Sylvia or the Moral High Ground

The glittering London Season, with its drives in the Park, balls and routs, provides the backdrop to this story of love thrown away, past decisions bitterly regretted and the lengths to which the characters will go as they struggle to escape from the misery of their own – or others'- making. Bowness's latest Regency novel follows the fortunes of two women at very different stages of their lives. Sylvia is a governess who has come to London for the first time. She is not looking for romance but hopes to see the famous sights. Almost immediately, she becomes an object of interest to several people, not all of them benevolently-inclined. She faces unexpected danger and is unsure whence it emanates. Is she just in the wrong place at the wrong time or does someone wish her ill? Whom can she trust? Cassie, the wrong side of forty, is in despair lest she be deserted by her long-time lover and protector; she has a growing fear of the future – for what is to become of a retired Bird of Paradise? Must she take up gardening? Praise for Bowness's previous books includes: ‘A lovely well written "literary" read'; ‘this is most definitely a Regency romance in the old vein of no sex and Ms Austen style of prose'; ‘a thoroughly enjoyable, well written Regency with considerable humour. A must for Heyer fans.'