Belles and Ringers

The social season has begun, and Lady Mary Bloxam has one mission: secure advantageous husbands for her daughters. At Todborough Grange, Blanche Bloxam is the crown jewel, beautiful and poised to capture a wealthy title. But Lady Mary's meticulous plans collide with the arrival of Sylla Chipchase, a cousin whose effortless charm threatens to steal Blanche's thunder, and perhaps a suitor or two. Hawley Smart writes with knowing wit about the absurd machinery of the Victorian marriage market, where a single ball can determine a woman's entire future, where introductions are calculated gambles, and where a rival's smile might undo months of strategic maneuvering. This is social comedy at its most delicious: sharp, entertaining, and quietly savage about the performances of gentility and the silent wars fought over dinner parties and dance cards.