A Change of Fortune
A Regency romance that delivers. All the usual ingredients are here; a silver fair beauty, a select seminary, dukes, balls and even a ‘rakish’ on the first page. Leonie Conyngham is the top pupil at her school – rich, beautiful, with a glittering future. She is nice to the maids (always a sign of good character) and secretly reads scandalous Byron. Her future comes crashing down when her father is ruined and dies in India; now she must earn her own living as a teacher in the school.
The situation is complicated by the presence of the wilful niece of Sir Guy, the fiancé of her old school rival Imogen. Does nasty Imogen deserve him? This is really a plot device to have her disadvantaged and vulnerable ready to be rescued by a suitably handsome and rich knight in shining armour but it is escapist fun and it works. The novel shows what jealousy can do and what some women are prepared to do to get or keep a man and it also creates a sense of the time. Anyone who likes this genre will know what to expect and will enjoy the novel very much. There are twists and turns and appropriately perilous situations from which our brave and morally upright heroine can be rescued. Recommended unreservedly for fans of the genre.
