Freud, Marx, the Lumière brothers, modernist sculpture and painting, feminism, economics, law-all these features of the cultural landscape become a part of Ivory's worldbuilding without ever overwhelming us with detail. It's paramount to both Bliss and Dance that plot and character derive from the unique confluence of culture, technology, and history specific to France in the early twentieth century. But Ivory doesn't merely transplant generic characters and issues into an unusual landscape. While France in the first decades of the twentieth century doesn't seem particularly radical at first blush-it's still Europe, after all-it's definitely an underutilized setting in Historicals. I adore unusual historicals, especially those in which the background feels like an organic part of the story rather than token exoticism. A few introductory words about the former two: one thing I love about Bliss and Dance is that they feature a historical setting that doesn't often make its way into romance. In thinking about Ivory as a stylist, I'll be focusing mainly on Bliss, Dance, and Black Silk-in part because these are the novels I happen to have at hand.
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