The Adventurers is set towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars when, following the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, the defeated French army begin their retreat through Germany. The von Hugel castle lies in their path and seventeen-year-old Sonia von Hugel hides in the hayloft as her family and servants are massacred around her. When the violence is over, Sonia escapes from the castle disguised as a boy, intending to make her way to her aunt’s home across the mountains. Stopping at an inn along the way, she has an encounter with the mysterious Charles Vincent, who makes her an offer which causes her to change her plans and agree to accompany him to France instead.

In England, meanwhile, we meet Lord Denbigh and his nephew Philip Haverton, who are preparing to travel to France on diplomatic business. What will happen when their paths cross with Charles and Sonia’s? What is their connection with Sonia’s friend, Elizabeth Barrymore? And, most importantly, where does Charles keep disappearing to without explanation?

As this novel, like many of Aiken Hodge’s, is set in the Regency period, it’s difficult not to make comparisons with Georgette Heyer. The opening sequence, with the heroine dressing as a boy and meeting the hero at an inn – and the misunderstandings that follow – is exactly the sort of storyline that will be familiar to Heyer readers. After this promising beginning, though, the story becomes much less Heyer-like, with very little humour and lightness and a more serious, sombre feel. The politics of the period also form quite an important part of the novel, with Napoleon facing defeat and a plot to restore the Bourbon monarchy gathering pace.

I have described Charles and Sonia as the hero and heroine – and it did seem that way at first – but I quickly began to lose interest in them, especially as Charles was absent for such long sections of the novel (for reasons I found too easy to predict). It was disappointing that their plan to travel across Europe as ‘adventurers’, making their living from winning money at cards, didn’t really come to much and there was far less adventure in the book than I had hoped for. One character who did interest me was Elizabeth Barrymore; I felt that it was her story rather than Sonia’s that the author really wanted to tell. She is given a romantic interest of her own and although I found the way it develops predictable as well, I thought it was more engaging and more moving than Sonia’s – a story of mistakes, regrets and second chances, a bit like Anne Elliot’s in Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Aiken Hodge wrote biographies of both Austen and Heyer, so it’s not surprising that their influence can be seen in her work.

The Adventurers is not a favourite by this author, then, but I did enjoy getting to know Elizabeth and learning a little bit about the political situation in Europe in the aftermath of the Battle of Liepzig.

I actually could not finish this book. The places and characters were confusing and I wasn’t sure what was happening until the middle of the book. The plot just didn’t grip me, but for some it would be a great story.

I loved this, an old fashioned historical romance in the best sense of the word,

Sonia, half German, half English witnesses the abuse and killing of her father, by French and Russian soldiers. In shock she runs away, trying to get to her aunt, and meets up with Charles Vincent, a young half French half English adventurer who lives on his wits through winning money at cards. They fall into a game of whist at the inn they met at, and once he sees her skill, Charles convinces Sonia to join him and work together to win their fortunes playing cards. She tells him what has happened to her family, and Charles visits her home and finds her governess Elizabeth Barrymore alive, the three of them set off to the Allied Headquarters. In Germany. The plan is that they will eventually go to Paris and ladies will eventually travel to England from there, hoping to reunite Sonia with her estranged grandfather.

At the same time Giles, The Earl of Denbigh, and his nephew Phillip, are preparing to travel to Allied Headquarters in Germany, he refuses to let his controlling older sister join them. Elinor constantly meddles and interferes in his life, including thwarting him in his elopement with a vicar’s daughter in his twenties.

Denbigh is accompanying Castlereagh, and is charged with collecting intelligence by the mysterious Henry Fessingham, bachelor, MP and richest man in London. .

Sonia, Elizabeth and Charles run an open house in Frankfurt, playing cards to win money, and Elizabeth becomes Mrs Barrymore for propriety, eventually they welcome Denbigh and Phillip to their home, Denbigh is shocked to recognise Elizabeth, who he thought had died in her teens.. Charles becomes involved in information gathering for the Bourbons, starts to disappear at critical moments, and is mysteriously able to fund the household. As the war progresses, they finally end up in Paris, how will they survive the battles and the rioting. When their charade is unmasked by Denbigh’s investigations into their backgrounds, due to his suspicion of Charles,, will the ladies be ruined for living with a man who they are not related to. Will both sets of lovers be reconciled, and who is The mysterious Henry Fessingham.?

Great characters, the historical period is detailed beautifully, an interesting, although relatively predictable plot, and a lovely resolution for Charles and Sonia, and Elizabeth and Giles.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Also posted on Goodreads

I found this book very hard to read. I used to read Jane Aiken Hodge a long time ago but could not finish this one

I really enjoyed this story. The historical aspect of the story is both captivating and scary. The characters were great. I really enjoyed the way the characters interweaved and then were apart throughout the story. Enjoyable read.

Plenty of adventure, intrigue & history during Napoleon's retreat from Russia in 1813. The characters are well-written & there is growth in each as they travel & interact with each other. Friendships & romances develop between the two main couples. This was a great read!

Loved this story. The history is fascinating and terrifying. The characters were wonderful. I loved the way the characters moved together and apart throughout the story. Always her work is captivating

Exciting and well written book. The characters are interesting especially the two women.l enjoyed book as it is historical and factual without being boring. It made me learn more what life was like in that period of time. Will read more books by this author.

1813 Sonia is left after witnessing the destruction of her father and the household at the hands of the French with the Napoleonic war raging. She escapes with her governess and an acquaintance, Charles. They pull together and travel as a family and gamble their way with across the continent to England. Another joins them along the way, Giles and a few others. As they make their way relationships begin to form and it is engaging to watch the interactions..
Well written and full of adventure with a romance of two couples happening! I enjoyed the story and would recommend to everyone!

Originally published in 1965 and now available as an ebook, this holds up very well.

Sonia von Hugel is hiding in the barn loft when first French soldiers and then Cossacks invade her family's castle and kill everyone they find. Seeing no other choice, she disguises herself as a boy and heads for her hated aunt's house. Along the way, she encounters adventurer Charles Vincent, who convinces her that they can make their fortune playing cards. Along with her governess, miraculously not dead, they accompany the Allies as Napoleon's forces are driven back. But Vincent has secrets--is he a spy, and for whom?

This doesn't have the shape of a modern romance novel, although there is more than one satisfying romance. It is best enjoyed as well-written historical fiction.

Yeah so the opening scene is stark. Aiken Hodge doesn’t shy away from the fact that war was raging across the European landscape and there are several close calls as the group travels from Germany through France. I was also a bit annoyed with Sonia at first as she seemed to be turning into a whining brat with Liz making excuses for her. Then it hit me that Sonia was reacting to the violence she’d seen and trying to deal with probable survivor guilt. She does settle down into sassy and gives Charles several pieces of her mind as the story continues. Their sparring matches are fun to read and show Sonia’s got more than enough backbone no matter that she’s only eighteen.

Then the second romance gets started – or restarted. And Liz doesn’t cut any corners with him either. Giles Denbigh might be highly thought of by Lord Castlereagh but Liz tells Giles exactly what she thought and still thinks of how he abandoned her with her reputation in shreds. Events keep throwing them together though and before long it’s Giles who feels on the back foot and fending off two angry women.

The historical details woven into the story gave me a great education about what happened during and after the last battles of 1813/14 but before the famous Congress of Vienna that features in so many regency novels. I liked that there are heroes and good people on all sides and that when Giles gets the chance, he doesn’t hesitate to publicly win his lady fair. This is a smart, well plotted novel with intelligent people who (pretty much) act intelligently. A-

A rag-tag group of three set out as adventurers to earn enough money to turn their lives around amid the shifting landscape of Germany and France during the Napoleonic Wars. Interesting concept, and I was interested.

However, this novel puts me in mind of a weakly-received historical epic - one that's mildly interesting enough to keep watching but is a tough slog to actually finish. It was well-written, but didn't particularly engage me.

While the beginning was promising (and quite dark), with humorous interludes and the start of a journey, it began to delve very deeply into the politics of the Napoleonic Wars and became rather dry.

Charles went from reminding me of Wilde’s Algernon to someone that just irritated me. Not only was he horrifically misogynistic, but he began to remind me of Louisa May Alcott’s Charlie, always thinking he is right and not listening to others until it is too late. His romance with Sonia did not interest me at all, and I personally felt Sonia could have done a lot better than any of her love interests.

Sonia was treated as a child - explicitly in many cases - by the majority of characters in the book. Yes, she was seventeen/eighteen and personality-wise still displayed many youthful tendencies but she also picked herself up multiple times after unspeakable tragedy. I feel like Sonia was portrayed excellently, but her fellow characters treated her more poorly than she deserved.

The only romance depicted throughout the book was the potential of a renewed one between Giles and Elizabeth. It was also the only romance in the book that I could even remotely care about or take interest in. I’d read a whole historical romance with that plot, I dare say.

The ending was sufficiently dramatic for me to finish the last few pages in a rush, but it did feel like there was a strange shift from dense historical to historical romance in the last 50 pages.

Overall, it was worth a read and I liked the concept, but it didn’t draw me in enough for me to fully enjoy it.

The Adventurers follows Sonia, a young woman of privilege and daughter of a Barron, Ms Barrymore, Sonia's caretaker, and Charles Vincent, a man who has taken the task of helping Sonia get to England. Sonia's home is overtaken by Napoleon's army after their defeat in Leipzig and she must escape after seeing her father and his staff massacred. Sonia struggles with who to trust moving forward, and is constantly scrutinizing whether Charles Vincent's motives are genuine or malicious.

I enjoyed The Adventurers and would give it 3.5 stars. This would be a great book for fans of 19th century Europe. It has enough history brought in while maintaining an interesting storyline. I found some parts, especially the dialogue, hard to follow when it was rapid back and forth with characters that weren't introduced previously.

The Adventurers by Jane Aiken Hodge. Agora Books, 1965; 2019.

n this unusual Regency era story, after witnessing her father’s murder, a servant’s rape and their household’s destruction at the hands of marauding soldiers, Sonia, her governess Elizabeth, and her chance acquaintance Charles decide to join forces to appear as a family and gamble their way across 1813 Europe to England. Giles, a fourth leading character, comes into their lives almost by chance, bringing along with him three other key characters. The plot includes two romances, two unrelated “long-lost” relationships and espionage. Historical details of the era underpin the story.

This is a remarkably engaging and well written story, easy to read, with likeable, credible, consistent well-developed characters, perhaps Jane Aiken Hodge at her best.

For many reasons - the writing, the plot, the subplots, the characters, the history - I warmly recommend The Adventurers.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of The Adventurers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When a crew of Napoleon's soldiers pillage young Sophie Von Hugel's estate outside Leipzig, she escapes by the skin of her teeth, traumatized and unsure where to turn. At a nearby inn, she meets adventurer Charles Vincent over a game of cards, and in short order, they determine to flee to a nearby city. They take Sophie's governess Miss Elizabeth Barrymore with them as a chaperone, and set up a gaming establishment where they can fleece soldiers--French, German, or Russian--of their pay until they've earned enough money to make their way to the safety of England. 

As the trio follow various armies from Weimar to Paris, Charles disappears more and more frequently, leading Sophie and Elizabeth to suspect that there's more to him than meets the eye. When their exclusive salon begins to collect information as well as wagers, it's clear that Charles is as much a spy as he is a gambler. Soon, Napoleon's end seems certain. Circumstances become more dangerous in volatile France and a suspicious English diplomat keeps them all on their toes as Sophie tries to discover whether she could ever mean more to Charles than the cause he's sworn to serve. 

Originally published in 1965, this book was an interesting blend of a Regency romance and a political spy novel. It covered events in 1813-1814, right up to the deposition of Napoleon, and frequently alluded to historical fictures such as Wellington, Talleyrand, and Castlereagh. Interestingly, the book description pegs Sophie and Charles as the protagonists of the book, but Elizabeth and her English suitor are just as much front and center in this two-stranded romance novel. Not much can be said about Elizabeth without spoiling her story, but suffice it to say that she has been much wronged, and it will take more than a little explaining before an erstwhile suitor can set things right.

As for the younger of the two couples--Charles is curious, keen, cunning, and resourceful. He persists in treating Sophie like a child because he knows that if he treats her like a woman it will be his undoing. Sophie, in turn, treats him with petulance and sarcasm, miffed that he refuses to play the courtier to her and dismayed that he rates his secret errands more important than her safety.

In the end, the deus ex machina plot twist was a little too abrupt for my taste, and I wish the wrap-up of both romances had been more satisfactory. The vivid detail and historical scope of the story, however, kept me captivated throughout ninety-nine percent of it, and I found this to be another enjoyable read by Jane Aiken Hodge. 

Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.