In EMILY HUDSON, Melissa Jones explores how a spirited girl fits and/or doesn't fit into mid 19th-century society. Orphaned and sent to boarding school where she was asked to leave because of dubious behavior, Emily Hudson becomes an unwanted guest at her uncle's home in Newport. Emily's spunk (a tendency to run through rooms, giggle and say what she thinks) doesn't jive with her conservative, and often verbally abusive, uncle who wants to see her married and gone as soon as possible. The only spark in this somber atmosphere for Emily is a budding friendship with her cousin, William, an aspiring writer.

Emily lost her family to consumption and, knowing she's susceptible to the disease, she chooses not to accept a marriage proposal from Captain James Lindsay. Her consolation is that William takes her to London where she can study drawing for which she has a passion. In turn, William can introduce himself to English society. William and Emily's relationship turns rocky as he becomes more and more annoyed with her outspoken behavior, something he used to find charming. Their interplay is interesting, with William's affection often just shy of being incestuous. Finally, fed up with Williams's controlling manipulations, Emily escapes to Rome to finally finds her own independence.

Melissa Jones has brought to life the difficulties women faced when trying to forge independent lives during this time period. Generally women married, and those who enjoyed their own lives were either widows or independently wealthy. For Emily, dependent on her cousin for everything, it's easy to see why it took her so long to make a move. Jones's style is introspective, and at times almost stalls before moving forward again. She combines third-person narration with Emily's correspondence with friends. Sometimes the letters confused more than added to the experience, at least for this reader. That said, this is a well-written novel of self-discovery, and could very easily be a true story, given what I've read of history of the period. What's interesting is the prologue didn't make sense to me until the very end, and then I understood it completely. Jones clearly has a talent for character development, an ability to set a scene, and realistic dialogue that enhances her characters' personalities. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.