Patricia Brent, Spinster

The year is 1918. Patricia Brent is twenty-four, unmarried, and absolutely tired of being pitied for it. When she overhears her fellow boarders at Galvin House marveling over her solitary existence, something inside her snaps. In a fit of defiance, she announces she will be dining with her fiancé, a fictional officer, at the prestigious Quadrant Grill-room. There is only one small problem: she has no fiancé. Desperate and daring, she coerces a bewildered young army officer, Lord Peter Bowen, into playing along with her lie. What ensues is a sparkling comedy of errors as the ruse spirals further from her control, forcing Patricia to confront not just the expectations of society, but her own desires about who she actually wants to be. Beneath the period charm and witty misunderstandings lies a sharp critique of the impossible standards imposed on single women, delivered through a protagonist who refuses to go quietly into society's waiting arms.