The Dream Maker

On a rainy November day in 1819, as McLeay's (The Summer House) latest historical romance begins, Flora Elizabeth Louise de Montfort St. Serf is dashing down a London street clutching the family silver under her shawl, in a desperate attempt to save some of her family's belongings from bill collectors. When she runs smack into a tall, breathtakingly handsome young man who accuses her of being a thief, 16-year-old Flora calls upon the breeding of generations to deliver a scathing set-down. After all, if the Elder Bank hadn't demanded the repayment of their loan from a penniless peer, her family wouldn't be reduced to genteel poverty. By the time Flora discovers that the young man is Darius Elder, her feelings for him have blossomed, but she refuses to let herself love a member of the heartless Elder family. As an unusual, if not downright odd, woman of her times, Flora's best friend is a prostitute; her mentor is an expatriate French automaton maker who believes man and ape are related; and she has no desire to live in luxury with her grandparents, preferring the squalor of life with her parents. Her calculating sister Sophie, however, jumps at the chance to leave the slums, and is rewarded with a society marriage to none other than Darius Elder, leaving Flora to rush into nightmarish matrimony with brutal adventurer Ralph Newsome. Matters come to a head on an expedition to Hudson's Bay, with Newsome as captain and Darius and Flora as passengers, but several more years elapse before a host of St. Serf secrets are finally laid to rest in London. McLeay's imaginative tale ranges far and wide, and her fresh take on the Regency novel remains lively and suspenseful throughout. (Dec.)