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Synopsis
Charlotte Comyn is a sheltered seventeen-year-old when her childhood companion, John Thornton, proposes marriage.
On the surface, theirs seems an ideal match: the union would represent a merger of two of England's more powerful banking houses.
But Charlotte feels there is more to life than an early and stifling marriage.
Having recently lost her grandmother, and feeling unwanted and unloved in Hull, she takes refuge in London with her mother's estranged friend, Beth Prior, an acclaimed actress and the scandalous toast of the town.
Beth welcomes Charlotte, but knows gossip-hungry London is no place for them.
Instead, they travel to Sicily, where Beth is sent on a mysterious mission by the lover she hopes to marry.
Nothing turns out as expected, and they find themselves caught in a hotbed of intrigue, where danger lurks behind every smiling faces.
Patronized by the formidable old queen, and surrounded by charming young men, whom should Beth and Charlotte trust?
From a much-loved author of historical romantic fiction, ‘Escapade’ is the gripping tale of two young women who defy the conventions of their age as they search for love and independence amidst the political turmoil of eighteenth-century Europe.
Jane Aiken Hodge (December 4, 1917 – June 17, 2009) was an American-born British writer.
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From Kirkus Reviews
A rather talky romance from veteran Hodge: here, it's 1811 and a young English girl (daughter of the heroine of Windover, 1992) and her friend, a renowned beauty and popular singer, find themselves on the political anthill of Sicily during the Napoleonic wars. Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Comryn, of Hull, has just refused the proposal of John Thornton, whom she suspects of having an eye on the Comryn family bank. Ill and miserable, she flees to Beth Prior, her mother's former servant, now established as a performer and able to be choosy about her men. Beth has been persuaded to sail to Sicily to cozy up to the former Queen of Naples, presently the ruling hand in Sicily (a queen ``given to opium and hysteria''). The British are in shaky control--but the queen's granddaughter is married to Napoleon. Off to Sicily go Beth and Charlotte, and, naturally, men gather: Charlotte's charming German tutor, Beth's current lover, Nathan Peabody, and--of all things, John Thornton. While Beth and the elderly queen hit it off, rumors fly; silly Charlotte goes where any sensible girl would fear to tread; and there's a kidnapping (Charlotte winds up at something naughty called ``The House of Persephone'')--plus a very dangerous festival--before the good chaps bucket back to Hull. The spying that circles around the political mess here is too scattered and implausible. The Windover crowd had more pep. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly
In this lively new offering by a veteran writer of historical romance, sheltered heiress Charlotte Comyn flees a marriage proposal, a nervous stomach and misunderstandings with her parents. Disguised in her brother's clothes, she appears at the London home of her mother's estranged best friend, the famous actress Beth Prior, who, though short on reputation, is long on beauty, talent and brains. With Napoleon at the height of his power, Beth also has a mission: through an intermediary, the English Foreign Secretary has asked the actress to befriend exiled Hapsburg queen Maria Carolina of Naples and convince her to remain allied with Britain. Charlotte accompanies Beth into the roiling political cauldron of Sicily for an escapade of intrigue, excitement and danger that ultimately throws each of these capable, independent women into the appropriate arms as all is happily resolved. Hodge ( Wind over ) works her usual magic as believable characters do plausible things, seamlessly incorporated into the history of their period setting.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherRandom House Value Publishing
- Publication date1995
- ISBN 10 0517143313
- ISBN 13 9780517143315
- BindingHardcover
- Rating
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