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Sinclair Family Saga #8
A Lady of Scandal
Risking social ruin by becoming an actress, Miss Ophelia Applegate, with her sensible sister Cordelia in tow, runs away from home to London where she meets a handsome, yet shady gentleman who promises to get her an audition at the Malory Road Theatre if she does him a special favor. Original.
316 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 6, 2007
56 people want to read
About the author
Nicole Byrd
25 books19 followersCheryl Byrd was born on 9 June 1947 in Clarksville, Tennessee, USA, daughter of Nancy, a sales manager, and Smith Henry Byrd, a military officer. As an army brat, she has lived in Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Kentucky, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, southern California, Great Britain, and Germany. Growing up, she changed schools ten times in twelve years. She has been an Anglophile since she discovered the Dr. Dolittle books at about the age of seven. After enduring serious frustration when she could not learn to talk to the animals, she stuck to reading and devoured the Mary Poppins series, the Borrowers, and anything else English she could find, enjoying, as she grew, many British writers including the wonderful Jane Austen and even the Bard himself. And somewhere along the way, the writing bug bit, as well.
On 2 June 1967, she married Q. J. Wasden, a sales manager. They had two children: Quinton John and Michelle Nicole, and divorced in September 1979. On 20 June 1982, she married Charles O. Zach Jr., the president of a die casting company, who died on 1990. She obtained a BA (1968) and MA (1977) in English Literature at Austin Peay State University. She worked as high school English teacher in Harrison County, MS, 1970-71; as freelance journalist, 1976-77; high school English teacher in Dyersburg, TN, 1978-82; before stopping to write full time.
As Cheryl Zach, she wrote Young Adult and romance novels, she also used the pseudonym of Jennifer Cole. So after publishing over thirty books in various genres, she was thrilled to write books. But, she loves history, most of all English history, and most wanted to write historical adventure set in the English Regency period–Jane Austen’s era. The first books as Nicole Byrd were written with her daughter Michelle Nicole Wasden Place. When Michelle became too busy with a growing family to do more than function as the world’s best critique partner, the later books were written on her own. The books in the Sinclair Family Saga have been a delight to write, and the characters have become as familiar and beloved as old friends.
Her book Benny and the No-Good Teacher was a nominee for the South Carolina Children’s Book Award and her book, The Class Trip was an International Reading Association/Children’s Book Award. Zach is the first young adult writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America’s Hall of Fame. She was also the first recipient of Young Adult Network’s Silver Diary Award. Her historical novel, Hearts Divided, won the 1996 Virginia Romance Writer’s Holt Medallion in the Young Adult category. Her articles have appeared in The Writer magazine, Children's Writer, and the Writer's Handbook. She is the current chairperson of the SCBWI Regional Advisors.
On 2 June 1967, she married Q. J. Wasden, a sales manager. They had two children: Quinton John and Michelle Nicole, and divorced in September 1979. On 20 June 1982, she married Charles O. Zach Jr., the president of a die casting company, who died on 1990. She obtained a BA (1968) and MA (1977) in English Literature at Austin Peay State University. She worked as high school English teacher in Harrison County, MS, 1970-71; as freelance journalist, 1976-77; high school English teacher in Dyersburg, TN, 1978-82; before stopping to write full time.
As Cheryl Zach, she wrote Young Adult and romance novels, she also used the pseudonym of Jennifer Cole. So after publishing over thirty books in various genres, she was thrilled to write books. But, she loves history, most of all English history, and most wanted to write historical adventure set in the English Regency period–Jane Austen’s era. The first books as Nicole Byrd were written with her daughter Michelle Nicole Wasden Place. When Michelle became too busy with a growing family to do more than function as the world’s best critique partner, the later books were written on her own. The books in the Sinclair Family Saga have been a delight to write, and the characters have become as familiar and beloved as old friends.
Her book Benny and the No-Good Teacher was a nominee for the South Carolina Children’s Book Award and her book, The Class Trip was an International Reading Association/Children’s Book Award. Zach is the first young adult writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America’s Hall of Fame. She was also the first recipient of Young Adult Network’s Silver Diary Award. Her historical novel, Hearts Divided, won the 1996 Virginia Romance Writer’s Holt Medallion in the Young Adult category. Her articles have appeared in The Writer magazine, Children's Writer, and the Writer's Handbook. She is the current chairperson of the SCBWI Regional Advisors.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 26, 2022
To chyba najsłabsza książka Nicole Byrd. Autorka chciała upiec dwie pieczenie na jednym ogniu i opisała za jednym zamachem romanse obu najmłodszych sióstr Applegate. Zamiast jednej całkiem niezłej historii mamy dwie prowadzone obok siebie, pośpiesznie nakreślone i niestety nudne.
March 8, 2009
Oh, completion! I’d forgotten the satisfaction I get from finishing a book. It’s been just about a month since I’ve finished a book, and I’m still reading about six. It’s entirely possible that a slew of entries will follow.
But let’s talk about this first. A Lady of Scandal is just what it sounds like: a Regency Historical Romance novel that I found on a used shelf at Bookland, picked up on a whim because I needed to use up a gift card. The line on the back of the paperback that convinced me to spend the $3.50 was “Miss Ophelia Applegate knows that ladies rarely become actresses without incurring social ruin — but surely there are exceptions?” Ooh, theatre, scandal, ‘proper ladies’; I was intrigued, I bought it, and about ten months later, I finally got around to reading it.
It was … cute? Twin sisters – Ophelia and Cordelia – run away from Yorkshire to London so that Ophelia can pursue her life-long dream of being an actress which, during the Regency period, is unheard of for a ‘lady of quality.’ The girls are saved from a possible mugging by the “rakish” Ransom Sheffield, who, for the majority of the novel, every character refers to as ‘Mr. Ransom Sheffield.’ As in:
Mr. Ransom Sheffield had a vicar cousin named Giles Sheffield, and here’s where my little geek heart ‘sploded, because I managed to find a story with both a Giles and a Cordelia. Luckily for my little geek heart, Ophelia develops feelings for Giles and Cordelia develops feelings for Mr. Ransom Sheffield. If Cordelia fell in love with Giles, I don’t think I’d have finished the book, because that would be way too icky for me.
The plot: Ophelia and Cordelia gain employment at a creepy theatre owned by Mr. Nettles, who is meanwhile blackmailing Mr. Ransom Sheffield’s brother, Avery. Ransom gets a job at the theatre to gain back the evidence against Avery, and also to protect the girls. A long-lost relative ‘kidnaps’ the girls from the theatre, but he and his wife turn out to be allies. Then Nettles decides to advertise that a lady of quality is starring in his new play, and now Ophelia and Cordelia are in danger of being exposed.
The whole story barrels along at a slightly slower-than-I’m-used-to pace, with some sidesteps into ‘rescuing young daughters from brothels’ and ‘playwright’s rights’, but overall, I enjoyed it.
My favorite part was the following passage:
This passage made me want to watch the episode of Buffy where Rupert Giles essentially did the same thing with a sword when the Mayor threatened to eat Buffy – and having typed that, I know have a need to explain the line: see, the Mayor was going to Ascend from human form to supreme demon form, so when he told Giles that he was going to eat Buffy, he wasn’t being crude; he was going to have her as a snack. A post-Ascension nosh, if you will.
All in all, I read the book, but I probably won’t read it again. It probably gave me slightly more enjoyment because of the Giles connection (in name only, but then, I am a geek).
But let’s talk about this first. A Lady of Scandal is just what it sounds like: a Regency Historical Romance novel that I found on a used shelf at Bookland, picked up on a whim because I needed to use up a gift card. The line on the back of the paperback that convinced me to spend the $3.50 was “Miss Ophelia Applegate knows that ladies rarely become actresses without incurring social ruin — but surely there are exceptions?” Ooh, theatre, scandal, ‘proper ladies’; I was intrigued, I bought it, and about ten months later, I finally got around to reading it.
It was … cute? Twin sisters – Ophelia and Cordelia – run away from Yorkshire to London so that Ophelia can pursue her life-long dream of being an actress which, during the Regency period, is unheard of for a ‘lady of quality.’ The girls are saved from a possible mugging by the “rakish” Ransom Sheffield, who, for the majority of the novel, every character refers to as ‘Mr. Ransom Sheffield.’ As in:
Cordelia went to her sewing nook, tied on her apron and applied herself to her mending. She saw Ransom Sheffield several times that day…
Mr. Ransom Sheffield had a vicar cousin named Giles Sheffield, and here’s where my little geek heart ‘sploded, because I managed to find a story with both a Giles and a Cordelia. Luckily for my little geek heart, Ophelia develops feelings for Giles and Cordelia develops feelings for Mr. Ransom Sheffield. If Cordelia fell in love with Giles, I don’t think I’d have finished the book, because that would be way too icky for me.
The plot: Ophelia and Cordelia gain employment at a creepy theatre owned by Mr. Nettles, who is meanwhile blackmailing Mr. Ransom Sheffield’s brother, Avery. Ransom gets a job at the theatre to gain back the evidence against Avery, and also to protect the girls. A long-lost relative ‘kidnaps’ the girls from the theatre, but he and his wife turn out to be allies. Then Nettles decides to advertise that a lady of quality is starring in his new play, and now Ophelia and Cordelia are in danger of being exposed.
The whole story barrels along at a slightly slower-than-I’m-used-to pace, with some sidesteps into ‘rescuing young daughters from brothels’ and ‘playwright’s rights’, but overall, I enjoyed it.
My favorite part was the following passage:
The other man narrowed his eyes — making him look even more piglike; they were already narrow enough. “What child?” His tone was suspicious.
“This one. Did you think she volunteered for this kind of life?” Ophelia snapped. “To be abused by monsters like you? How could you treat a mere baby this way?” [A/N: The child in question was not actually an infant.]
“Shut your mouth!” he roared. “I’ve told you, I will not be lectured by a two-bit whore in a cheap whorehouse!”
And to everyone’s surprise, certainly Ophelia’s, the always moderate and restrained vicar [Giles Sheffield:] took two quick steps, drew back his arm and punched Sir Geoffrey neatly in the jaw, knocking him back over the only piece of furniture in the room.
This passage made me want to watch the episode of Buffy where Rupert Giles essentially did the same thing with a sword when the Mayor threatened to eat Buffy – and having typed that, I know have a need to explain the line: see, the Mayor was going to Ascend from human form to supreme demon form, so when he told Giles that he was going to eat Buffy, he wasn’t being crude; he was going to have her as a snack. A post-Ascension nosh, if you will.
All in all, I read the book, but I probably won’t read it again. It probably gave me slightly more enjoyment because of the Giles connection (in name only, but then, I am a geek).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2016
Read while in jail. Actual rating: 2.8
August 24, 2011
Very nice book. The plot's gripping.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews