An odd little book, which I found hard to believe was published only this year. It has the feel of something much more traditional, but is very much one of a kind. To be honest, I’m not at all sure what to make of it.
Here’s the premise: Gwendolyn Stanhope has been left destitute by the death of her parents and the unwillingness of her only relations to accept responsibility for her. She’s forced to seek employment, first as a governess, even though she readily admits she knows very little and can’t teach, and when her ineptitude is exposed, she becomes a companion to an elderly lady in London, Lady Wendover. Here she starts to learn about Life through Lady W’s insatiable interest in the gossip columns and the newspapers generally, she learns to read to expand her knowledge and not just for amusement and she falls in love with Lady W’s son, Graham, the Earl of Kendal, a starchy sort of character with an unquenchable affection for his mother.
Graham is sort of, almost-but-not-quite betrothed to the very stuffy Dinah Framingham, who instantly sees that Gwendolyn is her rival and sets out to put paid to the upstart hussy. From this stem all the convoluted plot twists of the story, where Gwendolyn is obliged to abandon the civilised world of Lady W and her son, and make shift in a much less comfortable world. But her indomitable spirit and positive attitude to life carry her through and improve the lives of everyone she interacts with.
There’s a fairytale feel to the story that I wasn’t totally comfortable with. Most of it is simply told, and I confess, I do like to feel a character’s emotions a little more intimately than this. It’s part of the reason why this feels like a much more old-fashioned book. Fortunately, Graham’s dogged search for Gwendolyn after she disappears from Lady W’s house gives the reader a clear insight into his increasingly desperate emotions, and I enjoyed (if that’s the right word) this part of the book enormously. By enjoyed, I mean I was increasingly stressed out myself with G’s continued disappearance.
The reunion was everything an invested reader would hope for. By the time Graham catches up with Gwendolyn, she’s working for a houseful of mannishly-dressed females who drink, smoke and sit around endlessly discussing the weaknesses of males and how females are far superior. This leads to the best moment in the book. When Graham turns up and proposes to Gwendolyn on the spot, the mannish women (in unison) cry: “Don’t do it! It’s slavery!” (She does, of course, because lurve…)
This was so entertaining, and so refreshingly different, that it would normally be a five star read. So why only four stars? Because Graham, the Earl of Kendal, is consistently called Lord Wendover instead of Lord Kendal, and his mother is Lady Wendover. He even has calling cards in the name Graham Wendover (peers never use their family name, ever). I’d let this pass in a pre-internet book, but in this day and age, when this information is readily available, there’s absolutely no excuse for getting it wrong. The other oddity is the number of female servants who somehow manage to marry and yet carry on working. That just wasn’t a thing in the Regency. Male servants of sufficient seniority might marry and continue in service but never female ones.
An unusual and light-hearted read with quite a lot of actual history in it, and some charming characters. The principal trio of Gwendolyn, Graham and Lady Wendover are all lovely. Recommended for something a bit different. Four stars.
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