Tabitha and Mariette--one a tailor's daughter and the other the daughter of a French count and heiress to the vast St. Aubyn fortunes--have been inseparable since the age of ten, but by the time they are grown, the tensions in London between Protestants and Catholics cause trouble for both families. When rioting breaks out, Tabitha forsakes her home and family to accompany Mariette and her new husband, Conor, to his home in Ireland. Although she has another suitor, young Robin, who apprenticed with her father and with whom she has grown up, Tabitha discovers within herself an illicit attraction to Conor, and bears his son when Mariette proves barren. Bennett's unusually candid historical romance offers glimpses into the lives of ordinary people, as well as the aristocracy, during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, when religious tensions caused turmoil in England while America waged its War of Independence and France overthrew its monarchy and instigated the Reign of Terror. --Lynne Welch Copyright 2006 Booklist

This implausible, plot-heavy romance is saved by the author's beautiful prose. Veda Grenfell, daughter of one of the most fashionable tailors in Victorian London, wins hearts with her beauty and boldness. Her charm, coupled with the protection of the formidable Lady Hambledon, seems calculated to win her an advantageous marriage. Then tragedy strikes; after a spell of typhus, Veda is left deaf. In the meantime, Lady Hambledon is killed in mysterious circumstances, sending Veda into despair. Soon, however, she rallies, and begins to recreate herself, learning to read lips, becoming an expert horsewoman and finally exploiting her natural gifts to become a tailor in her own right. Wearing--always the most exquisite--men's clothes, she has the job of dressing Victorian high society. Meanwhile, the ne'er-do-well son of her lost friend, Lady Hambledon, has begun to show a dangerous preference for her. Harry is everything Veda could possibly want, but is also an earl, and required to marry for the honor and enrichment of his family, not for love. Of course, the reader knows a way will be found, but no reader could possibly foresee the Gothic labyrinth poor Veda will be made to navigate to find her way at last into Harry's arms. Graham is willing to leave a few dangling inconsistencies in her headlong gallop to the next extravagant plot point, and the tender reader may feel battered by the end. But the sheer generosity of her invention, and her unfailing ability to create believable characters of every ilk, from the tepid to the grotesque, are nothing short of stunning. It would take an arrant killjoy to object to the improbabilities; Graham (Firebird, 1998) is always and abundantly a good time. Roller-coaster romance; not for sissies. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

How much can one middle-class Victorian-era woman endure? Plenty, as evidenced by this engrossing second novel from Graham (Firebird). A tailor's daughter living on London's Savile Row, Veda Grenfell expects that one day she will marry up and shed her status as a tradesman's daughter. But as she comes of marrying age, her brother dies in a riding accident, her mother and unborn sibling die during childbirth and a bout of typhoid fever leaves Veda deaf. Realizing her deafness will ward off suitors, Veda goes to work at her father's shop, where she proves herself a talented seamstress, and intrigue and possible romance simmer. Charismatic Lord Ormelie is interested in more than Veda's stitch work; the repellant Balducci, the head cutter at Grenfell's, uses Veda to further his position at Grenfell's; and Mr. Nicholls, a clergyman hired by Veda's father as a tutor, is prone to caustic jealousy of other men who pay attention to Veda. Veda's deafness is smartly played, and Graham's depiction of the tailor shop's inner workings is instructive. Though the litany of setbacks Veda endures makes it seem like the world has it in for her, the redemptive ending will please fans of the genre. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved