Narrated by Charlotte North
Duchess by Design is the first entry in Maya Rodale’s new Gilded Age Girls Club series of historical romances, set – not surprisingly – in New York’s Gilded Age at the end of the nineteenth century. While the premise – an impoverished duke who needs to marry money falls for a penniless woman instead – is a well-worn one, Ms. Rodale gives it a fresh coat of paint while also encompassing the many changes in society that were happening at the time and providing a solution to the central dilemma that is completely and absolutely right for this story.
Brandon Fiennes, Duke of Kingston, inherited a pile of debts along with his title, and is now faced with the time-honoured method of restoring the family finances, his crumbling estates, his tenant’s livelihoods and providing a dowry for his sisters. He must marry an heiress. On the advice of his cousin, Freddie, Lord Hewitt, Kingston travels to New York where his title will gain him an entrée in to the highest society and thus present him with his choice of current crop of Dollar Princesses – heiresses whose families have made huge sums of money from railways, manufacturing, real-estate and so on. It might not be what he wants for himself, but it’s the only way he can provide for all those who depend on him; even if he can’t marry for love, it will at least mean that his sisters will have the chance to do so.
He has just arrived in the city and is returning to his hotel on Fifth Avenue when he literally bumps into a young woman in the lobby – and pretty much falls in love at first sight, completely enchanted by the sparkle in the woman’s eyes and the fact that she isn’t fawning over him.
Miss Adeline Black, seamstress at one of New York’s most prestigious modistes, has gone to the Fifth Avenue Hotel to undertake a dress fitting for the wealthy socialite, Miss Harriet Burnett. Adeline immediately realises the handsome man with the firm, muscled chest and excellent tailoring must be the newly arrived English duke all the newspapers are gushing about, but doesn’t let on she knows who he is. During those few moments – and during the following short elevator ride – the gentleman embarks on a very gentle flirtation and Adeline is unable to stop herself from flirting back, just a little, even though she’s well aware that that is as far as anything between a duke and a seamstress can go. Besides, she’s determined to retain her independence and to eventually open her own dress shop, so men, love and romance aren’t on her agenda.
She is surprised to receive a note from him the next day, inviting her to take a walk in Central Park. She’s not sure she should go – after all, a young woman like her, who has to earn her living, has to be careful of her reputation, and in most people’s minds there’s only one thing a duke could possibly want from a seamstress. Then she realises she can do what she desperately wants to do – see the duke again – and at the same time turn the walk into an opportunity; if she wears a dress of her own creation, it’ll be free advertising! So she agrees, delighted when her plan works. The newspapers the next day are full of the mystery woman on the duke’s arm and describing her dress. But when her employer sees her with Kingston, she jumps to the wrong conclusion and dismisses her on the spot. Kingston is furious – but what can he do? In England he’d have… done something, spoken to someone, fixed the problem and got Adeline her job back. But in New York? He might be the most sought after and eligible bachelor in the city, but as he’s quickly finding out, being a duke doesn’t mean very much in a city where lofty titles count for nothing and things work so differently than they do at home.
Fortunately for Adeline, Harriet Burnet was impressed by her ideas and designs for making women’s clothing more comfortable and practical. She invites Adeline to visit the Ladies of Liberty Club, where she is introduced to women who are progressive in their thinking and whose stated, shared purpose is “the advancement of women in the professional arts.” They work behind the scenes to support working, professional women, believing that the more women are employed, the more powerful a force for change they will become. Adeline seizes her chance, suggesting that rather than simply helping her to find another position, they consider helping her to establish her own business…
Thus we have two protagonists who come at life from completely opposite directions – Kingston from centuries of entrenched beliefs, and Adeline, who is making it up as she goes along (kind of) taking advantage of the opportunities offered her. Yet while he is certainly privileged, Kingston is far from stupid and with Adeline’s help and influence, begins to see that the only way he can do the things his honour requires of him – maintaining the livelihoods of his dependents, taking care of his family – is to move with the times.
There’s a lot to enjoy about this story, not least of which is that the author has created a group of women working towards change who support – rather than compete – with each other. Kingston is a fabulous hero, a man who really listens to the woman he loves and applauds her ambition – and who is also not above admitting when he’s wrong. Adeline is plucky, determined and not afraid to speak her mind; she’s a great match for Kingston although I have to say that I wasn’t wild about something she tried to do near the end. But for all their compatibility, I never felt that the chemistry between them was much more than lukewarm. Maybe it was because there are so many other themes and issues packed into the novel that at times it seemed as though the romance was pushed aside – I’m not sure, but there wasn’t a lot of heat between them.
Charlotte North isn’t someone I’ve listened to before, as I see from an Audible search that she narrates mostly contemporary romance, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Given the New York setting and American heroine, it makes sense to use an American narrator, so Ms. North performs the entire narrative and majority of the dialogue in her natural accent. She’s obviously an experienced narrator; her pacing is perfect, and she differentiates very effectively between a fairly large number of female characters, from Adeline’s friends Rose and Rachel, to Harriet Burnett and her circle; every lady sounds different to the others, which makes it easy for the listener to follow multi-character conversations. It will come as no surprise that I was a little nervous to hear how Ms. North would handle Kingston’s accent, but fortunately, the English accent she adopts to portray him is consistent and very good indeed. A slight drop in pitch and an added resonance complete the picture of Kingston as an attractive hero, and she makes it easy to tell the difference between him and Freddie in their various conversations. All in all, it’s an extremely accomplished performance, and I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I might before I started.
Duchess by Design is a strong start to Ms. Rodale’s new series, and although I found the romance a little lacking in heat, it nonetheless boasts a couple of engaging central characters and captures perfectly the optimism, creativity and progressiveness of the era. Charlotte North’s excellent performance serves to enhance the story, and I am certainly going to be seeking out more of her work.
Caz
Buy Duchess by Design by Maya Rodale on Amazon
