A Lady of Finance

LeAnn Constantine
AuthorHouse (2010)
ISBN 9781452040943
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (5/11) 

 

Historical fiction is a double-edged sword for sure. On one hand, it offers the author a wonderfully different setting for a story, one that the readers will find exotic and appealing in most cases, as well as a pretty free rein in a wide array of matters. On the other hand, if the author does not get the speech, the manners and the feel of a certain period quite right, it will automatically feel awkward and amateurish. I am afraid that, at least for me, “A Lady of Finance” fell into the latter category.

While I found the framework of the story, set in the nineteenth century, about a young girl being mentored by powerful, rich and successful men, one of which even became the King, quite appealing, it suffered greatly from several issues. While I am not a great expert on the nobility of the 19th century, the way the characters in the book addressed each other, as well as interacted with the servants, just did not sound convincing. I found it even less probable that the King himself, who by his perpetual “Royal We” speech pattern was a very formal person, would come knocking on anybody’s door without the proper retinue, pomp and circumstances. While I do not wish to give away too much of the story by my remarks, I will venture to say that any murder or even a murder attempt directed towards any member of the nobility, would be much more thoroughly investigated, and in view of who those powerful protectors were, I very much doubt it that abuse of such epic proportions as the one described against Elizabeth would have gone unnoticed and unreported.

In addition to that, the storyline was fractured and had long, unexplained jumps from one topic to another, as well as some downright illogical moments (think about the information delivered in the letter to Theodore…). Several interesting side stories were promised, but not delivered, most notably the trip to Europe that Elizabeth supposedly took, but which was never really utilized in the story. In addition to those plot issues there were the inconsistencies in the names of certain characters (Florazel or Florizel, Cresida or Cressida?), several interesting typos (modeste instead of modiste definitely being my favorite) and the fact that one of the protectors (not protectorates, as stated in the book) “rode at a moderate pace” to see a gravely injured child. Most of those are minor things, but the profusion of them contributed to my diminished enjoyment of the story. I know we are talking fiction here, but for me even fiction has to be believable on some level to be enjoyable.

While I definitely do not wish to discourage Ms. Constantine from writing, I would like to advise her to keep reading really good authors of historical fiction and learning from them, and she might want to consult an experienced line editor, who could have easily spotted those aforementioned issues and corrected them before publishing “A Lady of Finance.”

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