote-unquote make because they liked you? That’s what this comes off like. Like when Emily says she is still keeping the name Emma he asks the following: “are you taking this seriously at all?” (55). I get that Sean left the faire behind and that Simon is honoring his memory. And that it’s his brother’s legacy. But he continuously treas Emily like an enemy. She’s practically a stranger and he’s just out of line.
I understand that witty banter can make for some cute moments and build tension between characters but this didn’t come off this way. The fact that both Emily/Emma were dealing with both his alter egos added to her feelings of insecurity and confusion. It was more of a reason that his behavior was problematic.
I did, however, enjoying the moments when Simon/Captian Blackthorne showed Emma just how sweet and flirty he could be like when he commences the wooing, At the start of the book, Emily is a woman very much looking to belong somewhere and by the end, she has found and built a life for herself. She has a job, a home, a family she’s grown closer to, and a partner that is willing to prioritize her. It ends with an impending marriage and new beginnings so it’s a sweet ending with no loose ends.
Keywords: Whimsical, Artsy, Shakespearean
What did you think of Well Met?
