Poppy Robbins is a busy young lady in 1899, helping to run her family's restaurant, Rainbows End, just outside London. Fashionable people come for a meal while on a journey, and nearby families come here to celebrate. Poppy is the daughter of Flora and Daniel, whom we met in The Lucky Penny. POPPY’S CHOICE is an interesting read, as this young woman has more freedom than the daughters of the gentry.

As an upcoming middle-class family, the Robbins are well-regarded but not titled. This makes no difference to Poppy’s childhood friends, Adam Ashton and his sister Lottie, from a grand family. Adam is now a young officer, with Boer Wars much on his mind. Lottie is sweet on Gideon Taylor, a student doctor. To help Lottie and Gideon, the others make up a cheerful foursome for outings, such as Adam showing off his new motorcar. The four are at a fair in Epping Woods one day when an unknown young woman seeks their aid. She claims to have been assaulted by a thief and is distressed. Of course, the kind ladies take Miranda Flyte home and look after her, and she asks a lot of questions about the catering business. The next day, Miranda vanishes, leaving everyone somehow suspicious. This starts a series of, you guessed it, unfortunate events. Poppy meets a London man named Edward Taverner, who also turns out to be connected to a dilapidated country manor. She meant to ask Edward’s help, but he seemed in need of her help, too.

This is the latest book in the series, The Rockwood Chronicles. I was pleased to meet Flora and Daniel again. Dilly Court is excellent at showing people between the upper and lower classes, demonstrating that social mobility was on the rise at the turn of the century. We get a look at just how much hard work and expense was required to maintain large country houses. Amusingly, Lottie is given priority treatment and her reputation considered carefully, while Poppy is able to carry on fast behaviour like walking around east London without a maid or driving a motor.

This is another enjoyable period romp from Dilly Court, who has several popular romances to her name. POPPY’S CHOICE may have been based a little on the memoirs of Monica Dickens, who, as a bored debutante, hired herself out as a cook and general maid. She certainly saw another side of life. Poppy brings us a rounded picture of the era, from threadbare orphans to stately homes.