cover image The Bluestocking

The Bluestocking

June Drummond. Victor Gollancz, $0 (268pp) ISBN 978-0-575-03598-0

Davina Wakefield is the blue stockingbookish, dowdy, burdened with run-down, debt-ridden estatesin this Regency novel. Before she emerges from her chrysalis, there are some spirited happenings. Primarily, there is the return of her rakish neighbor, Sir Lucas Rigg, whose dubious past includes alleged fratricide. Then there is Davina's unhappy task of having to sell off her father's prized library, especially a priceless, illuminated Book of Hours. On the sidelines are members of various faction of both families, ready to abet or obstruct the union of Lucas and Davina for their own ends. Drummond, who generally writes thrillers, moves with aplomb amidst the fripperies of the Regency world. January