A Perfect Hand: A Novel

ISBN: 1101875348

Author: Waldman, Ayelet

Condition: New

A richly drawn, captivating, and endlessly amusing novel of love and subterfuge between a ladys maid and her clandestine lover, set in the country estates of nineteenth-century England."Ayelet Waldmans clever, fast-paced historical romp turned out to be not only great fun but also surprisingly stirring. This book is a pleasure."-Meg Wolitzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Female PersuasionMiss Alice Lockey, daughter of a tenant farmer, has by dint of hard work, innate intelligence, and a cunning ability to predict the moods of her betters, raised herself to the lofty status of ladys maid at Alderwick Park. Though her mother has advised Alice to work only until marriage, Alice has thus far resisted the temptations of matrimony among the neighboring widowers and pig farmers, more content to enjoy the fruits of her labor-or at least the portion of it her father will share after it is paid to him. Alice spends her days arranging Lady Jemima Alderwicks blond hair into the latest French styles, chignons and plaits, laundering her ladys surprisingly malodorous petticoats and drawers, and carefully sewing all manner of fripperies, ribbons, lace, and silk flowers, to her ladys bonnets and gowns.But when a visiting servant, a valet named Charlie Wells, catches her eye, Alice begins to understand the constraints of her position. In a ploy to spend time with the object of her affection, Alice attempts to arrange a romance between Lady Jemima Alderwick and Charlies employer, one Baronet Sir Nigel Wynstowe. If only they would fall in love-then Alice and Charlie might live together as man and wife! Challenged by Lady Jemimas love for another and Sir Wynstowes eccentric personality, Alice must use all of her cunning to bring about this unlikely romantic union. Will this low-born servant successfully manipulate the hearts of these lords and ladies? Will Charlie and Alice ever improve their stations? Or, as the beginning of womens suffrage begins to percolate in the drawing rooms and salons of London, will Alice discover a different sort of path for herself?A deliciously funny, gorgeously detailed, utter enthralling novel, A Perfect Hand is a glorious novel of class, gender, and England on the cusp of enormous change.