Sheila Simonson

This was a winner. I really enjoyed it. The first person narrator is Lady Elizabeth, an enormously talented and dedicated astronomer, who has reached the advanced age of 28 without marrying. She's the eldest of eight girls, and her father, the earl, has just died. His title and property have passed to the son of his black-sheep younger brother. The new earl, Thomas Conway, is a survivor of Waterloo, so severely wounded that he has only a few years to live. Surgeons have been unable to remove show more all the shrapnel from his body, and there is a piece lodged near his spine that will eventually kill him. You know what's going to happen!

I liked Elizabeth and Thomas very much, and enjoyed Elizabeth's witty narration. Lively, cheerful, funny and not too long. Recommended. show less

I really enjoyed this book on rereading it in 2025, ten years after first encountering it, because of the author's depth of historical knowledge and the immediacy with which she presents the threats that the privileged class of that time faced from government oppression and quelling of free speech on the one hand and the uprisings of the unemployed and UNprivileged class on the other. The author Richard Falk worrying about whether it would be wise to publish satire in the political climate show more and the cartoonist arrested for publishing a caricature depicting George IV as fat (which he was, immensely) seemed quite topical this year.

The characters, especially the older protagonists from Lady Elizabeth's Comet and The Bar Sinister, are engaging and I would happily read any number of books about them if Simonson had chosen to write more.

Also, I really love the authenticity of the setting and manners. I did not discern any disturbing anachronisms, although having reread all three books (Comet, Bar Sinister, and this) in two days, I may have missed something. I did wonder about use of "a lot" in the first quarter of the 19th century for a second or two before I read on; not the sort of thing that's easy to look up quickly. But the spelling throughout the books is outstanding. Even the narration in Simonson's books conforms to Regency era norms, eg. "teaze" spelt with a zed. I greatly admire her writing and her erudition. show less

Absorbed in tracking the "dark nebulosity" she had discovered in the course of her astronomical work, Lady Elizabeth Conway - the independent eldest daughter of the Earl of Conway, still unmarried at twenty-eight - finds her quiet routine interrupted by the arrival of a distant and unknown cousin, the heir to her father's title and estates. Although she does not immediately take to Clanross, whose stiff manner, and criticism of the education she is providing her two young half-sisters, sets show more her on edge, Lady Elizabeth soon comes to appreciate the better qualities of this most unexpected relative. Unlike the charming Lord Bevis - her erstwhile suitor, who arrives on the scene determined to resume their courtship - Clanross respects and admires Lady Elizabeth's work. Will she see where her heart lies in time, or will she surrender both vocation and true love...?

Or course there's never much doubt of the outcome in Lady Elizabeth's Comet, as any reader of Regency fiction will immediately recognize, but it is still entertaining to witness the heroine's gradual awakening. The second of Sheila Simonson's four Regencies, following upon A Cousinly Connexion, it is written in the first person, an unusual approach that both limits and strengthens the story. It takes a while to warm up to Lady Elizabeth, who is a much more self-contained character than the usual female lead in a romance such as this, so the first-person narrative is helpful, in forcing the reader to identify with her perspective. But it also make Clanross more of a mystery, as he would have been to Lady Elizabeth, and prevents the reader from really knowing him.

I liked that Lady Elizabeth's vocation as an astronomer was an integral part of her character, rather than being an affectation meant (on the author's part) to make her unusual, and I also liked Clanross's political and social views. These may have sometimes felt a little too ideal - Clanross values intelligence in women, and wants Elizabeth to continue her work, he speaks up for Irish rights in the House of Lords, and so on - but were nevertheless appealing. All in all, an engaging Regency romance, one well worth the time of fans of the genre! show less

When her Aunt Louisa is unexpectedly widowed, and left in charge of a family of young children, Jane Ash soon finds herself in West Dorset, all but running Meriden Place. As the months pass, she and her Stretton cousins begin to wonder when the new Lord Meriden will arrive. How will he behave to the stepmother who sent him away to be raised by his maternal grandparents, or the step-siblings he barely knows?

Julian Stretton, in the meantime, finds his recovery from wounds received during the show more battle of Waterloo interrupted by the unexpected news of his elevation, following the deaths of his father and older brother. Unprepared for the duties of a managing a large estate, or the challenges of heading a large family, the new Lord Meriden must navigate some tricky waters upon his homecoming. Luckily, the capable Jane is there to assist him. But for how long...?

Having exhausted all of Georgette Heyer's romantic fiction, I have been looking around lately for a worthy successor - an author of light-hearted, reasonably well-written, and intelligent regency novels. It's a pity that Sheila Simonson only wrote four books in this vein, as I enjoyed A Cousinly Connexion immensely (despite the overly pink cover!), and think her work might be just the sort of thing I've been wanting. With an engaging narrative, appealing characters, and a good grasp of the social milieu in which she is setting her story, Simonson does an excellent job here. I'm looking forward to her next, Lady Elizabeth's Comet! show less