Set during the English Regency, the story follows Sophy Stanton-Lacy as she arrives at Berkeley Square to stay with her aunt, Lady Ombersley. Sophy finds the household in disarray: her cousin Charles is engaged to an austere woman, his sister Cecilia is forbidden from marrying a poet, and the family is burdened by debt. Towering over her relatives in both height and spirit, Sophy ignores social conventions to reorganize their lives. She manages the family finances, stage-manages romantic reconciliations, and challenges Charles’s rigid authority through bold schemes and the occasional use of a pistol.
Readers of historical comedy and romantic fiction turn to this book for its technical accuracy regarding nineteenth-century social etiquette and transportation. It appeals to those who enjoy assertive female protagonists who manipulate rigid domestic hierarchies through wit and logistical planning. A reader finishes the book with a clear understanding of the tension between Regency propriety and individual autonomy. The narrative provides a detailed look at high-society matchmaking and the specific financial pressures facing the landed gentry of the era.
Practical, clear-cut and escapist; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Escapist Adventurer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1950
- Language
- EN
