Books › Fashion's Lady
Fashion's Lady
First published 1982 · 276 pages
A classic Regency tale where rustling silk, high-society scandal, and the stigma of trade collide in a young woman's fight for independence.
What it feels like
Reading this vintage Regency romance feels like stepping into a bustling, silk-draped modiste's shop where the air is thick with gossip and the threat of social ruin. The narrative moves at a brisk, engaging clip, balancing the cozy satisfaction of a woman building her own business with the fraught melodrama of high-society scandal. There is a distinct 1980s historical romance texture here, featuring elegant, slightly formal prose that delights in sharp dialogue, rigid class boundaries, and the delicious tension of improper alliances. It is a story steeped in the practical anxieties of survival and the intoxicating lure of forbidden romance. Fans of classic Georgette Heyer or early Mary Balogh will devour this earnest, scandal-tinged journey of female independence and hard-won love.
- Mood
- bustling
- scandal-tinged
- cozy
- fraught
- Tone
- dramatic
- earnest
- romantic
- wry
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- female independence · the stigma of trade · scandalous temptations · navigating societal ruin · practical survival
- The writing
- Elegant and slightly formal, with a classic vintage Regency cadence that delights in sharp dialogue and societal maneuvering.
- The arc
- The protagonist moves from desperate vulnerability on the edge of ruin to empowered independence and hard-won romantic clarity.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love vintage Regency romances featuring pragmatic heroines, bustling dress shops, and a healthy dose of high-society scandal.
Content notes
- financial ruin
- classism
- emotional infidelity
About the book
A proper young lady did not go into trade. But was what Susannah Garland to do, when she had only her dressmaking skill to keep her from the streets?
A proper young lady did not enter into partnership with a notorious seducer like Sir Jeffrey Stratton. But what was Susannah to do, when she desperately needed his aid to open her establishment?
And, above all, a proper young lady did not listen to the wooing of another lady's husband. But what was Susannah to do, when Miles Devereaux, the young lord she long had adored, asked her to help him forget his mockery of a marriage?
Susannah had to learn the price of making a profit in business...and the high cost of falling in love.
Description from Open Library.
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