Secrets and Sapphires

"It’s exciting and fun, but I like this book because it is also so much more than just a glamorous Downton-esque story of sparkling dresses and privilege. The Earl of Westlake is returning from India to England under a bit of a cloud of suspicion. We aren’t told exactly what he may have done or been involved in, but there are a lot of people on the boat who are not speaking to him. Also with him on the boat are his two daughters, Ada and Georgiana. This is your first taste in the book of the notion that for these people reputation was absolutely everything, and that if your reputation was compromised, it could have devastating consequences. For men but even more so for women. Ada is of marriageable age and is poised on the brink of her first social season but there is this unspecified cloud of suspicion over her father. The story is told from the perspective of multiple characters – so you get this very clear upstairs downstairs feeling. Added to which every character has their own drama taking place in their life. There’s a gossipy, messy feel to the way the drama is played out. It’s lively and exciting to read. Yes, it’s a good reflection of the society at the time – how it really was. There are characters from a variety of backgrounds – this isn’t a white middle-class retelling of Edwardian England. Issues of Empire and Indian independence are treated with good historical detail and fact. It doesn’t feel overdone and you absorb all this effortlessly. Lady Ada, through her relationship with another character, Ravi, comes to understand that her perspective of India is skewed because she is a part of the colonial system herself. The book is a great mix of well-informed history and gossipy glamour. It conjures the truth of what England really looked like at this point."