All Men of Genius

Rosen’s lighthearted debut puts a steampunk spin on the Victorian comedy of manners while sneakily critiquing the gender biases of both genres. Violet Adams is an inventor and the daughter of a renowned astronomer who has just left Britain for a lecture tour of America. In his absence, she, her brother, and their friend Jack Feste scheme to get her into the all-male Illyria College, home to the finest scientists of the age. The course of true science never does run smooth, and soon Violet conceives a disconcerting passion for Ernest, the duke of Illyria, and is hotly pursued in turn by his attractive young ward, Cecily. Decommissioned robots, mysterious mechanisms, strange squid creatures, blackmail, and a number of vivid characters add up to a great deal of fun. (Oct.)