The Trouble to Check Her by Maria Grace Also by this author: The Dracy Brothers, Mistaking Her Character
Genres: Austenesque, Historical Fiction
Format: eARC
Buy the Book • Goodreads
Lydia Bennet faces the music…
Running off with Mr. Wickham was a great joke—until everything turned arsey-varsey. That spoilsport Mr. Darcy caught them and packed Lydia off to a hideous boarding school for girls who had lost their virtue.
It would improve her character, he said.
Ridiculous, she said.
Mrs. Drummond, the school’s headmistress, has shocking expectations for the girls. They must share rooms, do chores, attend lessons, and engage in charitable work, no matter how well born they might be. She even forces them to wear mobcaps! Refusal could lead to finding themselves at the receiving end of Mrs. Drummond's cane—if they were lucky. The unlucky ones could be dismissed and found a position … as a menial servant.
Everything and everyone at the school is uniformly horrid. Lydia hates them all, except possibly the music master, Mr. Amberson, who seems to have the oddest ideas about her. He might just understand her better than she understands herself.
Can she find a way to live up to his strange expectations, or will she spend the rest of her life as a scullery maid?
Sweet Regency Romance
Lydia Bennet, just the sound of her name makes good people roll their eyes with disapproval. I mean, lets face it, she is not the most beloved Bennet Sister. But for some reason despite all her crazy, selfish and immature shinianigans, I have always liked Lydia. She is funny, self-centered and utterly ridiculous. I love ridiculous.
It really is nice to see Lydia compelled to own up to her transgressions, learn from them, come into her own and come out on top!
This just may be my favorite Maria Grace work to date! It is such an original story and is filled with so many compelling, colorful characters. I simply adored it! The Trouble to Check Her is told in such a brilliant voice and perfect prose, it is outstanding!
Jane Austen would be proud.
