´Property and good family never go amiss in a marriage (...)´.
We all need more love stories into our lives, but a good Regency novel is more than a story of love: it reveals old customs and traditionals ways of interaction in a time of change. Thus, a good Regency novel writer will automatically include details about the tensions inherent to the evolutions taking place within the society.
I am very much interested in dating stories, nowadays and across centuries, particularly within insular, strictly religious and socially restrictive societies, therefore anything that may refer to this topic is of high interest for me. A Scandalous Match by bestseller writer and historian Jane Dunn is a love story set in the 19th century England, covering a lot of socially relevant topics about relationships and families
At a time when women are becoming independent and the distribution of wealth is reaching out to the once poor layers of society, love is slightly becoming more than just a transaction. Both men and women of good families - to be read priviledged - may decide to reevaluate their choices of a partner and simply follow the call of love. This is the story of Angelica Leigh, a charming actress of modest origin, and her priviledged admirer, a duke from a prestigious family.
The story unfolds slowly, allowing the reader to get familiar with both the characters, their personalities as well as their social environment. It features as many characters as possible, including the big public, such an important actor for the London society at the time. However, despite the care for featuring so many external details and characters, the story follows its own logic and twists that create different circumstances for the characters to act. The interactions of the characters as well as their language has an authentic jest, thus giving a note of authenticity to the story.
A Scandalous Match is a dense story, appealing to both lovers of historical novels and romance, a historical journey of love against social rigors.
Rating: 4 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
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