This is Georgette Heyer's first novel, written when she was 17, and it's noticeable, but I still enjoyed it a lot. Some people say the characters are stereotypical and flat, but I quite liked them all. Heyer definitely liked her villain, who is the inspiration for the Duke of Avon in "These Old Shades." If you like Georgette Heyer's works, definitely read this one, although don't let it be one of the first. The only really bad thing I have to say about this book is that this library copy is atrocious. Whoever printed it should probably be fired. The cover has a pixelated image worse than a 90s computer game, plain, boring text for the title, and the inside text is tiny and hard to read, with tons of white space left on the top and bottom. If I had ever printed a book like this, I would have chucked them all in the garbage and redone it, no matter the cost. It was printed in 2017! Books should not look like this!

Tried to listen to the cd of this but found the reader's rendition of Lavinia too unbearable to hear. Liked reading it better. Not Heyer's best, but definitely worth reading. I enjoy hearing books read by a robot more than when read by a reader who, to me, misses the mark and exaggerates or otherwise distorts the author's words of a character.

Another of Heyers best, read this the first time in one sitting, I couldn't put it down.