fredericjacb56

I picked up this book because of similarities to the Lady Julia Grey series. Both are set in Victorian England, and both feature intrepid young (widowed) women who attempt to solve mysteries in their households. However although the description on the back cover of this book looked interesting, it didn't live upto that promise. The mystery itself turned out to be kind of tepid, and the character of Lady Emily Ashton didn't grow on me. I found her petulant, wishy-washy in her decision making and someone who didn't think things through before jumping to conclusions. Also, this is Victorian England, so women are expected to behave a certain way, in keeping with feminine decorum. Emily voices many times the fact that she finds this stifling and challenges some social conventions in her own way (much to the horror of her very traditional and annoying mother), but I didn't find that the independent streak lasted very long, and seemed rather superficial. Full review, here

2022-10-21 05:27