Scan barcode
A review by fiction_aficionado
The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey by Carolyn Miller
5.0
I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book ever since the glimpse we had of Clara DeLancey in The Captivating Lady Charlotte suggested that there was something redeemable beneath the spoilt and spiteful society miss we have seen so far. And now I can give a sigh of contentment, because this story fulfilled all my hopes. Clara’s journey from resentment and despair through to shame and repentance and then the determination to become a better person was a difficult path to walk, but the opposition she faced along the way only served to make her stronger, and I grew to love her every bit as much as I do Lavinia and Charlotte.
Benjamin Kemsley is a true hero—in the literary and the literal sense! Noble in character if not in title, he has quite the story to tell, but it also left him a cripple and ended his career. The Prince Regent promised him a reward for his heroic actions, but nothing has come of it, and so he finds himself reliant on the generosity of his recently married sister and her husband, and responsible for chaperoning his youngest sister in London society. He can’t help but be drawn to a damsel in distress, but for all his gallantry, he’s the kind of guy who steals your heart quietly: piece by piece, smile by smile.
As with Miller’s other novels, it’s not just the story itself that captures, but the authenticity of the Regency world in which she immerses the reader. I love that we get the rustic side of Regency life as well as the metropolitan, the everyday along with the glitz and glamour, and I love that families are at the heart of her novels—in all their varied and trying glory! (And that’s sometimes very trying, in the case of Clara!) And most of all, I love the way in which her characters are challenged in their faith (or lack thereof), growing step by step, and often by an act of conscious will against their natural inclinations.
There’s no doubt about it; Carolyn Miller has become a must-read author for me, and I can’t wait for the release of her new series in 2018.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Benjamin Kemsley is a true hero—in the literary and the literal sense! Noble in character if not in title, he has quite the story to tell, but it also left him a cripple and ended his career. The Prince Regent promised him a reward for his heroic actions, but nothing has come of it, and so he finds himself reliant on the generosity of his recently married sister and her husband, and responsible for chaperoning his youngest sister in London society. He can’t help but be drawn to a damsel in distress, but for all his gallantry, he’s the kind of guy who steals your heart quietly: piece by piece, smile by smile.
As with Miller’s other novels, it’s not just the story itself that captures, but the authenticity of the Regency world in which she immerses the reader. I love that we get the rustic side of Regency life as well as the metropolitan, the everyday along with the glitz and glamour, and I love that families are at the heart of her novels—in all their varied and trying glory! (And that’s sometimes very trying, in the case of Clara!) And most of all, I love the way in which her characters are challenged in their faith (or lack thereof), growing step by step, and often by an act of conscious will against their natural inclinations.
There’s no doubt about it; Carolyn Miller has become a must-read author for me, and I can’t wait for the release of her new series in 2018.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.