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A new Jenny Hambly book is always a joy to read, with endearing characters, an intricate plot, just the right degree of mystery versus romance, and a beautifully realised Regency world. I\u2019m loving this series with its heroines with a traumatic past hiding away from the world and gradually finding a new way forward.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the premise: Anne Huxley is in hiding at Ashwick Hall under the auspices of Lady Westcliffe, who provides a home both for orphans and for ladies suffering from the travails of a difficult life. She provides a safe haven until they are ready to face the world again, albeit still in hiding, perhaps. For Anne, her opportunity comes when a naval captain advertises for a governess. Anne travels to London for an interview, competing against many other potential governesses, among them an elderly lady, Miss Burdock.<\/p>\n
Captain Edward Turner has braved many dangers at sea, but when his mentor dies and bequeaths him an estate and he takes on the two neglected and wild daughters of a fellow naval man, he\u2019s completely lost. He has no idea how to manage the estate, and a succession of governesses make no headway with the two children. So he decides to let them be part of the selection process for the next governess. But that brings a quandary, for they like the kindly Miss Burdock, while he prefers the coolly ladylike Mrs Huxley. But when Miss Burdock falls victim to a pickpocket and looks to be near destitution, Anne has a novel solution – why not two governesses, splitting the salary between them?<\/p>\n
I have to say, I really like this idea, which is one I\u2019ve never encountered before. For Anne, it gives her protection in what is a bachelor household, the children get twice the attention, and Miss Burdock is saved from the workhouse. Needless to say, the wild children respond quickly to Anne\u2019s firm insistence on good manners and Miss Burdock\u2019s kindliness, and Edward responds to some of Anne\u2019s other qualities. I liked that he found her rather too cool at first, despite being an excellent governess, but as he comes to know her better and sees her in more challenging situations, he comes to admire her in a very different way. And she follows a similar process, finding him a dour, reserved man, but soon learning to appreciate his resourcefulness.<\/p>\n
Running in the background is the mystery part of the story, both Anne\u2019s history and also some mysterious goings on in Edward\u2019s naval career, too. I confess I\u2019m a little uneasy about the theme of slavery and abolition which drives some elements of the plot. It\u2019s conventional in modern Regencies that heroes and heroines are against the slave trade, and only villains support it. It\u2019s too easy, perhaps, for modern authors to use slavery as a quick signal of a good or bad character without really engaging with the subject meaningfully. In reality, it was a lot more nuanced than that, with strong voices on both sides. Happily, Hambly brings some depth to the subject by describing the naval engagements to take slave trading ships and release their captives.<\/p>\n
As always with this series, the heroine\u2019s past blows up in spectacular fashion, with a surprising revelation and a fairly dramatic confrontation, allowing both hero and heroine to display their courage. There are quite a few loose ends to be tied up in the final chapter, followed by a sweet romantic finale. Another excellent entry in this series. Five stars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new Jenny Hambly book is always a joy to read, with endearing characters, an intricate plot, just the right degree of mystery versus romance, and a beautifully realised Regency world. I\u2019m loving this series with its heroines with a traumatic past hiding away from the world and gradually finding a new way forward. Here\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-5907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-hambly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5911,"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5907\/revisions\/5911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marykingswood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}