Ginny Boggs, a coal merchant's daughter inherits a fortune and an estate from someone she's never met. The relatives of her benefactor Mr. Giles Frayne are angry at being snubbed in favor of someone from the middle-class. His will stipulates that they must stay on at Courtney and help Ginny go on in Society until her marriage. The four relatives are convinced Ginny will be nothing but a uncouth person and are determined to make her life miserable. Ginny arrives in full splendor turning malicious words and intentions on their head. Watching on the sidelines is Ginny's neighbor, Lord Gerald de Fremney. Gerald thinks Ginny is not his type - he prefers modern women like the cool, confident Alicia, but he is extremely physically attracted to Ginny. The more he meets of Ginny, the more he finds himself wondering what is going on in her head and finds it difficult to maintain a physical distance from the young woman who has turned the Kentish countryside upside down. When Ginny fears her life is in danger, why does Gerald feel the need to protect her?This is a screwball comedy similar to Georgette Heyer's The Unknown Ajax. It's typical Marion Chesney style: lighthearted and fun, for the most part. The Edwardians are a bit more racy than their Regency counterparts. There is a love scene but nothing is shown. Roles for women had drastically changed by the time this story is set. This novel presents both modern and old-fashioned women and favors the old-fashioned type. I enjoyed the novel but found it bothersome not to know what was going on in Ginny's head. If you like light novels without much substance and Marion Chesney's Regencies, you'll love this one too.
Good read. The heroine is a peach, clever, grounded, and I'd like to say nice but I'm not sure she really is. She makes the book and you do admire her. OTOH the hero is a man of the Edwardian age when women have fallen right off the pedestal and are kind of equals and almost pals. He not only doesn't understand our lovely Ginny, he doesn't like her. He is hard-working, dedicated to his estates and his tenants, and given to shrewish outbursts of temper, which is par for the course with this series. While they do fall for each other it was not clear to me why, and, frankly the end is simply unbelievable, which matters not at all. 3 stars for the book and one more just for Ginny.
