Diana is the 5th of the six sisters and wants nothing to do with men other than to be one. She loves to ride and hunt and has her father's permission to hunt with the pack as long as she dresses like a man. Unfortunately, her father's friend, Squire Radford, discovers her disguise and lectures the Rev. Armitage on the impropriety of allowing his daughter to hunt. Diana, scared and upset, dashes off on her horse through a storm and seeks shelter at the mansion of Lord Charles Dantry, a gentleman who has recently returned to the country and moved to the neighborhood. Diana feels her disguise will prevent any improper behavior on the part of Lord Charles, but she remains uneasy around him. He offers to show young "David" around London for a week and Diana feels that is the opportunity for freedom she has always desired. Rev. Armitage decides it's time to send Diana to Lady Godolphin in London for a Season. Diana rebels and dons her manly disguise once more to escape into the hitherto unknown gentleman's world of London where she discovers that being a man is not as much fun as she thought. After her adventures as a member of the opposite sex, Diana returns to womanhood and finds herself being courted by a Mr. Jack Emberton, who is kind and pleasing. Lord Charles Dantry is concerned with Diana's attentions to Mr. Emberton and determined to remain in her life! Diana is scared and conflicted by the different types of attention and the feelings she has for both men. Her father fears Diana's exploits will be discovered and attempts to interfere in her life. Tragedy brings Diana home where she must discover what will truly make her happy. I liked Diana and sympathized with her desire for freedom but somehow I didn't enjoy this story as much as I wanted to. I did love Diana's reaction to her first kiss, which was exactly how I hoped all of her sisters would act! There is very little humor in this story and not enough Lady Godolphin. It's not one of my favorites but it is well-written and has more substance than the first three.
"'If only I were a man', thought Diana for about the thousandth time in her young life" p 29. "Any girl who dressed as a man and flouted the conventions so blatantly must have the morals of a tom cat" p 69. Icy-blond Lord Mark Dantrey mid-30s p 33 sees through her 'David' disguise and misunderstands.While hunting as lad, Diana Armitage 19 needs shelter from a storm. Mark's invite to see London town together shows her the advantages to being a woman. Meanwhile a world of minor characters carry on. Lady Godolphin scrambles her words, emotes tropical hurricanes, pipes an easy laugh and a half. "'Follicles'. It took an hour for Lady Godolphin to put on her face and what she called her 'negligent' p 88. 'Diana's still a virago intax .. nothing but a kiss between them and that kiss was only because Dantry had an understandably low view of her morals" p 89. "Mrs Armitage .. with a great stock of patent medicines .. proceeded to dose herself. The wind gave a great howl .. The banshee" warns of oncoming death in Ireland. We don't need supernatural to foretell trouble.Author Chesney writes more than standard 'Regency Romance' if heroine Diana loses her mama, however silly and vapid. Mama abdicated her parental responsibility to eldest daughter, yet her presence would be missed. She wanders in flimsies over wintry moor, stumbles, falls, consciousness darkens. (view spoiler)[ Pain ends, finally, fades, gone. Dantry gains another role, comforter. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Diana The Huntress (1985)?
Review - Diana was like a 'real' modern woman, who wanted the freedoms that men had, and wasn't really afraid to go and get them. It was nice to see a truly strong heroine, and a hero who was willing to match her. I really liked this book. The Six Sisters series just seems to get better and better. Beaton's writing becomes better and better, and although I don't think her Regency romances rival the likes of Georgette Heyer, Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn, I think there is real potential. I think she's better at writing murder mysteries than Regency romances. Genre? - Historical / RomanceCharacters? - Diana Armitage / Mark Dantrey / Minerva Armitage / Annabelle Armitage / Frederica Armitage / Daphne Armitage / Deirdre ArmitageSetting? - London (England)Series? - Six Sisters #5Recommend? - YesRating - 16/20
—Helene Harrison
I liked this book more than Daphne. It was a more complete plot regarding Diana than the last book was. I liked that the problems for Diana in this book were mainly of her own doing rather than horrible plotting against her (which has been the case in most of the other books). There was some minor plotting against her, but really she creates her own trouble since, in her quest for freedom and independence, she does things like dress up as a man and go out in society.Good, light reading. I'm looking forward to the last in this series and more by Marion Chesney.
—Holly
SPOILERS below!I found the character of Diana quite refreshing and her story was more interesting to me than those of the previous two characters, but I didn't particularly like the way that she still experienced that moment of submission that all the girls seem to go through in this series. She was a character with such a strong will at the start of the book, and while Lord Dantrey appreciated her skill as a huntress, it would have been nice to see that element of her character explicitly refer
—Emma
