Chief among them were my parents, to whom I owe my endless gratitude. To my mom, for tea services, medication management, pet maintenance, and for always being in my corner, even when she insists on playing devil’s advocate. And to my dad, for bookkeeping, tech support, and for limitless patience and positivity, even when his own health was at its worst.
I’m also exceedingly grateful to my publishing family. To my amazing agent, Sarah Hershman. Thank you for listening to me and sticking with me. To my brilliant editor, Sarah Blumenstock. Thank you for believing in my stories and helping to make them the very best they can be. To Yazmine Hassan, Jessica Plummer, Farjana Yazmin, Marianne Aguiar, and everyone at Berkley and Penguin Random House who do such great work to get my books out into the world and into the hands of readers. Thank you for your diligence, creativity, and enthusiasm.
Additional thanks to Rel Mollet, who is as invaluable as a friend as she is an assistant. To Flora, Dana, Alissa, Rachel, and Renee, for reading early drafts of this story and offering such helpful feedback. And to my animal family—Stella, Jet, Tavi, and Bijou—for emotional support and writerly companionship.
Lastly, to Asteria, my new Andalusian filly. She came into my life in the months after my Andalusian gelding, Centelleo, passed away. A solemn little foal with a grave expression, she seemed to know she was destined to fill some pretty big horseshoes. Her name means “starry one,” and aptly so. She’s been a bright light in a dark time. I’m so thankful for her.
READERS GUIDE
The Belle of Belgrave Square
Mimi Matthews
READERS GUIDE
Discussion Questions
Julia Wychwood manages her anxiety by either riding her horse or losing herself in a novel. Given the expectations of her parents and of Victorian society in general, how successful are her coping strategies? What other methods might she have employed to deal with her condition?
Julia often pretends illness in order to be left alone, even if it means undergoing a course of bloodletting as a consequence. Is this a fair trade-off? What other trade-offs might Victorian women in Julia’s position make in order to maintain some degree of privacy and autonomy?
Captain Jasper Blunt has come to London to find a wealthy bride. Considering the many secrets he’s keeping, is marrying an heiress the wisest course? What else might he have done to improve his family’s fortunes?
Dr. Cordingley blames novels for inflaming Julia’s passions. Was reading romantic novels truly dangerous for impressionable Victorian girls? Did it negatively impact their ability to be happy with their lots in life? Or did it encourage them to strive for something more? How does reading impact your life?
Julia proposes to Captain Blunt as a way of escaping an untenable situation. Was marriage to a stranger better or worse than remaining in her parents’ care?
Captain Blunt guards his true identity both to protect his children and to save them—and Julia—from carrying the burden of his secrets. Is this a noble course of action? Or is he unnecessarily shouldering the burden alone?
Why might Julia find it easier to speak up on behalf of the children than she does on behalf of herself? Does advocating for the children help to strengthen her self-confidence? How does that influence her future behavior? Have you been in a situation where you found it easier to champion others over yourself?
What motivated Captain Blunt to stay on at Goldfinch Hall after returning from the Crimea? Was it sensible of him to remain? Or would it have been better to leave Dolly and the children to their fates?
Why might Victorian novel readers have preferred sensation novels (melodramatic stories with elements of romance, crime, and an emphasis on hidden secrets and identities, like Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon or The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins) to those that were more historically accurate? Do you think those reasons are still relevant to fiction today?
What facets of Captain Blunt’s life mirrored those of a Victorian sensation novel? How might these elements have served to further attract Julia?
Why is it important for Julia to face her parents? Why does she ultimately insist on confronting them alone?
Should Julia have remained angry with Captain Blunt for keeping secrets from her? Or was she right to forgive him?
Keep reading for a preview of
the next Belles of London romance
The Lily of Ludgate Hill
Coming soon from Berkley Romance!
London, England
June 1862
Lady Anne Deveril flattered herself that she had many outstanding qualities. Chief among them was her willingness to do anything for a friend. And Julia Wychwood was her best friend in the whole world. She had been thus ever since the pair of them had endured a first season together; two unwilling wallflowers—one in unrelieved black and one in over-flounced blue—left to languish, unadmired, at the back of every fashionable ball, society musicale, and amateur theatrical on offer.
One disappointing season had followed another in rapid succession. Three altogether. It had only served to strengthen the bond Anne and Julia shared. No longer wallflowers, they were comrades in arms. Fellow horsewomen. Sisters.
Yes, for Julia, Anne would do anything, even face the devil himself.
Tucking her folded copy of the Spiritualist Herald more firmly under her arm, she marched up the freshly swept stone steps of the Earl of March’s stately town house in Arlington Street and firmly applied the brass knocker to the painted door.
Lord March was no devil, but he was currently housing one.
The door was promptly opened by a young footman.
“Good morning,” Anne said briskly. “Be so good as to inform his lordship that Lady Anne Deveril is here to see him.”
The footman didn’t question her identity. Indeed, he appeared to recognize her. And why not? She was herself an earl’s daughter, and one of some notoriety thanks to the conduct of her famously eccentric mother. A widowed countess couldn’t garb herself entirely in black for years on end, traipsing about the city to consort with crystal gazers and mediums, without drawing some degree of attention to herself. Anne had long accepted that she must bear some guilt by association.