The Vicar's Daughter

1. Don't write a Regency novel and then insert all sorts of modern inventions and events. If you long to give the characters all these conveniences and pieces of music, write a Victorian novel.

#2. Research doesn't make a book authentic if it is conducted in the wrong era.

First of all, the main character and I didn't bond well as she complains about her life and begins a careful plan to write to a young man in her sister's name in order to get her sister out of the way so she can debut and have some fun. The entire story she suffers for her own fault, and until near the end she has a nasty attitude about it.

Second, THE HISTORY!!!! Oh, my. Nails on a chalkboard on this one. In careful detail we are given a description of the “ringer” Cassie uses in the laundry. Did you know the wringer wasn't invented until 1907? Earlier water-reduction methods were called a mangle and functioned quite differently. As nearly as I could tell from my own research, the mangle they were describing was an early-Victorian era one. Nothing that sophisticated existed in the Regency period, and if they did it was so expensive that a vicar who had to ecomonize by having the ladies of his family do the housework absolutely wouldn't be using one.

Again we encounter Lenora at the pianoforte, playing Tchaikovsky. Wow. Any classically trained pianist knows that Tchaikovsky was a Victorian era composer. He lived, incidentally, from 1840-1893. An entire generation before he was even born! Also, he didn't compose anything for pianoforte, as by his time it had been replaced by the modern piano.

Other irksome bits included terms like “off the top of my head” (1850s Americanism) and Lenora's age changing from 25 to 23.

The ending was cute and saved it from a one-star rating.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free review copy.