The Importance of Being Wicked

Neville (Confessions from an Arranged Marriage) displays a signature blend of froth and history in this improbable 1793 English romance. Caroline Townsend made a rash Gretna Green marriage at 17 and doesn’t regret it—mostly. Her gambler husband now dead, she faces mountainous debt and unpleasantly pressing creditors. Her cousin, the heiress Anne Brotherton, comes for a visit, bringing the fortune-hunting duke of Castleton, Thomas Fitzcharles. A plain-speaking, countrified man, Thomas abundantly merits Caro’s nickname, “Stuffy,” yet this slave to convention can’t resist the spendthrift, bohemian widow. Neville’s characterizations are down to earth: the women are pretty without being ravishing and principled without being irrational, and Thomas is open to expanding his horizons. The one drawback of such pleasantly believable protagonists is that their problems always appear equally life-sized. Drama may be somewhat lacking in their adventures, but delight is not. Agent: Meredith Bernstein. (Dec.)