Rose whom we met in the first book about Somerton was a busy housemaid and has now been revealed as a by-blow of Lord Westlake and his housekeeper. Taken into the family, she is adapting to her altered circumstances but is the focus of sly remarks about keeping too many servants around, in this class-conscious time. DIAMONDS AND DECEIT seem to be standard fare in upper crust society, while servants won't converse with her any more, so is she really better off?
Miss Charlotte Westlake by contrast had expected to marry well, but now in London the young man she'd set her cap at, Laurence, announces he is to wed someone else, quiet Lady Ava. This is Charlotte's third season and she must find a husband soon. She also knows Ada's secrets.... Back at Somerton the servants gossip to entertain themselves, but automobiles, factories and telephones are intruding upon everyone's way of life and the young people of the household, wealthy and staff, are conscious that the world is changing. Priya, the Indian nanny, has seen more change than most. Annie, a housemaid at Somerton, leaves her post to come up to London to work for her friend Rose. But Rose can't take her on now, she feels it would be wrong. The scheming Charlotte hears the story and promptly engages simple Annie herself, hoping to undercut Rose that way.
I felt quite a lot of sympathy for some of the characters, such as Rose, thrust into a world where she is politely received but widely scorned, and Countess Westlake, forced to accompany her husband's love-child to balls. There is occasional mention of the Kaiser, of anarchists and the Irish question, but everyone is far more preoccupied with their own daily lives and hoped-for futures. In London the ladies stroll in the Royal Academy's art exhibitions and shop at 'the relentless modernity of Selfridge's.' Plenty of detail brings this world to life, a world on the cusp of change.
I preferred the original story Cinders and Sapphires in which Lord Westlake and his family arrived back in England from India, because the contrasts were immediate and humorous, but now everyone has settled in to English life and there is rather less amusement. Leila Rasheed however tells a good story and leaves this one at a point of national crisis, to whet our appetites for more.
A house divided... London is a whirl of balls and teas,
alliances and rivalries. Rose has never felt more out of
place. With the Season in full swing, she can't help but
still feel a servant dressed up in diamonds and silk. Then
Rose meets Alexander Ross, a young Scottish duke. Rose has
heard the rumors about Ross's sordid past just like everyone
else has. Yet he alone treats her as a friend. Rose knows
better than to give her heart to an aristocrat with such a
reputation, but it may be too late. Ada should be happy. She
is engaged to a handsome man who shares her political
passions and has promised to support her education. So why
does she feel hollow inside? Even if she hated Lord Fintan,
she would have no choice but to go through with the
marriage. Every day a new credit collector knocks on the
door of their London flat, demanding payment for her cousin
William's expenditures. Her father's heir seems determined
to bring her family to ruin, and only a brilliant marriage
can save Somerton Court and the Averleys' reputation.
Meanwhile, at Somerton, Sebastian is out of his mind with
worry for his former valet Oliver, who refuses to plead
innocent to the murder charges against him--for a death
caused by Sebastian himself. Sebastian will do whatever he
can to help the boy he loves, but his indiscretion is
dangerous fodder for a reporter with sharp eyes and
dishonorable intentions. The colorful cast of the At
Somerton series returns in this enthralling sequel about
class and fortune, trust and betrayal, love and revenge.
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