Review Detail

Reader reviewed by librariane

Cousins Kate and Cecelia are separated this year because Kate is allowed to have her Season in London this year, while Cece is still stuck at the familys home in the country. But each are experiencing all kinds of interesting things, despite the constraints of society (balls and
parties and curfews and such)--their neighbor in the country is suspected of dastardly plans to hurt the Marquis of Schofield, who Kate meets while in London. Sir Hilary and the Marquis are both adept at magic, and Sir Hilary has managed to find a way to control Thomas, the Marquis, and its up to Kate and Cece to stop him!

This book is written entirely in letters between the two girls, and in some ways it is a bit
implausible how much of the story is communicated, but the story is charming and fun to
read nonetheless. And thinking about how much correspondence was necessary and an art
in the 1800s (when this book takes place), one can let it go. Wrede has written an unusual
story that feels rather Jane Austen, yet it has quite a bit of magic in it (though its just a part of everyday life not an anomaly, which is nice). Definitely more of a book for girls, and it
can go in either the juvenile or young adult section, though older students will appreciate it more.