A Gentlewoman Scholar (Timeless Victorian Collection #6)

A short story anthology, featuring: “Blessing in Disguise” by Sarah M. Eden where Liam Rafferty is sent by the Trinity College heads to investigate the strange medical student, Fred Fitzsimmons, whose secret that he is in fact she, could destroy the hopes of many. In “An Unexpected Education” by Michele Paige Holmes, Esther Sessions has escaped her abusive past and is granted a chance to attend Bedford Women’s College. Determined to never again rely on a man for survival, she never expects to meet the kind and gentlemanly Professor John Lind. Finally, in “Good Heir Hunting” by Nancy Campbell Allen, Solicitor Graham Lucas is on the hunt for his friend’s son. When his search takes him to a Kindergarten serving Liverpool’s orphans, he finds an ally in Ellie Perkins, the principal. To determine which of her pupils is the lost heir, Graham agrees to help her as a substitute teacher, but a dangerous presence lurks just out of sight, threatening everything. 

 

A fabulous historical romance, the three stories successfully tell their tales while still leaving the reader wishing they were longer. The first is an original tale that plays up the gender switching to get somewhere trope, and gives it a little twist with the added benefit of a light mystery on Liam’s side, and a sweet romance too! The second story is that of a woman who finds love - not as a debutante or a governess, but in between, with only a few convenient circumstances to push the plot along to its obvious conclusion. Yet in the last story, a different part of Victorian England is explored with a surprising but satisfying ending to its tale, with the most action and tension of the three stories.  Overall, readers will want to immediately enjoy the best of women scholars, Victorian England, and romance!

 

Sarah E Bradley