Jason Smiley Stewart - My Life Story
Volume 4 - Ring of Gold
What people have written about Volume 4 'Ring of Gold'
Once again John Langdon has managed to rekindle interest in Jason Smiley Stewart and his life story. The curiosity one felt at the end of volume 3 about what happened next is maintained by a series of events and adventures to satisfy the most jaded reader.
Lulled into thinking life as a laird-in-waiting was to be his destiny and still coming to terms with the loss of Joanna, Jason instead finds himself returning to New Zealand in search of a friend who has disappeared in the gold fields of the South Island. After many twists and turns of the plot and life-threatening situations, Jason returns to England with the inclination to put the past behind him and marry again.
This is not as easy as it sounds, one possible object of his affections being promised elsewhere and another not able to be contacted. However, he is not to be outdone and decides to take matters into his own hands with a satisfactory result at last.
I began reading this book with enormous pleasure. The opening pages were like getting a letter from an old friend and hearing how he has been getting on, and I enjoying reading about his life. The style has changed over the volumes, the first books with long narrative accounts of the history and description of the life at the time, and with the strong seafaring themes one had to draw comparison to Hornblower. Much of the last novel and this one even more so, have shifted more to a novel set in the period, more akin to Jane Austen than an adventure story, although of course Jason maintained his occasional skirmishes. The accounts of the relationships, rivalries and so on in the families and between sisters were charming.
The descriptions of courtship and the etiquette at the time were particularly touching, and underlying this were Jason’s passions, suitably controlled. In this book I enjoyed Jason’s adventures back in New Zealand far more, but whether it was because it was a passage revisited, or related events with characters already introduced, or even an improvement in style, it is hard to say. Certainly all the main characters in the book became more familiar and their traits and mannerisms were well described. The wedding sequence was well rounded and a nice winding up of the main Story.
The whole book is a delight.
Jason Smiley has grown into an interesting historical character, his adventures and travels have continued to delight and enthrall me. The chapters set in Wellington come to life for a New Zealander living in that city. The Central Otago Gold Field adventures have and equal impact with my family having settled in this area in the 1880's. John's knowledge of New Zealand history and story telling is outstanding and the 'Ring of Gold' has been an excellent read.
"Exciting! It peaked my interest and curiosity. Characters were strong, showing both timidity and boldness. A great novel of the sea, bringing forth unexpected goodness as well as badness. The ending, though formal, was a completion of the perfect melding of love. "
Ring of Gold concludes John Milton Langdon’s 19th century tale of Jason Smiley Stewart, the blacksmith’s son turned Viscount. In this fourth and final installment, Stewart appears ready to settle down to the management of his father’s estate in Scotland. However, loyalty to a mining partner draws him back to New Zealand and several brushes with knives, bullets and jail. Wrongs righted in the antipodes, he returns home with the promise to settle down for good. One pleasure in reading this book is Langdon’s understanding of the social forms practiced among the gentry, including dressing for dinner, chaperones for unmarried couples, maids and servants, and a formality of language. By the end of this book, we are quite ready to let Jason Smiley Stewart, Viscount of Strathmilton, ride off into the Scottish sunset, to a peaceful and hopefully unadventurous life.
John Langdon takes his Victorian epic into another round, however this time the story is less outward, Stewart being much less the adventurous young man we have come to know throughout the first three installments. “Ring of Gold” is much more detailed and sensitive as its predecessors, as if both the characters as well as the author have matured a good deal. Stewart embarks on another trip around the world, but rather than the journey itself, the interactions between the characters are what make this novel very enjoyable.
The reader is asked to immerse into a nostalgic society drama of lush proportions – the perfect read at bedtime or on a long and rainy afternoon!
While Slow Food is the answer to Fast Food, Langdon invites his readers to a session of “Slow Storytelling” in the most positive and enjoyable sense.