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A review by maplessence
A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde
4.0
Copy gifted by the author, posted to me by Sarah C one of the moderators of the Jane Austen Group. Thanks very much for that.
This book isn't Heyerish (a definite point in it's favour - most of GH's imitators turn out very shoddy work!) but it does contain two things that pop up often in Heyer's Regency works- the very exclusive social club Almack's
As has often been mentioned in Regency works, Almack's wasn't comfortable or even attractive, served bad refreshments and the patronesses were crashing snobs. But well done to these women for making their Assemblies the most sought after events of the London Season.
and the predecessor to the modern police force, the famous (or infamous) Bow St Runners.
Welcome to the world of Rosalind Thorne a gentlewoman who, through no fault of her own, is now impoverished. Rosalind is managing to eke out an existence with her wits, charm, discretion - and because the ladies of the Haut Ton find her "a useful woman."
When the aristocratic but unscrupulous Jasper Aimesworth is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Rosalind finds herself involved in that most ungenteel of occupations - *gasp* solving a murder and fighting an attraction to an astute and attractive Bow St Runner. Adam Harkness.
I've mentioned the two main pluses for me above. The others were some signs of very solid research and the fast paced ending.
I'm neutral on Rosalind as I found her character (till close to the end) quite bland. But Rosalind probably had to suppress all distinctive personality traits to pick her way through all the social traps & petty humiliations in London Society.
Definite flaws: This book sagged badly in the middle and I had to force myself to keep going.
The speech is often quite modern or sometimes just plain odd like;
Mother had already scented that something was wrong.
A few anachronisms. The most jarring for me was the Lady reporter friend of Rosalind's. Alice appeared more like a character from a Hollywood movie about the late nineteenth century. I've never read any account of the Regency world that suggested journalists as we know them existed.
But I still enjoyed this example of a Regency Whodunnit- far more than the single offerings I have read by [a:Ashley Gardner|15295|Ashley Gardner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1239746238p2/15295.jpg] and [a:Stephanie Barron|17764|Stephanie Barron|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1321489264p2/17764.jpg]
I'm looking forward to Miss Thorne's next adventure.
Edit; The lovely Ms Wilde has just been on the jane Austen Group for a Q&A session. Ms Wilde says the Regency era most definitely did have female journalists but they were working around marriage, children & were very underpaid compared to their male counterparts.
I stand corrected. :)
This book isn't Heyerish (a definite point in it's favour - most of GH's imitators turn out very shoddy work!) but it does contain two things that pop up often in Heyer's Regency works- the very exclusive social club Almack's
As has often been mentioned in Regency works, Almack's wasn't comfortable or even attractive, served bad refreshments and the patronesses were crashing snobs. But well done to these women for making their Assemblies the most sought after events of the London Season.
and the predecessor to the modern police force, the famous (or infamous) Bow St Runners.
Welcome to the world of Rosalind Thorne a gentlewoman who, through no fault of her own, is now impoverished. Rosalind is managing to eke out an existence with her wits, charm, discretion - and because the ladies of the Haut Ton find her "a useful woman."
When the aristocratic but unscrupulous Jasper Aimesworth is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Rosalind finds herself involved in that most ungenteel of occupations - *gasp* solving a murder and fighting an attraction to an astute and attractive Bow St Runner. Adam Harkness.
I've mentioned the two main pluses for me above. The others were some signs of very solid research and the fast paced ending.
I'm neutral on Rosalind as I found her character (till close to the end) quite bland. But Rosalind probably had to suppress all distinctive personality traits to pick her way through all the social traps & petty humiliations in London Society.
Definite flaws: This book sagged badly in the middle and I had to force myself to keep going.
The speech is often quite modern or sometimes just plain odd like;
Mother had already scented that something was wrong.
A few anachronisms. The most jarring for me was the Lady reporter friend of Rosalind's. Alice appeared more like a character from a Hollywood movie about the late nineteenth century. I've never read any account of the Regency world that suggested journalists as we know them existed.
But I still enjoyed this example of a Regency Whodunnit- far more than the single offerings I have read by [a:Ashley Gardner|15295|Ashley Gardner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1239746238p2/15295.jpg] and [a:Stephanie Barron|17764|Stephanie Barron|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1321489264p2/17764.jpg]
I'm looking forward to Miss Thorne's next adventure.
Edit; The lovely Ms Wilde has just been on the jane Austen Group for a Q&A session. Ms Wilde says the Regency era most definitely did have female journalists but they were working around marriage, children & were very underpaid compared to their male counterparts.
I stand corrected. :)