A review by thereadinggoose
The Scandalous Life of Nancy Randolph by Kate Braithwaite

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 The Scandalous Life of Nancy Randolph by Kate Braithwaite is a historical novel centering around the Randolph family and their dramatic life. Nancy is a girl who goes to live with her sister, Judy, and Judy’s new husband, Dick Randolph. She gets wrapped up in a lots of drama, really with no fault to her own. 

There really is no other way to describe the plot of the book without spoiling everything. I would call this a slow to medium paced book. It has a good writing style and the plot pulled me in. It is definitely unique in plot and characters. It is also fully of historical drama and gossip. I do like the actual historical background of the novel and the little chapter that the author places at the end describing it.

Nancy Randolph is the protagonist. I do struggle a bit with her because she doesn’t really take control of her one life at all. She kind of just floats along and takes all the things that come to her. When something bad happens halfways through the book that ruins her reputation, she just decides she will never be able to get married and have children and she accepts that. I also feel like I don’t know much about her as a person. The story revolves around what other people think of her. We also get the POV of Nancy’s slave, Phebe, who is a very interesting character. I wish we got to know more about her. The POVs are few and far between and short. There are a variety of background characters that are well characterized.

Overall, I would give this book 3/5 stars. The plot of unique and did pull me in, but I didn’t really like the protagonist and her reactions to things that happened in her life. All the other characters were more interesting. I would have loved to have a bit more of Phebe’s perspective. 

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.