"A brilliant and glittering jewel of a novel...I was wholly swept away
by this story."--Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of
The Queen's Fortune
"A tale of daring and determination, set against the glamorous heights
and the harsh restrictions of aristocratic society in the middle years
of the British nineteenth century." --Sir Julian Fellowes, creator of
Downton Abbey
From one of the most famous former members of the British royal
family, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York--a mesmerizing novel of a young
noblewoman's coming of age that richly details both high society and low
in Victorian England.
Lady Margaret Montagu Scott, the second daughter of the Scottish Duke of
Buccleuch, a close friend of the Queen, is expected to make an
advantageous marriage. But Margaret is an impulsive and outspoken girl
in a repressive society where women are, quite literally, caged in
corsets and required to conform.
When Lady Margaret's parents arrange a society marriage for her, she
tries to reconcile herself to the match. But shortly before her
betrothal is announced, Margaret flees, leaving her parents to explain
her sudden absence to an opulent ballroom stuffed with two hundred
distinguished guests.
Banished from polite society, Margaret throws herself into charitable
work and finds strength in a circle of female friends like
herself--women intent on breaking the mold, including Queen Victoria's
daughter Princess Louise. Margaret resolves to follow her heart--a
journey of self-discovery that will take her to Ireland, America, and
then back to Britain where she finds the life she was always meant to
lead.
A bold and thoughtful story about a rebellious woman finding herself and
her voice in an age of astounding technological change and great social
unrest, Her Heart for a Compass is a delicious costume drama rich in
atmosphere, history, and color.
