Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron by Stephanie BarronMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I still agree with 15-years-ago me--this is a very good book. 5 stars.
In this one, Jane and her recently-widowed brother are visiting Brighton for a little cheering up time, and on the way they rescue a young woman who is tied up in a coach, being taking north. Turns out, she's being abducted by Lord Byron. (This is fiction, though anything was possible with Byron.) When she's restored to her family, we learn that her dad's a jerk, blaming the poor kid for the actions of a pretty bad guy. This and that happens (visits and dances, that kind of thing), then the young woman is killed, drowned, and her body is discovered in Byron's bed.
You know that's gotta mean Byron didn't do it--but he really feels like the kind of guy who would. Various friends impose on Jane to help clear his name, despite her feelings about the guy. As always, Jane will search for the truth, whatever direction that takes her. Lots of bad guys to choose from here, including the Prince Regent and several people around him. Very salacious.
Caro Lamb is an important character in this one, the young woman who loved Byron to distraction, and she's wild, but super interesting. In fact, this whole novel is a bit wilder, a bit darker, a bit seamier, than earlier ones, even though all of them have had danger and bad guys and way more discussion of sex or sex crimes than you would ever find in Jane Austen's own novels. We are 200 years on, of course, so I think it's good. Realer. Rougher. Jane is undaunted, though even she is a little put off by Caro Lamb's "frankness" about bedroom topics.
Great plotting, great writing, wonderful characters. (I've still got a huge crush on our heroine. However, I fear she would call the literary version of me respectable and immediately forget me. Alas.) These novels are all fun to read, and this is one of my favorites.
Recommended. :)
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