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A review by tay_af
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The phrase “trans Regency romance” didn’t even seem possible outside of Archive of Our Own to me until I learned about this book, and I am so delighted that I got to read it. I feel that it is rare still (although getting less so!) to find a queer adult novel in which queerness is a source of joy and the harsher realities of queer existence are allowed to take a back seat to romance, fantasy, and happiness. It is especially rare to find this for trans characters. Alexis Hall, however, achieves this with finesse in the lovely, charming, and occasionally heart-wrenching A LADY FOR A DUKE.
This is by far my favorite of Hall’s work that I’ve read. Fans of historical romance and regency romance will find themselves in familiar territory with the standards of the ton providing the central shaping force of respectability, along with the genre-standard slight hand-waving of those standards in the face of true love, but will also see the way Hall works the genre anew. Viola, a trans woman who gave up a dukedom and faked her own death on the fields of Waterloo in order to live as her authentic self, encounters her former best friend while working as her sister-in-law’s lady’s maid. She quickly realises how thoroughly he still grieves her ‘death’ and is forced to decide if she will grow closer to him as a stranger or reveal their history together. Although this premise could certainly set the stage for significant transphobia, Hall deftly manoeuvres between the potential difficulties posed by being trans in this era without focusing too heavily on transphobic elements.
I found the romantic and intimate scenes in particular to be very respectful and encouraging. The cast of characters are amusing and captivating throughout, and the central romance feels at once realistic and like the stuff of dreams. I will say the conflict in the final quarter of the book felt a bit sudden, both arising and resolving in a rather rushed fashion, but it was more of a background element of the plot to begin with.
I highly recommend A LADY FOR A DUKE, even to those readers who have not connected with the romance or historical romance genre before. It’s a fun-yet-thoughtful Regency romp, with much more meditation on the meaning of love and intimacy than the genre traditionally allows for. It also feels like exciting new trans representation and I’m hopeful and excited to see readers engage with it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital proof in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This is by far my favorite of Hall’s work that I’ve read. Fans of historical romance and regency romance will find themselves in familiar territory with the standards of the ton providing the central shaping force of respectability, along with the genre-standard slight hand-waving of those standards in the face of true love, but will also see the way Hall works the genre anew. Viola, a trans woman who gave up a dukedom and faked her own death on the fields of Waterloo in order to live as her authentic self, encounters her former best friend while working as her sister-in-law’s lady’s maid. She quickly realises how thoroughly he still grieves her ‘death’ and is forced to decide if she will grow closer to him as a stranger or reveal their history together. Although this premise could certainly set the stage for significant transphobia, Hall deftly manoeuvres between the potential difficulties posed by being trans in this era without focusing too heavily on transphobic elements.
I found the romantic and intimate scenes in particular to be very respectful and encouraging. The cast of characters are amusing and captivating throughout, and the central romance feels at once realistic and like the stuff of dreams. I will say the conflict in the final quarter of the book felt a bit sudden, both arising and resolving in a rather rushed fashion, but it was more of a background element of the plot to begin with.
I highly recommend A LADY FOR A DUKE, even to those readers who have not connected with the romance or historical romance genre before. It’s a fun-yet-thoughtful Regency romp, with much more meditation on the meaning of love and intimacy than the genre traditionally allows for. It also feels like exciting new trans representation and I’m hopeful and excited to see readers engage with it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital proof in exchange for a fair and honest review.