Lady Elizabeth's Comet

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 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 show more not too long. Recommended. 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 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 show more 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

Very possibly the most enjoyable Regency romance I have read yet. All the usual genre tropes are here: the sensible heroine in her late 20s, her troublesome but amusing family, the strong-willed man who enters her life through uncontrollable circumstances. But Simonson makes her characters breathe and feel as no other regency writer I've read. The story is told in the first person, and we are placed into the mind of a woman in the nineteenth century--a very intelligent and educated mind, but one nevertheless of her period, with the period's prejudices. It is painful to realize that even Lady Elizabeth, who has spent her twenties peering through a telescope rather than marrying, has ingested the poisonous idea that an intellectual woman show more is unnatural. She is unusual to the modern reader in other ways: she has little interest in her younger siblings, and in fact doesn't know them well or provide for their education, despite their dependence upon her. The usual cliche of a hero realizing his love for a heroine by watching her tender care toward children or the sick doesn't hold true here. And to readers used to Heyer's sexless maidens, Lady Elizabeth's thoughts are quite inappropriate--though not passionate, she has an eye for handsome men.

I was surprised to find such character development, emotional depth, and complex interpersonal relationships. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has liked Austen, Heyer, or any of the many regency writers--so long as they're not hoping for a paint-by-numbers story. show less

Solid, delightful Regency.

Lady Elizabeth loves her telescope. Her fascination with the skies is tolerated but not encouraged by society. She's well on her way to spinsterhood.

Then her father's heir, Tom, shows up. He's ex-military, in poor health.

Their suitability is obvious from the start to everyone but them. After numerous missteps and roundabouts, they finally find their true love.

A sweet tale.

One of the few romances I saved from a Regency Romance frenzy in the late 1970's and early 1980's. This one is has an improbably intellectual heroine, but is charmingly written, has endearing characters, and is emotionally believable.

I thought that if I was able to get into any romance novel, it would be this one, with its antisocial weirdo astronomer heroine in Regency England. In the end I thought it was okay, but kind of flimsy and cheesy. This may say more about my feeling about romance novels than about this particular book. But I was really hoping this would be smarter.

Lady Elizabeths father Lord Clanross has died leaving the title to a relative.This is not much of a concern to her as she is an independent woman with her own establishment.

She plans on continuing to live her own and life and pursue her passion for astronomy.And of course there are her two wild younger sisters to take care of.

When he finally arrives he is nothing at all what she anticipated,being a very ill man ravaged by the war injuries he suffered in the Peninsular war.

Not realizing this Elizabeth dismisses him as just weakling of a man.

But when he suddenly gets sick she decideds she is the best person to help care for him and they form a friendly relationship.

The heroine was a bit too mature,almost boring for my taste.She was show more supposed to be 28 years old but could just as easily have been twice that age.I kept waiting for her to do something,anything that would make her a bit more lively.

The hero remained a bit of a mystery throughout the most of the book,since the story is told in first person through the eyes of the heroine. So we dont get his thoughts on thing. Thats not so very common in historical romances nowadays.

I didnt really feel there was much of a romance as the heroine gets engaged about halfway into the book...but not to the hero. But to his best friend.

They do realize they dont suit and break the the engagement

I think the author wanted to write a book along the lines of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. But while there is a lot of visiting and everyday life being described in the book it doesnt really advance the story,instead I felt it bogged it down.

The author also uses a lot of old fashioned words. I swear when I read the sentence "she writ me" I honestly thought it was a typo. It annoyed me.

There is also "heroick" and "connexion" to mention some others.

I give it two stars because altough I didnt care for it,the writing wasnt bad per se and there were no glaring historical inconsistencies.In short it was a bit bland. Not bad,not overly good.

Just ok.

If you want to read a book that also has an independent heroine and reminded me a bit of this one (sans sick hero) I suggest [b:The Country Gentleman|977067|The Country Gentleman|Fiona Hill|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nocover/60x80.png|961963] by [a:Fiona Hill|184214|Fiona Hill|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1255236291p2/184214.jpg] show less