The Regency “in” crowd—darkly beguiling! Surprising!

Reputation: A Novel by Lex Croucher 

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I puzzled over what sort of Regency romance I’d wandered into, but the life of Georgiana Ellers goes from a throughly uninspiring season sponsored by her aunt, to rackety doings with bored young things in a nanosecond. This was a delight. Austen like observations combine with commentary that both terrifies and stimulate. I kept waiting for George to come to her senses. I was both shocked and enamoured by her need to be more, her unusualness being led down a potentially ruinous path.

Talk about  the “walk of shame”. This has it all. Like the Lost Boys, the lost wealthy children playing often vicious games come as a shock to Georgiana. The daring Frances Campbell—a style setter, both daring, friendly and vicious, hiding unhappiness by attacking. But then when you so want to be part of the “in” crowd, to move in these incandescent heights of society, you join in and dampen your conscience. Which is just what Georgiana did, until she couldn’t anymore.  I did feel like I was moving more in the flapper society of the thirties than Regency times. Certainly Wickham would be more at home here than others I could mention. Then we rarely cross into those more debauched places when dealing with sweet young things during the Season. No Almanacks and insipid lemonade here. Rather it’s drugs and cognac. Sapphic encounters and rape. Coming of age sucks, especially when seeking adventure, to be part of the “in” crowd at any cost—sharpened stakes and all.

I know at the end I was standing on a church pew cheering Georgiana’s bravery and the daringness of Miss Betty’s adroitness. And then there’s the hidden hero. Mmm! Thomas Hawksley is a joy!

A St Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley