Multi-award winning author Charlotte Betts is renowned for winning the Historical Romance category in the Romantic Novelists Association Awards, not once but twice. Having just finished The House in Quill Court I think that the romance label does her a disfavour, because readers are expecting only a romance, and her books are always so much more. This one is no exception, and takes us into the seamy underbelly of the London of stolen babies, prostitution, and extortion. Those expecting a sweet romance to be the core of the novel will find that it is still there, but that they are confronted with much more depth than they expected, and plenty to think about.
Venetia Lovell discovers after her father dies that he has had a secret life – and another family. When the two families are brought together there is friction aplenty, not least from handsome Jack Chamberlaine, who takes some time to appreciate that Venetia has skills that can turn around their interior decorating business. Regency furnishings and design form the background to Venetia’s world, but the story also focuses on the family’s maid, Kitty, who soon becomes embroiled in something much darker and more sinister. The fate of women like Kitty is explored with eyes wide-open, and adds a contrast to the ‘above stairs’ life. The descriptions of polite drawing rooms in 1813 are pitched against the seedy brothels and thieves’ dens that form the hidden side of London. At this time, there was no Police Force, and the streets were controlled by powerful ‘mafia-like’ gangs, who demanded money for protection, or sought a cut of the takings from any business. Venetia’s business falls prey to one of these men, but she is determined to ake a stand against them. Betts cleverly interwines the two stories of the maid and the mistress into a nail-biting page-turner of a book. Very highly recommended.
Like the darker side of Regency London? Try this post on a tour of Regency prisons.
