A Lady's Lesson in Scandal
Grade : A-

Meredith Duran is hands-down one of the best historical romance novelists today. In A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal, she takes the classic rags-to-riches tale and turns it into a smart, insightful story.

Nell Whitby is a factory girl, raised in an East End London slum to roll cigars. When her mother dies, a victim of poor working conditions and inadequate medical care, she learns that her real father was the Earl of Rushden. But when she goes to take her revenge for abandoning her and her mother to live a life of poverty, she finds the new earl, a third-cousin of his predecessor. Simon St. Maur reacts rather well to waking up at gunpoint - particularly since he recognizes her as the long-lost heiress to the Rushden fortune.

Sixteen years ago, the nurse of Rushden’s twin daughters kidnapped Cornelia Aubyn, and she hadn’t been seen since. It appears Nell is not the illegitimate by-blow of Rushden, but his legitimate long-missing daughter and heir to half of his £2 million fortune. He left it to both his daughters, not just the remaining twin, and his heir with nothing. Simon can’t believe his luck in finding the girl for whom all of England had searched for years, and in his bedroom of all places. He realizes they can solve each other’s problems: he can help her reclaim her true identity, and he will marry her to have access to her money. Of course, not everyone wants Cornelia to come back to life, especially in the form of an East End factory girl. She needs to trust Simon, but for someone raised on the streets of London, trust is the hardest thing to give.

Nell and Simon are both wonderfully complex characters that develop in fascinating ways over the course of the novel. While Nell experiences the most obvious transformation, it is Simon’s introspection, self-awareness, and flaws that make him just as compelling as she is. He readily admitted his own flaws, and spending time with Nell made him aware of his privileged place in the world and the prejudices, inconsistencies, and selfishness of his class. It certainly puts some perspective on the growing wealth of other romances. Just as billionaire is the new millionaire, fewer and fewer historical heroines today would be as satisfied with Mr. Darcy’s £10,000 a year.

Nell’s character was also well drawn and multidimensional. She has mixed and conflicting emotions on becoming an heiress; both the joy at never having to worry when the next meal will be and having new dresses, and also the feelings of not belonging and something that struck me as something akin to “survivor’s guilt” - why is she the lost heiress, and not her much kinder and deserving friend? I loved watching her and Simon fall for each other and navigate these feelings and differences. If I could change anything about this book, it would be the part regarding Nell’s overreaction to an eavesdropped conversation, which is the only thing that kept this book from being a flat-out A - but everything else was wonderfully done.

It can be difficult to do a Cinderella story like this without it seeming trite or indulgent. This was neither. I may have raised my brow at the synopsis (long lost heiress? O-kay), but I should have trusted Meredith Duran more, because this was so, so much more than the same plot in the hands of a Wallpaper Historical writer. The fascinating and compelling characters, the vivid imagery and dynamic prose, the wonderful romance - it was all I can ask of a romance. Meredith Duran just keeps getting better and better.

Reviewed by Jane Granville
Grade : A-

Sensuality: Hot

Review Date : June 15, 2011

Publication Date: 2011/07

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Jane Granville

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