Lady Vivienne Huntington stars in one of the most unusual historical romances I’ve read. This gently raised young lady is held tightly by her overprotective mother, a Countess. One day, they brave the grime of a crowd to view the entertainment of Cade's Circus of Curiosities. THE LADY AND THE LION meet.
A supposed Lion Boy lives in the circus of human curiosities. He is claimed to have been raised by lions and is mute and savage as a result. His hair and beard are bushy and golden, making him leonine and his thin body is barely clothed. While the strongman, bearded lady, and so on are able to joke with the crowd, it’s clear that if Lion Boy is being mistreated, there’s nothing he can do – or say – about it.
Brave young Vivienne decides to do something about the dreadful situation. She is acquainted with Captain Jackson, a doctor in London. He was discredited by the rich after Countess Huntington blamed him for her older daughter’s death from scarlet fever. In reality, there was nothing he could have done to save the girl. Vivienne, with her maid Dobkins, offers Captain Jackson, a former army surgeon, a diamond bracelet if he will rescue and care for the young man they later name Samuel.
Wow, what a lot of controversy! This is far from a drawing-room comedy. Vivienne has to cope with her mother’s obsessive and irrational control, while the Countess is eager to pay the latest quacks in town for medical diagnoses and prescriptions that are often no use or harmful. Samuel has been doped with the known addictive and harmful drugs to alter his behaviour, but the much-travelled captain recognises the symptoms. How many Regency stories contain drug abuse? And the issue of so-called freaks who, at the time, had no corrective surgery, no disability pension, and no understanding, were made to live in a cage. Samuel is to discover that both Britain and America had developed sign languages. This is how he manages to communicate with Vivienne, because after all, a captive moneymaker would not be taught to write. And the circus manager wants his star attraction to return.
This lovely and inspiring historical romance in the series Victorian Outcasts shows clearly that there are two sides to every coin. Barbara Russell has written a remarkable and tender love story in THE LADY AND THE LION. The reader is cheering on the cast of heroes at every step.
From the outside, Vivienne has it all. She’s the daughter of an earl, lives in a beautiful house in Mayfair, and has a bright future in front of her. But deep down, she wishes to be free from the constant pressure of her demanding mother.The only thing Lion Boy remembers of his past is the cage in which he’s lived all his life. He’s the main attraction of a circus of human curiosities as the young man raised by lions. He’s actually speechless, drugged to make him aggressive for entertainment, and treated like an animal.After watching the horrifying show, Vivienne vows to help Lion Boy leave the circus. In a way, she sees herself in him.He can’t believe a fine lady like Vivienne wants to help him. No one has ever cared about him. So when she comes to rescue him, he promises to return the favour one day.She disobeys her parents and the law for the first time in her life by getting Lion Boy out. Except freeing Lion Boy is just the beginning.How can she keep safe a young man who has lived in a cage, can’t talk, and doesn’t know anything about the world?Trigger warnings: forced drug use, addiction, emotional abuse, grief for the loss of daughter, mental illness, forced servitude, depression.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026