A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant: A Review

One of the first things I must say about this novel is not to let the cover fool you. While there are plenty of intimate moments between our hero and heroine, this book is not about writhing virgins surrendering to lust.

"I love the romance genre, but one thing that annoys me is the stereotypical book covers. Particularly, romances between men and women often feature a certain style of cover, regardless of the novel’s content.

This novel has a wonderful backbone heavily steeped in period accurate portraits of country living and the impact the landed gentry had on the lives of the people around them. 

Martha Russel, Mistress of Seton Park, is deeply committed to her community and doing all she can to make it better. Her focus is on bettering the lives of her tenants and those tenants' children by championing a local school and encouraging the families to send all their children, not just the boys.  Her neighbor, Theophilus 'Theo' Mirkwood, initially lacks direction but is inspired by Martha's dedication. Witnessing the poor conditions of his laborers, he becomes more involved in estate management. 

We are shown how seriously Martha takes her duty through her interactions with the Vicar, Mr. Atkins. She’s heavily involved with speaking to the local families and trying to convince them of the benefits of sending all their children. I truly enjoyed watching her execute her strategy on the parents. Most families were okay with sending their sons, and having the daughters stay home. Martha understands the family's hesitancy and is in it for the long haul. Her plan is subtle, starting with the girls just going to Sunday school for an hour at first then hoping to transition the female students to the school during the week. 

She also appeals to the idea that if the girls have some education they might be able to marry a tradesman of some standing. I enjoyed Martha being progressive and fighting for what she believes is right. As women have done for centuries she’s able to advocate for better circumstances within the confines of society using her wit, wiles, courage, and resourcefulness.

Theo sees the beauty in her determination: 

But she was never lovelier than when she spoke this way, all afire with the knowledge of wrongs to be righted and good to be done

Theo is a youngish man who has never had high expectations placed on him and, as a result, hasn’t really applied himself. He is sent to the Sussex countryside  to gain an education in estate management by his father, the Baronet. Theo has been a wastrel in London and his father is hoping some time at one of the family homes will help him gain a sense of responsibility. A visit to the homes of the laborers on his estate impacts him deeply as he finds their living conditions unacceptable This spurs him to become better acquainted with the people living on the property. Seeing Martha’s example of taking care of her tenants he begins to take more of an interest in estate management. With Martha’s help and support Theo begins to see the impact he has on the lives of those around him. He takes initiative to better the lives of those around and even comes up with an idea to create a local dairy since there is no good cheese, butter or milk to be had for laborer and tenet families. 

The pacing of this novel is exceptional. Grant quickly establishes the stakes, engaging the reader from the outset. She also trusts her reader is smart enough to make connections with subtle hints. I enjoyed the fact that once I made a connection once certain information was revealed, Grant revealed the information in the next section. I cannot begin to state how frustrating it is when an author stretches out an obvious conclusion in a novel. 

If you’re looking for great character development, good dialogue, and women being supported and protected in the regency era, Cecilia Grant’s A Lady Awakened is for you! 

Enjoy your reading !

Novel TW: mentions of sexual assault