- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: St Martin's Press; 1 edition (26 Jun 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 031287202X
- ISBN-13: 978-0312872021
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.9 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,375,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"An utterly charming and intriguing visit to a 'different' Regency London . . . Readers will find putting down this adventure with the intrepid Sarah Tolerance intolerable." -Rosemary Stevens, author of "Death on a Silver Tray"
Product Description
On the mean streets of Regency London, a truly different adventure-with an unforgettable heroine
In a Regency London that isn't quite the one we know, young women of family whose reputations have been ruined are known as the Fallen. Young Sarah Tolerance is one such: a daughter of the nobility who ran away with her brother's fencing-master. Now that the fencing-master has died, everyone expects her to earn her living as a whore.
But Sarah is unwilling. Instead, she invents a new role for herself, and a new vocation: "investigative agent." For Sarah, with her equivocal position in society, is able to float between social layers, unearth secrets, find things that were lost, and lose things too dangerous to be kept. Her stock in trade is her wits, her discretion, and her expertise with the smallsword -- for her fencing-master taught her that as well.
She will need all her skills soon, when she is approached by an agent of the Count Verseillon, for a task that seems routine: reclaim an antique fan he once gave to "a lady with brown eyes." The fan, he tells her, is an heirloom; the lady, his first love. But as Sarah Tolerance unravels the mystery that surrounds the fan, she discovers that she--and the Count--are not the only ones seeking it, and that nothing about this task is what it seems.
In a Regency London that isn't quite the one we know, young women of family whose reputations have been ruined are known as the Fallen. Young Sarah Tolerance is one such: a daughter of the nobility who ran away with her brother's fencing-master. Now that the fencing-master has died, everyone expects her to earn her living as a whore.
But Sarah is unwilling. Instead, she invents a new role for herself, and a new vocation: "investigative agent." For Sarah, with her equivocal position in society, is able to float between social layers, unearth secrets, find things that were lost, and lose things too dangerous to be kept. Her stock in trade is her wits, her discretion, and her expertise with the smallsword -- for her fencing-master taught her that as well.
She will need all her skills soon, when she is approached by an agent of the Count Verseillon, for a task that seems routine: reclaim an antique fan he once gave to "a lady with brown eyes." The fan, he tells her, is an heirloom; the lady, his first love. But as Sarah Tolerance unravels the mystery that surrounds the fan, she discovers that she--and the Count--are not the only ones seeking it, and that nothing about this task is what it seems.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
i was hooked from the very first paragraph "it is a truth universally acknowledged that a Fallen Woman of good family must,soon or late,descend to whoredom" - the heroine on the contrary becomes an Agent of Enquiry the sole one of her kind in the England of 1810. I can thoroughly recommend this - not least because of the amazing twist in the tale. One quibble was Ms Robins changing historical facts but the story itself carried me along. I will certainly purchase the second in the series
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I loved this Regency detective story. Sarah Tolerance is a great, feisty heroine and the mystery is well constructed. Great period atmosphere, too. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
First Sentence: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Fallen Woman of good family must, soon or late, descend to whoredom.
Sarah Tolerance is a disowned daughter of nobility who now lives in a cottage behind a high-class brothel and who acts as a private inquiry agent. She is hired by Count Verseillon to locate and retrieve an antique fan he's given to a lady when he was younger. What should be a relatively simple undertaking becomes less so when Sarah is attacked and others die.
For a purely fictional story, this was enjoyable. However, as historical fiction, this is definitely not the book for the historical purist and I was disappointed. The author plays fast and loose with historical facts and social details. Although she acknowledges it, I still found it disruptive.
The story, itself, was quite enjoyable and well plotted. It was a good mystery and there were things I did enjoy about it. There was one incident toward the end I felt was handled in an unlikely way and the romance felt superfluous.
I probably will read another, but more because I already have it rather than because I would now intentionally seek it out and there are other authors I would recommend instead.
Sarah Tolerance is a disowned daughter of nobility who now lives in a cottage behind a high-class brothel and who acts as a private inquiry agent. She is hired by Count Verseillon to locate and retrieve an antique fan he's given to a lady when he was younger. What should be a relatively simple undertaking becomes less so when Sarah is attacked and others die.
For a purely fictional story, this was enjoyable. However, as historical fiction, this is definitely not the book for the historical purist and I was disappointed. The author plays fast and loose with historical facts and social details. Although she acknowledges it, I still found it disruptive.
The story, itself, was quite enjoyable and well plotted. It was a good mystery and there were things I did enjoy about it. There was one incident toward the end I felt was handled in an unlikely way and the romance felt superfluous.
I probably will read another, but more because I already have it rather than because I would now intentionally seek it out and there are other authors I would recommend instead.
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