A review by naharobed
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

5.0

You already know I love my regency stories. This book had a dash of romance which I obviously appreciated, but it was primarily a story of mystery and sleuthing as 42-year old Augusta (Gus) decides to help out women in need. The story was very well plotted and paced, the characters were distinct and fully drawn. It tackles many of the social issues that were present at that time—obviously women had no agency, people of color were looked upon as less than, and queer people were institutionalized.  The story is split into three parts where Gus, her sister Julia, and the exiled (and dashing) Lord Evan attempts to aid women in need. Because the author had several pages of afterword and I was so wrapped up in the story, I didn’t realize I was on the last page and was unpleasantly surprised by that cliff-hanger ending