In The Muse of Maiden Lane, the final novel in her Belles of London quartet, historical romance author Mimi Matthews examines the effects of public perception on self-image--and weaves a love story shot through with starlight.
Despite her talents as an equestrian and artist, Stella Hobhouse has struggled to catch the eye of any eligible gentleman due to her prematurely gray hair, which renders her either invisible or, worse, the object of derision. But a chance meeting in the British Museum leaves Teddy Hayes, a painter who uses a wheelchair after a bad case of scarlet fever, utterly captivated by Stella. When the two reunite at a house party, Teddy becomes determined to convince Stella to pose for him. Stella, put off but also intrigued by the idea, agrees to sit for a sketch, and the two find themselves drawn to each other, even as they consider the complications of romance.
Matthews (The Lily of Ludgate Hill) sensitively renders Stella's and Teddy's inner lives as she explores the constraints on their freedom (Stella's societal, Teddy's physical) and the growing possibility that marriage might satisfy their desires for both liberty and love. Stella's three close friends, each featured in previous novels, provide support and the occasional push, and Matthews builds the romance as skillfully as Teddy layers the brushstrokes in his paintings. Balancing witty banter with historical detail and practical concerns about living with a disability, Matthews renders a romance that's both realistic and as luminous as the starlight--and the woman--Teddy loves. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams