The Victorian Kitchen Gardener

Fanfiction
Title:	The Victorian Kitchen Gardener
Author(s):	Lizzie
Date(s):	1999
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):
External Links:	online here
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The Victorian Kitchen Gardener is a slash Professionals story by Lizzie. The story first appeared in the fanzine Whatever We Are, You Made Us!

Summary

From the publisher: "Lust' seemed to be the order of the day today. Percival's sermon was, as always, interminable; children fidgeted throughout the church, and Doyle wished the subject weren't quite so appropriate. He also wished he could manage more successfully to keep his eyes away from the pew opposite. They seemed to have developed a mind of their own and slid in that direction whenever he failed to concentrate hard enough, which, in the circumstances, was often. He noted with interest, though, that each time it happened the object of his fascination was always staring right back at him..."

Comments by the Author

It was 1999 and Martin was Chauvelin in The Scarlett Pimpernel. I loved his hair and the pure wickedness of him, fell hook line and sinker in fact. I found Dave Matthews's site, made a couple of friends and then came across deej1957 on an American TV station forum (PBS I think). She was at that time doing Pros zines and introduced me to the Pros e.mail lists. A few months later I put pen to paper, for the first time since I'd left school, for one of her zines, and wrote The Victorian Kitchen Gardener. It's no exaggeration to say that the whole thing changed my life really. :-)

Reactions and Reviews

The Victorian Kitchen Gardener is one of the first stories I printed out to be able to read anytime, without going on line. One of my favorites!

...enjoyable, albeit somewhat angsty...

The idea is nice, but the process ... The dramatic potential is absolutely sinful love untapped, in Victorian England, the two had a little bit troublesome, they are guys. And the dynamics of their relationship - that Bodie Doyle hit because of their pride? Tss, where the author of this come from? [translated from original via Google Translate]

The basis of the story is that Doyle is recovering from an illness at his sister's house, and Bodie is the eponymous hero whose job is under threat by virtue of his boss retiring and a vacant Head Gardener post becoming available. This story hits the spot every time I read it because it's not only a wonderful first time, it's also an historical romance but it isnt in the least bit cloying or sentimental. It's a jolly well written romance, and if there is one kind of story I like, it's a good, old fashioned historical romance - this one tempts you in right from the very beginning with this evocative first paragraph.

I think she excels at the AU - particularly the Victorian era - and she always manages to retain enough familiarity about the characters to allow me to think that they are still our Bodie and Doyle. Bodie, tall, dark and enigmatic, teetering on violence when pushed, inscrutable, still in denial though this time it’s more about literacy than his sexuality (which reminds me, was literacy among the working classes *that* widespread at that time? I didn’t think it was, so would it have been so shaming for Bodie to have to admit that he couldn’t read or write?). I think Doyle’s character was a bit less like the Doyle I know and love but it didn't seem to spoil the story.

I also think it’s a charming story and yet......I almost hesitate to use the word because it doesn’t seem to do Lizzie’s writing justice. I’m wondering if charm alone could be responsible for the fact that I was completely entranced by the story, to the extent that I was able to overlook its shortcomings (some of which would have put me off if I’d read them elsewhere) and practically ignore anything negative because it just didn’t seem to matter. It reminds me slightly of very bright people who can explain complex ideas in simple terms to the average person and so I feel that perhaps Lizzie’s writing is deceptive in it simplicity...…it appears simple in style and yet she’s doing something which manages to win me over and engross me time after time but I’m never really sure *how* she does it - how she manages to suck me into the delightful world of Bodie and Doyle, but she does and I'd quite happily stay there. I can’t believe it’s purely down to something like technique or even skill because if that was the case then surely other people would learn these things and produce the same kind of stories, but they don’t. It's almost like a seduction and it's definitely magic! (And I think I've just answered my own question...).

Having declared too early in my Pros-reading career that I couldn’t be doing with that AU stuff, I’ve had to eat my words with jam on. I very quickly found historical fics figuring among my favourites, so ‘The Victorian Kitchen Gardener’ is just a delight.

I’m sure I’d enjoy (to say the least) similar fic that was about original characters, but there is something very appealing about knowing the characters. Historical AUs usually start with the pov of one of the lads, and then it’s such fun anticipating the appearance of the other – in what guise? And the thrill of recognition of the trademark features and mannerisms… And little Pros-y extras, like the sandy-haired Scottish butler here (‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ cross-over! – I wonder if there are more characters from that series in this fic? I was never an ardent viewer, ahem.)

Thanks to Lizzie, we don’t have to wait long at all. It's lights… character… action – mostly in the potting shed! The lads get it on with almost indecent haste. Would someone who’d avoided any sort of sexual relationship until the age of 32 really be so impetuous about his first experience? Such is grand passion, apparently.

Because I don’t like angst, it saddens me that Doyle is so horrid to Bodie, first not being honest with him about the book, then being all cold over the reading lessons, and then bolting after the incident at the stables. I understand he is upset that Bodie was complicit (at most) and turned a blind eye to the goings-on at the stables, but that evening Doyle had decided to make it up. Why would he revert so firmly to being angry and resentful? I would have liked them to join forces and do something more to bring the wrongdoers to justice (more Pros-y, in other words, the fight scene in the stables could have been just a starter), and then live happily ever after in the rose-covered cottage.

My only other complaint is how accepting and tolerant the other characters are about the homosexual relationship, ‘Cook’ particularly. With Doyle’s sister, I’m torn. On the one hand, a provincial Victorian vicar’s wife couldn’t possibly be so tolerant about her brother indulging in such immoral and illegal behaviour, and with a mere gardener. The suggestion of them getting married should have brought on an attack of the vapours. The very least she would do would be to preach to him about the error of his ways. On the other hand, she *is* written as being very sympathetic and sensitive to other people’s point of view, she shares some of her brother’s tastes/attitudes, and she wants him to be happy.

Anyway, it’s only a beautiful (picture) story.

Ahh see it's the angst I adore. I love Doyle being nasty to Bodie because it brings out my feelings of wanting to shout at them and it makes me involved, you know? It's not that I want Bodie hurting, but it makes the making up all the more gorgeous when they do.

I get the impression from reading histories etc that tolerance had a lot to do with aspirations and so on - the middle classes are famously always striving to better themselves, so they're more socially aware of what's considered "proper" - whereas the upper classes especially are secure in their tenancy, and so tend to be more tolerant of eccentricities... But then it all depends on someone's particular background within all that, so...

I can see Frances, even middle-class, as being tolerant of Doyle's sexuality because they grew up together, it would just be something that she knew about him as her brother. Presumably she'd hear whispers that some men were like that, and since it sounds like she's got a slightly rebellious/irreverent streak just as Doyle has, despite having married Percy, I can imagine her accepting it. They're none of them open about it, anyway, which makes a big difference to me - if she'd been encouraging them to hold hands in front of her that'd be something different, but it's more... acknowledgement that there's another sexuality, and that B/D happen to fall into that category...

Some people might have felt that they couldn't afford a "lapse" like that, yes, but I quite like that Lizzie has shown us the other side of people too - that not everyone agrees with what "society" dictates, even if they don't necessarily protest against it...

I'm another one who likes angst too - only I don't think of things as "angsty" when I'm reading them unless they're too overdone - I think of it as tension-building, instead! Half the interest of a story, for me, comes from tension between the characters - I tend to prefer that over purely case-based adventure stories. Human interest, you know...? And I can see our two stubborn lads, used to being independent, not stopping to figure out exactly how to incorporate this other new person into their lives - this person who is creating such a change, such turmoil in their existence already... *g*

I think she excels at the AU - particularly the Victorian era - and she always manages to retain enough familiarity about the characters to allow me to think that they are still our Bodie and Doyle. Bodie, tall, dark and enigmatic, teetering on violence when pushed, inscrutable, still in denial though this time it’s more about literacy than his sexuality (which reminds me, was literacy among the working classes *that* widespread at that time? I didn’t think it was, so would it have been so shaming for Bodie to have to admit that he couldn’t read or write?). I think Doyle’s character was a bit less like the Doyle I know and love but it didn't seem to spoil the story. The use of the term ‘policeman’ sounded quite modern to me, though I don’t know what else you would have called him then – peeler? And he *was* a bit fragile in it, even though he’d been ill.......But Bodie beating him up and hitting him not once but twice! Once in the face, maybe, but in the guts! No, that’s not my Bodie. Anyway, it didn’t seem to matter or spoil the overall effect of the story. Something else I liked about it (and Lizzie’s writing, generally) is that though the story is fairly uncomplicated and easy to follow that's not to say it didn't have its fair share of surprises. When they fall in love so early on in the story and so smoothly I wasn’t sure what to expect next - what would keep us entertained for the duration? But there was plenty still going on, in fact the story just tripped along and had me hooked and I'm not easily hookable!

... my problem with it isn't that Doyle and Bodie wouldn't be on equal footing -- it's that everyone else seems to be encouraging the liaison -- from the cook to the lady of the manor. While I can see that Frances might want her young brother to find suitable companionship, it still seems unlikely to me that anyone else would be actively interested. I do like the idea of Frances having married up the social ladder, and would have enjoyed seeing some of the complications resulting from that -- Percy uncomfortable with Doyle and with Doyle's working class inclinations, etc. The lady of the manor slightly patronizing, everyone feeling very proud of themselves for being so egalitarian about the Doyles. *g* Granted, it would turn this into a different kind of story altogether. Part of what I like about this is its gentle good humor.

I *love* AUs, But I would never tell someone who only loves them in their CI5 guises that they were wrong because each to their own. Luckily Pros is a fandom that has been going since the series and just keeps on going so there are plenty of stories to choose from.

So... being OOC doesn't disturb anybody? It doesn't count? In theory you might think it would matter and in some stories it does, but, as I've said, for some strange reason it doesn't seem to matter in this particular story ......Maybe it's because the characterisation of Bodie contains enough 'Bodie'-like qualities and is appealing enough for me not to worry too much about Doyle? Besides, so many authors create a 'Doyle' which I don't fully recognise perhaps I'm just getting used to it? I don't know. Remember Arabian Nights? I think you liked that story very much. Well, I loved it despite the fact that the character of Doyle took a long time to grow into someone I could recognise and even then he wasn't really my doyle from ci5, but I loved Bodie's characterisation and it more than compensated for the story's other weaknesses.

I can read ratty, hard, macho stories but sometimes I love them being a bit gentler. And yes I still think it is a very gorgeous, charming story. For me, if they are TOO ratty, TOO nasty, it works against them because that isn't how they are portrayed in the series.

I've been thinking about this too, because I agree that there are some things that normally would make me wince in this story (not so much Doyle sucking his thumb, because he does do absent-minded things with his fingers in the eps!) - but perhaps the crying all the night, and the elfin eyes. But at the same time, Lizzie manages to make it very clear that both lads are very strong, and independent and firm in their convictions - somehow they have the same strength as our canon-lads do, and because she shows me that so clearly I can stre-e-etch far enough to see that certain other behaviours might fit in for other reasons (even for poetic license!) It's odd though - the same words used in stories by other authors might drive me batty and make me put the pages away, but Lizzie manages to pull it together for me so that I'm reading feel-good, romantic and happy-ending-ed but somehow plausible fic. She's one of my favourite Pros authors, and she makes my Desert Island fic list without any problems at all...

I keep hearing the term "charming" in regard to this fic, and I think that's the right word for it. This is a charming story -- on the whole being an effective and romantic story transcending the weaknesses of its various parts.

Someone mentioned the problems with the easy and casual relationships between the classes? I'm able to overlook that, although I agree that the Victorian period was one of strict social hierarchy, and it's very unlikely the visiting brother of the vicar's wife would be encouraged to form a close friendship with the gardener on a local estate. Also unlikely is everyone's easygoing attitude about homosexuality.

I liked the dilemma of Bodie not being able to read, although I think -- as someone maybe pointed out? -- it wouldn't be that astonishing for a man of his age and background. It could still have been a problem if the owner of the estate had progressive ideas and plans, but I had trouble believing Bodie would be insecure or embarrassed about his inability -- worried for his job, yes. Fair enough.

Doyle falling instantly in love was a little disappointing -- I know love at first sight (or first fuck) does happen, but I never think it makes for great storytelling -- and Doyle sobbing his heart out in his bed just seemed unlikely (although he was convalescent and I guess that could explain the easy emotionalism).

I loved Bodie's cruelty about Doyle's lack of sexual experience -- OUCH! But then that all sort of fizzled away -- one minute Doyle is sobbing brokenheartedly and the next he understands from Bodie feeding the birds that he's really a lovely chap and they're fooling around in the potting shed again. I needed to...er...see the math there.

Very nice sex scenes -- and she really creates a wonderful mood and setting.

Bodie hitting a convalescent Doyle seemed to require more provocation than calling him "idiot." And need a little more in the way of reparation for that. And, in fact, I think Doyle would be more forgiving of the punch than the cruel comment about his lack of experience. His character, in particular, seemed inconsistent. I think it might have worked more effectively if Bodie's needing Doyle's help had followed on the heels of his mocking Doyle's lack of experience -- and no declarations of love until the end of the fic.

(The whole dilemma of the badies in the stables seemed an unnecessary complication -- there was plenty to keep our lads apart already).

The foreshadowing of Doyle's health being badly enough affected that he won't be able to return to policing just gets dropped, doesn't it? Or did I miss that?

Anyway, despite the picking apart of the structure and plot, I do really, enjoy this story -- again, for me its overall charms outweigh its weaknesses.

I also think it’s a charming story and yet......I almost hesitate to use the word because it doesn’t seem to do Lizzie’s writing justice. I’m wondering if charm alone could be responsible for the fact that I was completely entranced by the story, to the extent that I was able to overlook its shortcomings (some of which would have put me off if I’d read them elsewhere) and practically ignore anything negative because it just didn’t seem to matter. It reminds me slightly of very bright people who can explain complex ideas in simple terms to the average person and so I feel that perhaps Lizzie’s writing is deceptive in it simplicity...…it appears simple in style and yet she’s doing something which manages to win me over and engross me time after time but I’m never really sure *how* she does it - how she manages to suck me into the delightful world of Bodie and Doyle, but she does and I'd quite happily stay there. I can’t believe it’s purely down to something like technique or even skill because if that was the case then surely other people would learn these things and produce the same kind of stories, but they don’t. It's almost like a seduction and it's definitely magic! (And I think I've just answered my own question...).

...well, I suppose this fic is well written, but it was SO BORING. And it was totally NOT Bodie and Doyle in any way, shape or form, other than the names and the images. Which can be fine - it works sometimes, but I think the real trick of an excellent AU - as opposed to writing that merely uses the names/images of the characters on what are actually original characters in a non-canon setting - is that you can still "see" the canon characters. This fic did not, IMO, achieve that by any stretch of the imagination.

Unfortunately for me, without Bodie and Doyle, there wasn't much of anything else in this story to like. I found it unimaginative, predictable, stereotypical, and downright unbelievable, even for the romance genre. There was no chemistry between the characters (whoever they were, as they weren't B and D), and the social and educational differences were annoying. I like equals, which is part of what makes B&D such a great team and erotic as sexual partners. It's not the older man and the naive twink story that so many fandoms (from QAF to Harry Potter - total barf) seem to go for, or the manly hero rescuing the "damsel" in distress, who happens to also be a guy (or chick with dick, as the slash-world apparently calls it). It's two DUDES, sweating and cursing and bleeding and fighting and having awesome sex. Not getting all talky and emo (althoug I find that tends to creep into even the very best of fanfic at times. The guys just get a little too talky for the men I see them as on the show).

Anyway, I found nothing much to like about this story. I think it's ridiculous that friends and family members would be watching fondly and encouraging a sexual relationship between two men at that particular time in history. I found all the manufactured "drama" about Bodie not being able to read, his "shameful secret, lol, to be neither strong nor interesting enough to build a story around, and then the rapist stablehands who are having their evil way with the stableboys, and almost rape Doyle - that whole scene made me roll my eyes rather than feel any type of anxiety. And then, for prissy Doyle to use Bodie's inaction to go off and pout for months - ridiculous.

I disliked the setting, the characters, and the story. I was bored and nothing about the story made me curious to find out what happened next. I really don't care!

I think if there's one lesson the reading room is teaching us, it's that for every story there's at least one person who adores it, and one who hates it. And then the majority of readers falling somewhere in between. *g*