Audiobook Review – The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden, Narrated by Justine Eyre (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery/Romance
Length: 8 hours and 10 minutes
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: September 03, 2019
ASIN: B07RWQJGY9
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed Audiobook through Audible Escapes
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls school in 1865s Victorian London. She is also a well-respected author of silver-fork novels, stories written both for and about the upper-class ladies of Victorian society. But by night, she writes very different kinds of stories–the Penny Dreadfuls that are all the rage among the working-class men. Under the pseudonym Charles King, Elizabeth has written about dashing heroes fighting supernatural threats, intelligent detectives solving grisly murders, and dangerous outlaws romancing helpless women. They contain all the adventure and mystery that her real life lacks.
Fletcher Walker began life as a street urchin, but is now the most successful author in the Penny Dreadful market, that is until Charles King started taking all of his readers. No one knows who King is, including Fletcher s fellow members of the Dread Penny Society, a fraternity of authors dedicated to secretly fighting for the social and political causes of their working-class readers. The group knows King could be an asset with his obvious monetary success, or he could be the group s undoing as King s readership continues to cut into their profits.
Determined to find the elusive Mr. King, Fletcher approaches Miss Black. As a fellow-author, she is well-known among the high-class writers; perhaps she could be persuaded to make some inquiries as to Mr. King s whereabouts? Elizabeth agrees to help Fletcher, if only to insure her secret identity is never discovered. What neither author anticipated was the instant attraction, even though their social positions dictate the impossibility of a relationship.
For the first time Elizabeth experiences the thrill of a cat-and-mouse adventure reminiscent of one of her own novels as she tries to throw Fletcher off her scent. But the more time they spend together, the more she loses her heart. Its upper-class against working-class, author against author where readers, reputations, and romance are all on the line.”
Series Info/Source: I borrowed this audiobook through Audible Escapes. This is a stand alone historical mystery/romance.
Audiobook Quality (4/5): The narration for this audiobook was well done. I really enjoyed it and have no complaints.
Story (4/5): This story focuses on two different characters; Elizabeth Black and Fletcher Walker. Elizabeth runs an all girls school and writes society stories on the side. However, she also has a secret identity as a male writer of Penny Dreadful novels. Fletcher is a Penny Dreadful writer who lifted himself out of poverty with his writing skills. Unfortunately, sales of a new mysterious Penny Dreadful author are cutting into his profits…profits he uses to help the poor of London. Elizabeth and Fletcher end up mixed up together in a mystery involving missing street urchins and find out they have more in common than they thought.
This was a fun, light Victorian mystery with some romance. I enjoyed it. It’s well written and makes for a fun, quick read.
Characters (4/5): The story really revolves around Fletcher and Elizabeth. They are both heartfelt and well done characters that I enjoyed. Both make their way through proper society but also have somewhat secret divergent personalities as well. There are a number of street urchin children as side characters and they were well done. In addition to that you get to read both Fletcher’s and Elizabeth’s Penny Dreadful series and meet the characters of those stories.
Setting (4/5): The story was set in London and at Elizabeth’s girls school. I always enjoy a London setting, but it wasn’t really the main point of the story.
Writing Style (4/5): At first I was a bit confused about what was going on here. However, once I figured out what was going on I enjoyed it. The story goes between Fletcher and Elizabeth’s POV, but there are also sections from both Fletcher’s and Elizabeth’s Penny Dreadful series in here. So you would go from Elizabeth to Fletcher to Elizabeth’s novel to Elizabeth to Fletcher to Fletcher’s novel. This was kind of confusing in audiobook format but probably would have been clearer in written format. Aside from that issue I enjoyed Eden’s writing style, it was easy to listen to and fun. This is a feel good story and things never get too urgent or dire.
My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a fun and cute Victorian mystery with some romance in it. I enjoyed it, there’s a lot of humor in here and I liked both the characters and the mystery they are trying to solve. While it’s fairly forgettable, it was a fun diversion and a perfect light listen for me.
