A True Friend: A Novel

In Victorian England, the most dangerous relationship is one society refuses to acknowledge. Janetta Colwyn, a music governess earning her modest living, and Margaret Adair, a wealthy heiress and celebrated beauty, forge a bond at their fashionable school that their world cannot abide. Their friendship crosses the line that proper society demands remain uncrossable: the gulf between wealth and want. When Miss Polehampton, guardian of institutional propriety, detects this inappropriate alliance, she moves to destroy it, expelling both girls rather than allow their connection to flourish. But Margaret's attachment to Janetta proves stronger than convention. This is a novel about what happens when loyalty refuses to bow to class consciousness, when two women decide their friendship matters more than the rules designed to keep them separate. For readers who cherish stories of forbidden bonds and quiet rebellion, Sergeant writes with sensitive insight into the pain of being judged unworthy of association.