A newly liberated countess gets her first taste of freedom in A Lady's Guide to Scandal, the decadent romantic comedy from Sophie Irwin (A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting). Set in Bath, England, during the elegant Regency period, with adventurous forays into London for art exhibitions and parties, Irwin's second novel is a captivating, often hilarious, exploration of a rarified world of lords, ladies, wealthy widows, and social climbers. The requisite handsome cad is also present in the form of a beguiling British-Indian writer, Lord Melville.
Irwin's storytelling, with no shortage of ingenuous plot twists and cunning observations, is powered by her deep fascination with the social mores of Regency England and is centered on the transformation of the heroine, Lady Eliza Somerset, from a timid, primly dressed widow into a confident, smartly outfitted socialite unafraid to ruffle feathers. Eliza is an aspiring artist, but her passion for painting lay dormant during her dull marriage to the much older Earl of Somerset. Unexpectedly finding herself widowed and suddenly very rich, Eliza, under the influence of her mischievous cousin Margaret, decamps to a pretty house in Bath for the remainder of her tediously long mourning period. Eliza, excited to resume her art, agrees to paint the portrait of an infamous Bath acquaintance--a decision that turns out to be, in more ways than one, fortuitous as well as deliciously scandalous.
Radiating with witty dialogue and lavish period details, A Lady's Guide to Scandal is just the literary tonic for readers partial to high-society drama and for fans of Bridgerton. --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer