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A review by erine
The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
5.0
This was fantastic. The book itself was a solid 4-4.5 stars, but the author’s note at the end just put it over the top. I love a good author’s note.
Besides the fact that the writing style is so easy to digest, I think what I liked most was the frank exploration of what it might be like to be an unconventional girl in the 18th century. It’s oddly similar to the present day, which seems weird. At first. But then I thought about all the people who have been first, or mad pioneers, or misfits, and so often they are boiled down to a few discrete episodes of struggle, a failure, maybe several, but in the end, success (even if success comes posthumously). And these people end up seeming almost superhuman.
But Felicity’s story is bogged down with struggle. It’s weighted with internal self-doubt and external ridicule. Each time the reader sees her putting on prickly self-confidence like a really uncomfortable corset, we also see how it ends up coming through like condescension or arrogance, alienating people around her. And then the reader watches Felicity slowly pick it all apart: the absurd gender stereotypes, her internal doubt, her bristly manner, her failures, what it is she really wants. And that process, that persistent struggle, happens in all times. And it is so easy to imagine it happening to many unknown people, each one breaking down rigid tradition just a little bit. For Felicity, success isn’t really about becoming a doctor, making an earthshattering discovery, or shattering every stereotype. It’s about finding her own path. And that’s universal. And amazing.
Besides the fact that the writing style is so easy to digest, I think what I liked most was the frank exploration of what it might be like to be an unconventional girl in the 18th century. It’s oddly similar to the present day, which seems weird. At first. But then I thought about all the people who have been first, or mad pioneers, or misfits, and so often they are boiled down to a few discrete episodes of struggle, a failure, maybe several, but in the end, success (even if success comes posthumously). And these people end up seeming almost superhuman.
But Felicity’s story is bogged down with struggle. It’s weighted with internal self-doubt and external ridicule. Each time the reader sees her putting on prickly self-confidence like a really uncomfortable corset, we also see how it ends up coming through like condescension or arrogance, alienating people around her. And then the reader watches Felicity slowly pick it all apart: the absurd gender stereotypes, her internal doubt, her bristly manner, her failures, what it is she really wants. And that process, that persistent struggle, happens in all times. And it is so easy to imagine it happening to many unknown people, each one breaking down rigid tradition just a little bit. For Felicity, success isn’t really about becoming a doctor, making an earthshattering discovery, or shattering every stereotype. It’s about finding her own path. And that’s universal. And amazing.