When Evadne Gray catches her younger sister, Dorinia,
dallying with another teen aged girl right after the man Evadne loves informs
her that he is marrying someone else, Evadne runs to their mother to tell and
assumes it will put a stop to Dorinia’s planned visit to their uncle in London.
(Dorinia has the ambition to become an art critic, and there is no art to be
seen out in the country where she lives.) Instead, their mother decides that
Evadne will accompany Dorinia, something Evadne has no interest in doing.
Upon arrival at their uncle’s house, they meet his friend
Lady Henrietta Wotton, who goes by Henry and wears men’s clothing. Dorinia is
immediately smitten by Henry, and Henry has taken it upon herself to introduce
the girls to London. Evadne is shocked and revolted by Lady Henry because of
her dress and open smoking. But Evadne has learned to fence and is thrilled to
have an invitation to a fencing school from both Henry and the friend (and
erstwhile boyfriend) who taught her. While still living with their uncle, Evadne
and Dorinia go their separate ways.
Dorinia manages to convince Henry to invite her to a meeting
of her secret society. The meeting seems totally harmless- a dinner devoted to
one of the sense, so she cannot imagine why it’s considered secret. True, there
is a short time where Dorinia is asked to step outside the room, but what could
go on in that small space of time?
Evadne is taken on by the top instructor at the fencing
school, and finds herself invited to a secret club, too. And she is shocked to
discover that there is some common ground between that club and Henry’s…
The story took a very long time to get moving. There was a
lot of gorgeous description, perhaps too much. There is a lot of going and
coming and eating. I found it hard to really like any of the characters- I didn’t
*dislike* them, but they just left me flat. I found it hard to believe that
Evadne, who attends a fencing club where she is the only woman, is shocked and
disgusted by Henry’s wearing of male attire, especially since she is unshocked
by homosexual love. (yes, I know that homosexuality and cross dressing are two
different things. But it just seems to me that if a person is okay with one, they’d
most likely be okay with the other) I found it equally hard to believe that
their uncle, who had left the secret society, would allow Dorinia to go. The
book *almost* made me love it, but not quite. It’s a first novel, so I have
great hope for this author. And the cover is absolutely gorgeous. Four stars.
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I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in return for an honest review.
Neither of these things influenced my review.
skipping this one
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