Happy Pollyooly: The Rich Little Poor Girl

Thirteen-year-old Pollyooly has never let being poor stop her from being magnificent. When the Honourable John Ruffin departs for Budapest, leaving her in care of artist Hilary Vance, she expects a quiet summer. Instead, she finds herself recruited by the Duchess of Osterley for an audacious scheme: pose as a young noblewoman and attend a house party in her place. What follows is a sparkling cascade of misunderstandings, near-discoveries, and the most entertaining social climbing since Becky Sharp made her debut. Pollyooly navigates the ridiculous expectations of the upper classes with aplomb, aided by her brother (known only as the Lump) and her unstoppable resourcefulness. Edgar Jepson writes with a light touch that recalls Wodehouse at his most effervescent, but with a heroine who refuses to be merely comic relief. She is clever, principled, and utterly unashamed of who she is, even when masquerading as someone else. The novel captures Edwardian England at its most absurd, where a poor girl can pass for royalty but cannot escape the rigid boundaries of class, except through wit and nerve.