Review: A Scandalous Match

A Scandalous Match by Jane Dunn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lord Charles Latimer has fallen in love with Angelica Leigh, an actress who has found acclaim portraying Ophelia in a current production of Hamlet, in which she 'drowns' realistically in a river of real water on stage. His mama is scandalised and asks her brother The Honourable Ivor Asprey to intervene and try to buy her off. Ivor is a reforming politician, a widower with a young daughter, he is reluctant to interfere in his nephew's affairs, particularly when Charles will soon be deemed capable of making his own decisions. Nevertheless, he agrees and visits her backstage where he makes a complete hash of the whole thing and only succeeds in antagonising Angelica who honestly had no intention/expectation of marrying Charles in the first place.

Angelica and her mother lived hand-to-mouth for many years until her mother found a kindly protector who set them up in a lovely house in Mayfair and continues to lavish them with gifts and money .Angelica's mother wants Her to find a rich husband, but Angelica is more interested in her career as an actress, even if it does leave her open to bawdy comments and invitations to be the mistress of wealthy men. Well spoken and educated, Angelica knows the reputation actresses have but she is determined to live her own life.

So far, this seemed very similar to the beloved Georgette Heyer novel Faro's Daughter (although in that case the heroine ran a gaming hell). Unfortunately for me that is where the similarities ended. I happily confess that I am not a historian but I find it very hard to believe that a member of the aristocracy would allow his only daughter to associate with an actress, particularly one who had murky parentage. Similarly, given the licentiousness of the theatre audiences of the time, I don't believe an aristocrat would take his young daughter to the theatre. In addition, Angelica' befriends the daughter of a nobleman who lost his fortune gambling and then committed suicide, once her inheritance is restored and she is once more an eligible marriage prospect she still consorts with Angelica - something I can't believe her stepmother would ever have countenance.

Added to the unbelievability of the plot, this just seemed to drag, with side plots involving Angelica's missing father, a romance between Ivor's man of business and his daughter's governess, rehearsals for a new play, a one-dimensional villain, Ivor's political concerns, and his daughter's match-making.

Loved the cover.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

View all my reviews