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The Lady's Companion
Miss Susan Hampton was a lady born and bred. She never imagined she would have to make her own way in the world. But that was before her feckless father gamed away the family estate. That was before her odious aunt turned her into an unpaid servant. Now Susan had fled that tyranny- only to wonder if she had leapt out of the frying pan into the fire.
In a remote country manor, Susan took the post of companion to the Dowager Lady Bushnell, whose fiery temper made a dragon seem sweet. But even more dangerous was the dowager's boldly handsome bailiff, David Wiggins, whose blood was red, not blue, and who was everything a man could be except a gentleman. Desperately, Susan told herself that he was totally unsuitable as her suitor - even as this infuriatingly irresistible man awoke her as a woman and made her forget she was a lady....
In a remote country manor, Susan took the post of companion to the Dowager Lady Bushnell, whose fiery temper made a dragon seem sweet. But even more dangerous was the dowager's boldly handsome bailiff, David Wiggins, whose blood was red, not blue, and who was everything a man could be except a gentleman. Desperately, Susan told herself that he was totally unsuitable as her suitor - even as this infuriatingly irresistible man awoke her as a woman and made her forget she was a lady....
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1996
51 people are currently reading
1616 people want to read
About the author
Carla Kelly
138 books804 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars. Although she had sold some of her work before, it was not until Carla began work in the National Park Service as a ranger/historian at Fort Laramie National Historic Site did she get serious about her writing career. (Or as she would be the first to admit, as serious as it gets.)
Carla wrote a series of what she now refers to as the "Fort Laramie stories," which are tales of the men, women and children of the Indian Wars era in Western history. Two of her stories, A Season for Heroes and Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter, earned her Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. She was the second woman to earn two Spurs from WWA (which, as everyone knows, is all you need to ride a horse). Her entire Indian Wars collection was published in 2003 as Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army. It remains her favorite work.
The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)
Carla's husband, Martin, is Director of Theatre at Valley City State University, in Valley City, North Dakota. Carla is currently overworked as a staff writer at the local daily newspaper. She also writes a weekly, award-winning column, "Prairie Lite."
Carla only started writing Regencies because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, which figures in many of her Regency novels and short stories. She specializes in writing about warfare at sea, and about the ordinary people of the British Isles who were, let's face it, far more numerous than lords and ladies.
Hobbies? She likes to crochet afghans, and read British crime fiction and history, principally military history. She's never happier than talking about the fur trade or Indian Wars with Park Service cronies. Her most recent gig with the National Park Service was at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota border.
Here's another side to this somewhat prosaic woman: She recently edited the fur trade journal of Swiss artist Rudolf F. Kurz (the 1851-1852 portion), and is gratified now and then to be asked to speak on scholarly subjects. She has also worked for the State Historical Society of North Dakota as a contract researcher. This has taken her to glamorous drudgery in several national archives and military history repositories. Gray archives boxes and old documents make her salivate.
Her mantra for writing comes from the subject of her thesis, Robert Utley, that dean of Indian Wars history. He told her the secret to writing is "to put your ass in the chair and keep it there until you're done." He's right, of course.
Her three favorite fictional works have remained constant through the years, although their rankings tend to shift: War and Peace, The Lawrenceville Stories, and A Town Like Alice. Favorite historical works are One Vast Winter Count, On the Border with Mackenzie and Crossing the Line. Favorite crime fiction authors are Michael Connelly, John Harvey and Peter Robinson.
And that's all she can think of that would interest anyone. Carla Kelly is quite ordinary, except when she is sometimes prevailed upon to sing a scurrilous song about lumberjacks, or warble "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in Latin. Then you m
Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars. Although she had sold some of her work before, it was not until Carla began work in the National Park Service as a ranger/historian at Fort Laramie National Historic Site did she get serious about her writing career. (Or as she would be the first to admit, as serious as it gets.)
Carla wrote a series of what she now refers to as the "Fort Laramie stories," which are tales of the men, women and children of the Indian Wars era in Western history. Two of her stories, A Season for Heroes and Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter, earned her Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. She was the second woman to earn two Spurs from WWA (which, as everyone knows, is all you need to ride a horse). Her entire Indian Wars collection was published in 2003 as Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army. It remains her favorite work.
The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)
Carla's husband, Martin, is Director of Theatre at Valley City State University, in Valley City, North Dakota. Carla is currently overworked as a staff writer at the local daily newspaper. She also writes a weekly, award-winning column, "Prairie Lite."
Carla only started writing Regencies because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, which figures in many of her Regency novels and short stories. She specializes in writing about warfare at sea, and about the ordinary people of the British Isles who were, let's face it, far more numerous than lords and ladies.
Hobbies? She likes to crochet afghans, and read British crime fiction and history, principally military history. She's never happier than talking about the fur trade or Indian Wars with Park Service cronies. Her most recent gig with the National Park Service was at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota border.
Here's another side to this somewhat prosaic woman: She recently edited the fur trade journal of Swiss artist Rudolf F. Kurz (the 1851-1852 portion), and is gratified now and then to be asked to speak on scholarly subjects. She has also worked for the State Historical Society of North Dakota as a contract researcher. This has taken her to glamorous drudgery in several national archives and military history repositories. Gray archives boxes and old documents make her salivate.
Her mantra for writing comes from the subject of her thesis, Robert Utley, that dean of Indian Wars history. He told her the secret to writing is "to put your ass in the chair and keep it there until you're done." He's right, of course.
Her three favorite fictional works have remained constant through the years, although their rankings tend to shift: War and Peace, The Lawrenceville Stories, and A Town Like Alice. Favorite historical works are One Vast Winter Count, On the Border with Mackenzie and Crossing the Line. Favorite crime fiction authors are Michael Connelly, John Harvey and Peter Robinson.
And that's all she can think of that would interest anyone. Carla Kelly is quite ordinary, except when she is sometimes prevailed upon to sing a scurrilous song about lumberjacks, or warble "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in Latin. Then you m
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
April 27, 2020
Loved it! ♥ 5 stars! This is a digital re-issue of a 1996 Signet Regency. I like Carla Kelly for STORY as well as love story, and for including tidbits of history. Plus, she writes well, alternating the light with the dark, employing imagery, vivid descriptions, humor, and flowing dialogue. I have only a few minor gripes, noted at the end.
Not sure how to rate the steam factor, but there's kissing along with explicit caressing of specific hot spots before the love scenes fade to black.
Miss Susan Hampton, born into the gentry, is tired of porridge, genteel poverty, and papa's endless promises of a London season. She lost her mother at age 14, and because Sir Rodney can't stop gambling, she lost her ancestral estate several years ago. Now, as she turns 25, she loses her London home -- everything must go, to pay papa's gaming debts.
But Susan -- petite, with dark eyes, curly dark hair, and dimples -- is no frail flower, no weeping willow! When the slimy sales agent eyes her up and down, offering her a "special" deal to keep mama's portrait, she serenely replies, "You may keep the paintings and the furniture and go to hell on the next mail coach."
But it's Susan who gets on the mail coach a week later, unwilling to become an unpaid, invisible servant to her miserable aunt, and reeling from papa's newest betrayal (it's bad, but believable in the context of a gambling addiction).
So Miss Susan sets off for the Cotswolds, to be companion to the aging but fiercely independent Lady Bushnell, a national treasure who rode at her husband's side through Spain, Belgium, and France during the Napoleonic Wars. She arrives at Quilling Manor, cold, hungry, and exhausted, waking up to fresh snow. Loved the vivid metaphor here:
Kelly illustrates Susan's low energy at finding herself in a servant's position for the first time in her life: "The kitchen was at the back of the house, instead of below-stairs, and unaccountably her spirits began to rise." (In my view, Kelly is fairly good at showing, not telling.)
That first day at Quilling Manor, the acerbic Lady Bushnell treats Susan unkindly, threatening to send her back to London asap. Lady B won't have anything to do with Susan...unless David Wiggins, her bailiff, likes her. Lady B totally trusts David, who rode with her through the wars, serving her husband for years, as sergeant at arms.
Delicious David "had the look of the dark folk beyond the Dee, Wye, and Severn Rivers...for all that his name was so plainly English." He's hot, with intense dark eyes, dark hair, and a lovely Welsh lilt in his voice. Plus, he's built.
David is DEFINITELY attracted to Susan, and despite their differences in social station, Susan is attracted right back. Soon, Susan and David are kissing, canoodling, etc.
Kelly writes with light humor throughout, much of the wit involving Lady B. For example, the dowager hates to do needlework, so Susan promises, "I will never inflict crewel punishment on you." ツ
David and Susan move rather quickly from friendship to flirting. They engage in some secret risqué business on the mail coach, when traveling to London. Eventually, there is a marriage, followed by lots more loving. (Wishing I had this Welshman in my bed!) Loved how the females of the house joke around with Susan about sex. The day after they got married, David finally leaves the bed at noon to direct the plowing. Lady B watches him through the window, musing, "A busy man is our bailiff. He plows all morning AND all afternoon!" ツ
Carla Kelly tends to write love scenes with a little more skin, and she's a little more earthy than some similar authors:
Also by Carla Kelly: The heroine in this book (Susan) is reminiscent of Grace, a lady by birth who takes hold of life when her world falls apart, becoming a baker's assistant in Marriage of Mercy (another good historical, but I liked A Lady's Companion more). I tend to like Carla Kelly's older Signet Regency Romances. I also like some of her newer releases, especially Marrying the Royal Marine.
Not sure how to rate the steam factor, but there's kissing along with explicit caressing of specific hot spots before the love scenes fade to black.
Miss Susan Hampton, born into the gentry, is tired of porridge, genteel poverty, and papa's endless promises of a London season. She lost her mother at age 14, and because Sir Rodney can't stop gambling, she lost her ancestral estate several years ago. Now, as she turns 25, she loses her London home -- everything must go, to pay papa's gaming debts.
But Susan -- petite, with dark eyes, curly dark hair, and dimples -- is no frail flower, no weeping willow! When the slimy sales agent eyes her up and down, offering her a "special" deal to keep mama's portrait, she serenely replies, "You may keep the paintings and the furniture and go to hell on the next mail coach."
But it's Susan who gets on the mail coach a week later, unwilling to become an unpaid, invisible servant to her miserable aunt, and reeling from papa's newest betrayal (it's bad, but believable in the context of a gambling addiction).
So Miss Susan sets off for the Cotswolds, to be companion to the aging but fiercely independent Lady Bushnell, a national treasure who rode at her husband's side through Spain, Belgium, and France during the Napoleonic Wars. She arrives at Quilling Manor, cold, hungry, and exhausted, waking up to fresh snow. Loved the vivid metaphor here:
"She gazed out the window at a white world clenched tight in the fist of winter...a white so intense she had to look away...They might have been the only manor on the planet, so complete was the isolation.
Kelly illustrates Susan's low energy at finding herself in a servant's position for the first time in her life: "The kitchen was at the back of the house, instead of below-stairs, and unaccountably her spirits began to rise." (In my view, Kelly is fairly good at showing, not telling.)
That first day at Quilling Manor, the acerbic Lady Bushnell treats Susan unkindly, threatening to send her back to London asap. Lady B won't have anything to do with Susan...unless David Wiggins, her bailiff, likes her. Lady B totally trusts David, who rode with her through the wars, serving her husband for years, as sergeant at arms.
Delicious David "had the look of the dark folk beyond the Dee, Wye, and Severn Rivers...for all that his name was so plainly English." He's hot, with intense dark eyes, dark hair, and a lovely Welsh lilt in his voice. Plus, he's built.
David is DEFINITELY attracted to Susan, and despite their differences in social station, Susan is attracted right back. Soon, Susan and David are kissing, canoodling, etc.
"She backed him up to the wall as he grinned and let her lead him around...He pulled her against him so firmly she knew she should be blushing."Susan also forms a relationship with Lady B, and the two become friends. This was lovely to watch. A large part of the STORY revolves around Lady B remembering her experiences with the war, especially relating to her husband, son, and daughter (all dead now, sadly). Susan reads Lady Bs old war-time letters aloud to her.
Kelly writes with light humor throughout, much of the wit involving Lady B. For example, the dowager hates to do needlework, so Susan promises, "I will never inflict crewel punishment on you." ツ
David and Susan move rather quickly from friendship to flirting. They engage in some secret risqué business on the mail coach, when traveling to London. Eventually, there is a marriage, followed by lots more loving. (Wishing I had this Welshman in my bed!) Loved how the females of the house joke around with Susan about sex. The day after they got married, David finally leaves the bed at noon to direct the plowing. Lady B watches him through the window, musing, "A busy man is our bailiff. He plows all morning AND all afternoon!" ツ
Carla Kelly tends to write love scenes with a little more skin, and she's a little more earthy than some similar authors:
"There were times when he came in search of her, giving Lady Bushnell such flimsy excuses that Susan could only roll her eyes and look everywhere but at her employer. He was never gentle with her then, but she couldn't have cared less. Her own fervor amazed her..."Central themes in this story are keeping promises and renewal after war. David engineers a new strain of wheat from strong Yorkshire grain and seeds he picked at the battlefield in Belgium. Explaining his "Waterloo Wheat" to Susan, David says, "Every soldier has his way of dealing with battle; this is mine." The author employs imagery to show how David felt when he saw the foreign wheat fields flowing with blood:
"At the end of that endless day, it didn't look like a field at all, but a cemetery where the ground had been turned over and all the corpses flung out on top."The only gripes I have is that Susan engaged in too much internal reflection, and that she abandons her upbringing and breaches social conventions too quickly and easy, getting on a first name basis with David, kissing in public (almost), etc.
Also by Carla Kelly: The heroine in this book (Susan) is reminiscent of Grace, a lady by birth who takes hold of life when her world falls apart, becoming a baker's assistant in Marriage of Mercy (another good historical, but I liked A Lady's Companion more). I tend to like Carla Kelly's older Signet Regency Romances. I also like some of her newer releases, especially Marrying the Royal Marine.
August 10, 2020
Almost perfect 5*
This is a remarkably sweet and charming story!
I wish I could write a better review but as I read it months ago, the book isn’t as fresh to my mind. I think Kathleen has written an amazing review.
But yes, a truly working class H? Wow!
Not a lawyer or a shipping magnate or a club owner but a bailiff. That’s brave and singular. And so is he! Absolutely delicious and dibs-able!
The h is gently born and bred but due to her father’s selfish and criminally irresponsible ways, ends up in an untenable position. So rather than becoming an unpaid maid of her aunt’s or worse, she accepts a position as companion to an old lady living in Cotswold.
This is a remarkably sweet and charming story!
I wish I could write a better review but as I read it months ago, the book isn’t as fresh to my mind. I think Kathleen has written an amazing review.
But yes, a truly working class H? Wow!
Not a lawyer or a shipping magnate or a club owner but a bailiff. That’s brave and singular. And so is he! Absolutely delicious and dibs-able!
The h is gently born and bred but due to her father’s selfish and criminally irresponsible ways, ends up in an untenable position. So rather than becoming an unpaid maid of her aunt’s or worse, she accepts a position as companion to an old lady living in Cotswold.
December 18, 2017
I'm really loving this author!!!!
And this book was so sweet!!! A wonderful story and wonderful characters!
More than a hot love story between Susan and David this is a story of a young shetered woman who finally manages to detach herself from her family and class and to start living a life of her own.
She discovers that there's a world outside the limitations of the Ton. There're people who live their lives with different expectations and behaviours. While before she saw them as less, she learns that it is not so.
There's also a beautiful story of the older lady and her family that made me cry at the end.
Wonderful!!! I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author!
And this book was so sweet!!! A wonderful story and wonderful characters!
More than a hot love story between Susan and David this is a story of a young shetered woman who finally manages to detach herself from her family and class and to start living a life of her own.
She discovers that there's a world outside the limitations of the Ton. There're people who live their lives with different expectations and behaviours. While before she saw them as less, she learns that it is not so.
There's also a beautiful story of the older lady and her family that made me cry at the end.
Wonderful!!! I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author!
March 15, 2016
Another five-star read from Carla Kelly.
Susan Hampton's father, Sir Rodney, is a gambler. Indeed he's such a bad gambler that he's lost everything, including Susan's pearls inherited from her late mother. After Susan and Sir Rodney moved in with his sister, Susan realizes that her future role will be as the unpaid, unappreciated servant to her haughty aunt. Determined to control that future herself, she impulsively gets a job as a companion to the widowed Lady Bushnell and takes herself off to that lady's Cotswald estate.
She forms a close friendship with Lady Bushnell's bailiff, David Wiggins, a Welshman who had served the late General Bushnell in the Napoleonic Wars. Lady Bushnell had followed the drum with her husband through the wars, and David came to work for her after the general died at Waterloo. Susan finds herself increasingly attracted to David, but the chasm between their places in society may be too broad to be overcome. The main part of the book relates the growing trust and affection among Susan, David, and indeed Lady Bushnell.
What I Liked
Susan. Carla Kelley's heroines are never delicate flowers, and even though Susan is a gently-bred lady she has great courage, a sense of humor, and a stubborn streak.
Lady Bushnell. What a marvelous woman! She has led a life of adventure, and she's determined to maintain her independence to the end. She has no desire for a companion (there already have been several who she ran off). Susan, however, manages to make herself useful to the lady, and more important, to quickly win the confidence of the bailiff (who has a great deal of influence over Lady Bushnell).
The secondary characters. The story is enriched by Kelley's portrait of Lady Bushnell's household, as well as Susan's horrible family. And Kelley doesn't sugar coat things: the family remains horrible up to the end. And then there's the Jewish employment agent, who first met David at Waterloo. His story is a minor piece of the plot, but it's beautifully done.
David Wiggins. He's a bastard, raised in the workhouse, a poacher, and a thief. The Army (with an assist from Lady Bushnell) was his salvation, and now he works devotedly to develop a new strain of wheat using seeds he brought back from Waterloo. Society does not consider him a gentleman, but in reality he is much more of a gentleman than Susan's father.
What I Didn't Like. I have absolutely no criticisms. The only minor thing that aggravated me was the author's habit of referring to David as "the bailiff." When this term was used in Susan's ruminations, I found it off-putting. No big deal, obviously.
My number one favorite Carla Kelly book is still Reforming Lord Ragsdale, but The Lady's Companion is every bit as good. If you like authentic historical romances, do try Carla Kelly.
Susan Hampton's father, Sir Rodney, is a gambler. Indeed he's such a bad gambler that he's lost everything, including Susan's pearls inherited from her late mother. After Susan and Sir Rodney moved in with his sister, Susan realizes that her future role will be as the unpaid, unappreciated servant to her haughty aunt. Determined to control that future herself, she impulsively gets a job as a companion to the widowed Lady Bushnell and takes herself off to that lady's Cotswald estate.
She forms a close friendship with Lady Bushnell's bailiff, David Wiggins, a Welshman who had served the late General Bushnell in the Napoleonic Wars. Lady Bushnell had followed the drum with her husband through the wars, and David came to work for her after the general died at Waterloo. Susan finds herself increasingly attracted to David, but the chasm between their places in society may be too broad to be overcome. The main part of the book relates the growing trust and affection among Susan, David, and indeed Lady Bushnell.
What I Liked
Susan. Carla Kelley's heroines are never delicate flowers, and even though Susan is a gently-bred lady she has great courage, a sense of humor, and a stubborn streak.
Lady Bushnell. What a marvelous woman! She has led a life of adventure, and she's determined to maintain her independence to the end. She has no desire for a companion (there already have been several who she ran off). Susan, however, manages to make herself useful to the lady, and more important, to quickly win the confidence of the bailiff (who has a great deal of influence over Lady Bushnell).
The secondary characters. The story is enriched by Kelley's portrait of Lady Bushnell's household, as well as Susan's horrible family. And Kelley doesn't sugar coat things: the family remains horrible up to the end. And then there's the Jewish employment agent, who first met David at Waterloo. His story is a minor piece of the plot, but it's beautifully done.
David Wiggins. He's a bastard, raised in the workhouse, a poacher, and a thief. The Army (with an assist from Lady Bushnell) was his salvation, and now he works devotedly to develop a new strain of wheat using seeds he brought back from Waterloo. Society does not consider him a gentleman, but in reality he is much more of a gentleman than Susan's father.
What I Didn't Like. I have absolutely no criticisms. The only minor thing that aggravated me was the author's habit of referring to David as "the bailiff." When this term was used in Susan's ruminations, I found it off-putting. No big deal, obviously.
My number one favorite Carla Kelly book is still Reforming Lord Ragsdale, but The Lady's Companion is every bit as good. If you like authentic historical romances, do try Carla Kelly.
June 14, 2024
I love how Carla Kelly has been quietly doing all the things that people say Regency romance doesn't do for decades now. She's also unreasonably gifted with chemistry -- her characters never feel like someone I've encountered before.
March 12, 2017
Susan Hampton's father gambles away everything, leaving Susan at the mercy of the rest of her shitty family. So she decides to get a job and ends up lady's companion to a former Colonel's wife. Also working for the lady is a "sexy" Welshman named David Wiggins whose backstory is plum full of tragedy and woe.
I AM VERY UNHAPPY.
1. I have expounded upon my dislike of Kelly's heroes in the past: the Manly Men who are secretly Jesus and therefore will Save the Heroines from their Evil Slatternly Selves. The heroines must learn to forgive those who trespass against them, while the heroes are perfect as they are and if they are questioned, they are still Ultimately Right and how dare you question their methods you sloppy hussy.
It's so gross. It's so condescendingly asinine and gross and rage-inducing and frustrating.
For example, Susan has issues with her gambling-addicted father. I would, too. Except then David tells her she must forgive the man because ... forgiveness is good for the soul. Meanwhile, David is keeping big secrets about the true actions of a lot of people. OK. So when Susan tells him he should tell the truth because ... truth is good for the soul, AND Lady Bushnell wants the truth about her son, David refuses. Because this is what he does, Susan. He survived Waterloo so you can just shove your tiny lady sensibilities where the sun don't shine.
WHAAAAAAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
Then, later, he goes on to confess PART of the truth—after making Susan lie for him—but only because it's ~~~his~~~ decision. He never apologizes to Susan for making her lie for him and because the entire story is told from her POV, it's made clear that she won't question him because He is Right In All Things.
2. OMG THE MISOGYNISTIC SHIT ABOUT WOMEN.
A LITERAL QUOTE: "Jesusa didn't speak any English, or not much, and I have discovered that women are mostly the same in any language. [...] I learned pretty early that a bland tone in Spanish let me get away with any amount of reproof."
OH, RIGHT: WOMEN ARE MOSTLY ALL THE SAME. JUST BE BLAND AND YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING. WE ARE CLEARLY NOT WORTH ACTUALLY CONVERSATION OR EXPLANATION!! JUST BLANDNESS AND IGNORANCE!!!
THIS FUCKBOY THO.
"There I have the advantage of knowing something about women, Suzie. I just mumbled something around my oatmeal and kept eating. That usually satisfies women, I've discovered. Some what verification more than real answers."
TELL ME MORE ABOUT WHAT SATISFIES WOMEN YOU DUMPSTER FIRE.
3. ANOTHER THING: The inequality in "Life Worthiness" (read my Important Caps and WEEP): Kelly's heroes have Lived Life and Experienced Many Important Things, making them the final say in EVERYTHING. And it always makes the heroine feel less, or worthless, or ashamed of the shit that she survived because it's ~simple, or ~easy compared to the Ultimate Suffering of Hero Jesus.
So David was at War, which means he saw a lot of death and got flogged that one time and killed some people and lied to cover up for some other people. And he throws this knapsack of Life Experiences around like some kind of trump card, as if he's the Ultimate Martyr in this Battle of Backgrounds. He spends CHAPTERS going on about it without asking about Suzie's experience, or—when he does know something of Suzie's background—lecturing her how she should feel about them.
MY ANEURYSM IS GROWING. I SHALL NAME IT LI'L WIGGINS.
And I by no means want to discount the experiences of veterans or survivors of warfare. What I take umbrage with is comparison element: that because David is a veteran, Susan's experiences are null and void. That because she has not suffered as soldiers have, she has not suffered at all.
David puts zero care into Susan's experiences, belittling them LITERALLY up until HE gets a letter from her father demanding money. Like, he thinks she just needs to ~get over herself and forgive the man for GAMBLING AWAY EVERYTHING and then showing zero remorse. But then once David gets sucked into the drama—it's suddenly REAL LIFE OKAY. Now the man is a menace!!! BUT NOT WHEN HE WAS STEALING SUSAN'S MOTHER'S PEARLS? OKAY, SURE.
JUST BECAUSE HER TRIALS ARE A DIFFERENT SHAPE DOESN'T MAKE THEM LESS VALID.
4. The characterization of Susan as Lady and David as lowly Bailiff was so poorly done. Susan tells herself literally every chapter that she's safe from the bailiff because he's only a lowly bailiff not a gentleperson like her. Except then, usually a paragraph or two later, she reminds herself that she's "fallen" and no longer a gentlewoman. PICK A GODDAMNED LANE WTF.
And she discovers that she's fallen in love with David and she admonishes herself because clearly their positions in society did not ~protect her from feelings .
That's like thinking that cling wrap will protect you from syphilis. TRUE STORY: IT WON'T.
I AM VERY UNHAPPY.
1. I have expounded upon my dislike of Kelly's heroes in the past: the Manly Men who are secretly Jesus and therefore will Save the Heroines from their Evil Slatternly Selves. The heroines must learn to forgive those who trespass against them, while the heroes are perfect as they are and if they are questioned, they are still Ultimately Right and how dare you question their methods you sloppy hussy.
It's so gross. It's so condescendingly asinine and gross and rage-inducing and frustrating.
For example, Susan has issues with her gambling-addicted father. I would, too. Except then David tells her she must forgive the man because ... forgiveness is good for the soul. Meanwhile, David is keeping big secrets about the true actions of a lot of people. OK. So when Susan tells him he should tell the truth because ... truth is good for the soul, AND Lady Bushnell wants the truth about her son, David refuses. Because this is what he does, Susan. He survived Waterloo so you can just shove your tiny lady sensibilities where the sun don't shine.
WHAAAAAAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
Then, later, he goes on to confess PART of the truth—after making Susan lie for him—but only because it's ~~~his~~~ decision. He never apologizes to Susan for making her lie for him and because the entire story is told from her POV, it's made clear that she won't question him because He is Right In All Things.
2. OMG THE MISOGYNISTIC SHIT ABOUT WOMEN.
A LITERAL QUOTE: "Jesusa didn't speak any English, or not much, and I have discovered that women are mostly the same in any language. [...] I learned pretty early that a bland tone in Spanish let me get away with any amount of reproof."
OH, RIGHT: WOMEN ARE MOSTLY ALL THE SAME. JUST BE BLAND AND YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING. WE ARE CLEARLY NOT WORTH ACTUALLY CONVERSATION OR EXPLANATION!! JUST BLANDNESS AND IGNORANCE!!!
THIS FUCKBOY THO.
"There I have the advantage of knowing something about women, Suzie. I just mumbled something around my oatmeal and kept eating. That usually satisfies women, I've discovered. Some what verification more than real answers."
TELL ME MORE ABOUT WHAT SATISFIES WOMEN YOU DUMPSTER FIRE.
3. ANOTHER THING: The inequality in "Life Worthiness" (read my Important Caps and WEEP): Kelly's heroes have Lived Life and Experienced Many Important Things, making them the final say in EVERYTHING. And it always makes the heroine feel less, or worthless, or ashamed of the shit that she survived because it's ~simple, or ~easy compared to the Ultimate Suffering of Hero Jesus.
So David was at War, which means he saw a lot of death and got flogged that one time and killed some people and lied to cover up for some other people. And he throws this knapsack of Life Experiences around like some kind of trump card, as if he's the Ultimate Martyr in this Battle of Backgrounds. He spends CHAPTERS going on about it without asking about Suzie's experience, or—when he does know something of Suzie's background—lecturing her how she should feel about them.
MY ANEURYSM IS GROWING. I SHALL NAME IT LI'L WIGGINS.
And I by no means want to discount the experiences of veterans or survivors of warfare. What I take umbrage with is comparison element: that because David is a veteran, Susan's experiences are null and void. That because she has not suffered as soldiers have, she has not suffered at all.
David puts zero care into Susan's experiences, belittling them LITERALLY up until HE gets a letter from her father demanding money. Like, he thinks she just needs to ~get over herself and forgive the man for GAMBLING AWAY EVERYTHING and then showing zero remorse. But then once David gets sucked into the drama—it's suddenly REAL LIFE OKAY. Now the man is a menace!!! BUT NOT WHEN HE WAS STEALING SUSAN'S MOTHER'S PEARLS? OKAY, SURE.
JUST BECAUSE HER TRIALS ARE A DIFFERENT SHAPE DOESN'T MAKE THEM LESS VALID.
4. The characterization of Susan as Lady and David as lowly Bailiff was so poorly done. Susan tells herself literally every chapter that she's safe from the bailiff because he's only a lowly bailiff not a gentleperson like her. Except then, usually a paragraph or two later, she reminds herself that she's "fallen" and no longer a gentlewoman. PICK A GODDAMNED LANE WTF.
And she discovers that she's fallen in love with David and she admonishes herself because clearly their positions in society did not ~protect her from feelings .
That's like thinking that cling wrap will protect you from syphilis. TRUE STORY: IT WON'T.
January 9, 2015
It is hard for Carla Kelly not to write a good historical romance. Her characters are believable, there is just the right amount of angst and tension, and her stories contain bits of humor. The hero is never perfect but, oh, what a guy! Simply put, her men are the marrying kind.
THE LADY'S COMPANION has a young noblewomen, Susan Hampton, in dire straits. Her father is a compulsive gambler and childlike in many ways. He eventually gambles away every last possession in their household. Rather than become less than she already is, Susan seeks employment. Now, if you know anything about Regency times, the nobility doesn't work. Period. Or get involved with the working class. It is beneath them and not accepted by the ton. But Susan finds a job as a companion to an elderly woman. Unfortunately, the lady wants nothing except to be left alone. She has a small household staff including a devoted bailiff: a Welshman with an English name, David Wiggins. This core group of people is enough. But Susan is a patient woman and plans to win her over.
I can't really do justice by describing this story. Ms. Kelly writes with such anguish including wonderful tender moments that make you feel like you could be part of the story. The only reason I did not give the romance five stars is quite a bit of what Susan feels, she keeps in her thoughts. And, OMG, the scene of David and Susan meeting in the wheat field. When a guy says what he said to Susan...that is a guy who is a keeper!
This character-driven romance is perceptive and emotionally satisfying. I could see this as a polished movie made decades ago in technicolor. Set aside a quiet afternoon because you won't want to be interrupted once you start the book.
THE LADY'S COMPANION has a young noblewomen, Susan Hampton, in dire straits. Her father is a compulsive gambler and childlike in many ways. He eventually gambles away every last possession in their household. Rather than become less than she already is, Susan seeks employment. Now, if you know anything about Regency times, the nobility doesn't work. Period. Or get involved with the working class. It is beneath them and not accepted by the ton. But Susan finds a job as a companion to an elderly woman. Unfortunately, the lady wants nothing except to be left alone. She has a small household staff including a devoted bailiff: a Welshman with an English name, David Wiggins. This core group of people is enough. But Susan is a patient woman and plans to win her over.
I can't really do justice by describing this story. Ms. Kelly writes with such anguish including wonderful tender moments that make you feel like you could be part of the story. The only reason I did not give the romance five stars is quite a bit of what Susan feels, she keeps in her thoughts. And, OMG, the scene of David and Susan meeting in the wheat field. When a guy says what he said to Susan...that is a guy who is a keeper!
This character-driven romance is perceptive and emotionally satisfying. I could see this as a polished movie made decades ago in technicolor. Set aside a quiet afternoon because you won't want to be interrupted once you start the book.
March 6, 2013
The words that immediately spring to mind when writing about this book are “charming”, “warm” and “honest”.
The story opens on the twenty-fifth birthday of Susan Hampton, only daughter of inveterate gambler Sir Rodney Hampton. He has lost almost everything of value that they own, and Kelly very skilfully draws a picture of the Hamptons’ impoverished circumstances. Susan’s relationship with her father at the outset reminded me somewhat of that of Amy Dorrit and her father; loving but by no means blind to his faults – yet she is finding it increasingly hard to contain her exasperation with his persistent, misplaced optimism that his next hand of cards or turn of the roulette wheel will restore their fortunes.
When he loses their home, Sir Rodney and Susan are forced to turn to her Aunt Louisa for help. She takes them in, but it is quickly clear to Susan that if she does not act, she will become little more than an unpaid companion and drudge to her aunt.
Despite having no money, Sir Rodney is bent on maintaining appearances and is therefore horrified when Susan announces she will seek employment. By a stroke of luck, she finds her way to Joel Steinman’s employment agency. He immediately takes her to see Lady Bushnell, a widow about to remarry and who is looking for a companion for her mother-in-law. Susan is engaged, although with the knowledge that Lady Bushnell the elder does not want a companion and has quickly turned off all those who have gone before her.
It’s not hard to guess how things for out for Susan – but the real delight of the book is seeing the way the characters interact and how their relationships develop. Susan is a delightfully refreshing heroine – straightforward and honest with a wry sense of humour, and no tendency towards missishness when Lady B or others make what in tonnish circles, may have been regarded as a risqué remark.
While the estate’s baliff, David Wiggins, is sceptical about Susan’s suitability for the post of companion, the way she refuses to be intimidated by the lady’s initial coldness and the way she stands up to him and gives back as good as she gets draws his admiration. David has a chequered past, but his devotion to Lady Bushnell is clear and he begins to help Susan to find ways to overcome the lady’s reluctance to have anything to do with her. He is not your usual romantic hero; he’s a soldier-turned-farmer, has no family and has to work – and work hard – for his living. Kelly paints an accurate picture of the seasonal nature of farm life and pulls no punches about how hard it is. David works all the hours under the sun and then some – and is clearly well-liked and respected. He may not be a gentleman, but he is a gentle man - unfailingly honest (for the most part), forthright and kind; and it’s not long before Susan finds herself falling for him.
Their relationship is a delight and I especially liked Susan’s growing awareness of her own sexuality and the nature of desire for a man. Perhaps it’s something that comes from life on and around a farming community, where the cycle of birth, life, death is ever present – but there was an earthiness about the attitude to sex in the book that was a real breath of fresh air. Jokes abound about plowing and Susan decides that the last thing she needs to tell her sheep-farmer-baliff is that the smell of lanolin makes her feel randy! That said, the actual sex scenes are pretty tame by today’s standards, but it’s clear that both partners are enthusiastic and delighted with each other.
This is a story about friendship and love found in the most unlikely places; and about honour and rebirth. Through Lady Bushnell’s letters and some of David’s recounting, Carla Kelly gives the reader a set of snapshots of army life around the time of Waterloo; how it was hard and messy and brutal and not-at-all glorious. David has devised his own, eminently practical yet quite beautiful way of dealing with the horrors he experienced, yet he insists on keeping one, last secret from Lady B, because he can’t bear to break her heart.
There is so much to enjoy in this story. Susan and David are perfect for each other, despite the social gap between them (and the scenes which show the reaction of Susan’s father and aunt to the news that she is to marry so far beneath her are gut-wrenching), and their love and care of Lady B is truly touching.
A really beautiful book – highly recommended.
The story opens on the twenty-fifth birthday of Susan Hampton, only daughter of inveterate gambler Sir Rodney Hampton. He has lost almost everything of value that they own, and Kelly very skilfully draws a picture of the Hamptons’ impoverished circumstances. Susan’s relationship with her father at the outset reminded me somewhat of that of Amy Dorrit and her father; loving but by no means blind to his faults – yet she is finding it increasingly hard to contain her exasperation with his persistent, misplaced optimism that his next hand of cards or turn of the roulette wheel will restore their fortunes.
When he loses their home, Sir Rodney and Susan are forced to turn to her Aunt Louisa for help. She takes them in, but it is quickly clear to Susan that if she does not act, she will become little more than an unpaid companion and drudge to her aunt.
Despite having no money, Sir Rodney is bent on maintaining appearances and is therefore horrified when Susan announces she will seek employment. By a stroke of luck, she finds her way to Joel Steinman’s employment agency. He immediately takes her to see Lady Bushnell, a widow about to remarry and who is looking for a companion for her mother-in-law. Susan is engaged, although with the knowledge that Lady Bushnell the elder does not want a companion and has quickly turned off all those who have gone before her.
It’s not hard to guess how things for out for Susan – but the real delight of the book is seeing the way the characters interact and how their relationships develop. Susan is a delightfully refreshing heroine – straightforward and honest with a wry sense of humour, and no tendency towards missishness when Lady B or others make what in tonnish circles, may have been regarded as a risqué remark.
While the estate’s baliff, David Wiggins, is sceptical about Susan’s suitability for the post of companion, the way she refuses to be intimidated by the lady’s initial coldness and the way she stands up to him and gives back as good as she gets draws his admiration. David has a chequered past, but his devotion to Lady Bushnell is clear and he begins to help Susan to find ways to overcome the lady’s reluctance to have anything to do with her. He is not your usual romantic hero; he’s a soldier-turned-farmer, has no family and has to work – and work hard – for his living. Kelly paints an accurate picture of the seasonal nature of farm life and pulls no punches about how hard it is. David works all the hours under the sun and then some – and is clearly well-liked and respected. He may not be a gentleman, but he is a gentle man - unfailingly honest (for the most part), forthright and kind; and it’s not long before Susan finds herself falling for him.
Their relationship is a delight and I especially liked Susan’s growing awareness of her own sexuality and the nature of desire for a man. Perhaps it’s something that comes from life on and around a farming community, where the cycle of birth, life, death is ever present – but there was an earthiness about the attitude to sex in the book that was a real breath of fresh air. Jokes abound about plowing and Susan decides that the last thing she needs to tell her sheep-farmer-baliff is that the smell of lanolin makes her feel randy! That said, the actual sex scenes are pretty tame by today’s standards, but it’s clear that both partners are enthusiastic and delighted with each other.
This is a story about friendship and love found in the most unlikely places; and about honour and rebirth. Through Lady Bushnell’s letters and some of David’s recounting, Carla Kelly gives the reader a set of snapshots of army life around the time of Waterloo; how it was hard and messy and brutal and not-at-all glorious. David has devised his own, eminently practical yet quite beautiful way of dealing with the horrors he experienced, yet he insists on keeping one, last secret from Lady B, because he can’t bear to break her heart.
There is so much to enjoy in this story. Susan and David are perfect for each other, despite the social gap between them (and the scenes which show the reaction of Susan’s father and aunt to the news that she is to marry so far beneath her are gut-wrenching), and their love and care of Lady B is truly touching.
A really beautiful book – highly recommended.
February 27, 2013
5/5; 5 stars; A+
To me this is historical romance at its finest and a perfect example of why I love this author.
In the beginning when she was describing the life of the family of a gambling addict I could feel the hopelessness and despair in the air. It was that vivid. As the story progressed, the characters along the way became equally as vivid.
One of the things I admire about this author is her ability to create believable characters and to make the historical setting come to life. She also portrays the different classes in society in a way that allows a person from this century to get an inkling of how great the gulf was between the aristocracy and the working classes.
This story not only had a lovely romance but it also told the story of the people who loved the soldiers and followed the drum throughout the numerous battlefields of Europe. Highly recommended.
To me this is historical romance at its finest and a perfect example of why I love this author.
In the beginning when she was describing the life of the family of a gambling addict I could feel the hopelessness and despair in the air. It was that vivid. As the story progressed, the characters along the way became equally as vivid.
One of the things I admire about this author is her ability to create believable characters and to make the historical setting come to life. She also portrays the different classes in society in a way that allows a person from this century to get an inkling of how great the gulf was between the aristocracy and the working classes.
This story not only had a lovely romance but it also told the story of the people who loved the soldiers and followed the drum throughout the numerous battlefields of Europe. Highly recommended.
September 14, 2018
It definetly deserve a proper review so I'll write it soon. Though, I should say this, it was wonderful story with magnificent writing and story development. It took me other worlds and made me thinking about important stuffs.
June 13, 2016
Traditional Regency at its best. Loved it!
July 13, 2014
Different. Nice. Enjoyable. A comfortable romance.
Susan is a lady. Her father gambles the family into poverty. Susan finds a job as a lady’s companion. She falls in love with the bailiff - below her class. Her relatives are horrified that she would be with anyone of that class. I enjoyed the relationship development. I enjoyed things with the employer. No stupid stuff. No contrived conflicts.
This might be for readers who do not want sex scenes. There is one vaguely referred to, no details. Others are mentioned sort of after the fact. All of these are after the wedding. This is not heated passion, but more about gentle love.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Kindle count length: 3,766 (224 pages). Swearing language: none that I recall. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: 1820 England. Copyright: 1996. Genre: regency romance.
Susan is a lady. Her father gambles the family into poverty. Susan finds a job as a lady’s companion. She falls in love with the bailiff - below her class. Her relatives are horrified that she would be with anyone of that class. I enjoyed the relationship development. I enjoyed things with the employer. No stupid stuff. No contrived conflicts.
This might be for readers who do not want sex scenes. There is one vaguely referred to, no details. Others are mentioned sort of after the fact. All of these are after the wedding. This is not heated passion, but more about gentle love.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Kindle count length: 3,766 (224 pages). Swearing language: none that I recall. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: 1820 England. Copyright: 1996. Genre: regency romance.
May 7, 2022
4.5 stars. I read this last year but forgot to rate it or write a review. Just wanted to update my shelves. I enjoyed this story very much.
re-read...March 2022. On a Carla Kelly kick I guess. Probably knock it down to 4 * now but still enjoyable. Something different, out of London ballrooms which I am starting to hate.
re-read...March 2022. On a Carla Kelly kick I guess. Probably knock it down to 4 * now but still enjoyable. Something different, out of London ballrooms which I am starting to hate.
March 19, 2015
This is now where I wish I could write reviews like some other reviewers are able too. I just don't have the right words.
Carla Kelly is always a sure thing for me. I know I will get an incredible read, characters I can care for and a quiet understated way of seeing the world she writes about.
And this too is a quiet one. Or so I thought. It is quiet yet substantial. The characters became so very dear to me that I felt everything along with them. So quiet that I didn't notice how deep it went until I felt the kick in my gut. I am still crying and I don't do that very often reading.
Like I said, I just don't have the skill or the right words. All I know I am very slowly savoring the backlist that I haven't read yet by Kelly.
Goodness I am drained. In a good way.
Carla Kelly is always a sure thing for me. I know I will get an incredible read, characters I can care for and a quiet understated way of seeing the world she writes about.
And this too is a quiet one. Or so I thought. It is quiet yet substantial. The characters became so very dear to me that I felt everything along with them. So quiet that I didn't notice how deep it went until I felt the kick in my gut. I am still crying and I don't do that very often reading.
Like I said, I just don't have the skill or the right words. All I know I am very slowly savoring the backlist that I haven't read yet by Kelly.
Goodness I am drained. In a good way.
June 30, 2023
did not expect to like this so much, I’m so sick of dukes, I love a lowly hero with a questionable past and this was pretty sexy for Carla Kelly
December 31, 2017
Obviously Carla Kelly is a genius. This book was no exception. Awesome heroine, self-sufficient and optimistic with a personality and wit. Hero full of character with a believable background and he's Welsh! Together they really sparkle. Cannot believe I've used that word but it's true; they have some fantastic interactions. The romance builds slowly and subtly and believably. It's beautiful when they finally acknowledge their feelings. In addition to the central story Kelly has created a cast of side characters who warrant novels in their own rights. The Jewish employment agent is delightful, I half wanted him to be the hero when we encountered him at the start of the book. So, why isn't this five stars? I'm sorry but it's the sex. That's part of the reason I read romance and that's just how it is. It doesn't have to be particularly explicit or frequent but it has to be a little more than what was on offer here. I know it's Kelly and I know she's conservative in that area but I need more for a five star review. All that said, I'm very glad I read this because it was lovely and kept me entertained from start to finish.
July 1, 2020
Typical Carla Kelly heavy book. And emotionally draining too. ( not that I am complaining). What a remarkable story.
If ever they made a movie, I want Meryl streep playing Dowager Lady Bushnell. Sigh.
If ever they made a movie, I want Meryl streep playing Dowager Lady Bushnell. Sigh.
February 4, 2014
The first 75% of this book was 5 stars! I can't eloquently explain why but it became 4 stars after they were married. I almost wish it would have ended sooner because of that. I loved the book even with the rating decrease. So many of the characters, no matter how brief their role in the story, were genuinely good and kind. I liked that a lot! I loved the main characters.
All but a few pages (newlyweds) were clean. even those were far from what most would deem inappropriate but I wouldn't want a young girl reading it. Several jokes and comments throughout that I found hilarious but again not for a young woman.
All but a few pages (newlyweds) were clean. even those were far from what most would deem inappropriate but I wouldn't want a young girl reading it. Several jokes and comments throughout that I found hilarious but again not for a young woman.
June 15, 2014
I love this book. Carla Kelly managed to write an engaging story with a satisfying romance that wasn't dependent upon the H&H constantly bickering with each other.
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July 16, 2017
My review contains spoilers and they're mostly my thoughts... for more, visit Punya Reviews...
The Lady's Companion by Carla Kelly is the latest in her backlist I finished a few days ago. It was amazing, to say the least. A very heartwarming traditional regency with an sweet heroine, a superb hero made grand with Ms. Kelly’s beautiful storytelling.
I decided to bring The Lady's Companion up my TBR pile because for a reason. A few months ago, I read another book by Ms. Kelly titled Marriage of Mercy, where the reviewers criticized the book for having almost the same storyline as this one. Marriage of Mercy is a later publication (2012) whereas The Lady's Companion was first released in 1996. The whole notion definitely intrigued me. I was expecting a pretty same storyline with different names for characters, and I agree with them to a certain extent. However, the storyline itself was very different. I mean very, if you can excuse the first 2 chapters where the h Susan’s fate spin almost exactly like that of Grace’s. I would call it plagiarism had the later not also been Ms. Kelly’s publication. I still don’t know how can anyone say both had the same stories so I decided I’m just gonna ignore it and enjoy. Which I did thank you!
Susan Hampton, daughter to Sir Rodney, should’ve had an amazing life with balls and parties and dreams of suitors, marriage and her own family. But no thanks to her spendthrift father, it’s now all just that— a dream. Since her mother passed when she was young, Susan, now 25, had been living on her father’s extravagant, and very fantastical, dreams of this and that—a grand life with loads of money he’d win of these days. Sir Rodney’s gambling habit was so extreme that everyone knew him, and avoided him as much as possible. So far, he’d sold every single thing worth selling one by one to get the money needed. Not only that, he has to live like a peer of the realm that he was, which he does even if he can’t afford it. You can only imagine Susan’s shattered dreams as well as disillusionment.
At one point, when they had to resort to living with her pinch-penny Aunt, as their own house was lost in another ‘grand scheme of thing’, is when Susan has had enough of this crap. She wasn’t going to be the maid-of-all-tricks for her Aunt and fade away as a spinster. Her father’ll never change and nothing good will ever happen unless she stepped up and did something for herself. So, against all odds and all the discouragement from her family, Susan seeks out an employment agency to find a job. She was good in many things a governess should know. The rest she could learn.
Even though the agency had nothing at hand to offer her, the proprietor, one Joel Steinman, asks if Susan would like to be the lady’s companion to an old Dragon whose DIL, the current Lady Bushnell, is at a lost and desperately in search of one. There have been many in the past few months that came and went, couldn’t even stay for a few weeks. They were all turned off by the Dowager herself. Even though she’s quite old and have been ill, she won’t take any help. Lady Bushnell, who had been a widow for a while now has decided to remarry so she wants her MIL to be in good hands.
Susan passed the initial test when Lady Bushnell hired her on spot, though quite doubtful of Susan’s chances of being employed for long. And that’s all Susan knew when she journeys towards the Bushnell country estate where the Dowager lived with her very few servants. Pretty scared and alone, all by herself, Susan knew if she’s turned away she can do nothing else but to return to her family. And she didn’t want to if she could help it! So she must make herself useful enough for the Dowager to keep her. Now to wait for the bailiff to come and get her, as Mr. Steinman had instructed.
David Wiggins comes by at the inn, in the middle of the night, to check out the newest addition to the household staff, pretty much sure she won’t last a month. Like he was utterly sure, especially when he found the little Miss (Susan was short) to be a pretty little thing and much younger than the other lady’s companions. Now, being a soldier, David hasn’t lived the life of a saint and Miss Hampton interests him on the get go. BUT, David has changed since the war ended and he’d settled down to be Lady Bushnell’s bailiff some 5/6 years ago. His life now revolves around all the estate work that he can do being the only able bodied man around, plus his own Waterloo grain seeds that he’s been experimenting with. David has no time to think of anything else.
Susan found David to be tall and quite attractive and definitely much younger than she’d thought he’d be, only 33 or thereabout. But it was also clear that he’s not English when his Welsh accent bleed through his perfect English. David has done his best to hide his origins from everyone but it wasn’t always helpful with his dark Welsh looks and accidental lapse of accent. We learn gradually that his wasn’t a blessed life as his mother was a prostitute who died leaving him young. He never knew his father. You can only imagine how he lived until he was forced to come into England, change his name (I was never sure whether he changed his complete name or just his surname) and join the Army. He tried his best to wash away his Welsh root, of which he wasn’t that proud of, by learning better English and how to read and write. He copied the lords who joined the army by buying commission and tried his best to imitate. He was good in his lesson and has done a good job in the army. He was a Sergeant Major when the war ended, now retired to become a farmer. And David Wiggins knew he had no chance with a lady like Susan Hampton, no matter that she’s now come down her high ladder. No matter what he feels for her.
But when you begin living with people in such close quarters, see them every day and begin to know them by heart, your perspective change. Susan was never as snotty as the rest of her family to begin with, seeing what a loser her father was. In contrast, David was hardworking and honest, whatever his past may have been. And he was very very caring of Lady Bushnell whom he’d met during the war. Susan saw nothing wrong with him and it stayed that way till the end.
Now, Lady Bushnell was one of those characters who stay with you for a while. She was one of those wives who accompanied their husbands in every battlefield. Her daughter Elizabeth also accompanied them until, on one fateful day, both father and daughter were killed together. She’s an old Dragon in the sense that she maybe old but still mentally very strong. She pretty much rode with the Army and saw everything they saw in a battlefield. She brought back the bodies of her loved ones and buried them. A few years later, when her other family, her only son Charles died in another battle she had no one to call her own. None of her children had issues of their own so she knew her family line dies here. Even with all the tragedies she’d seen, all the heartache she’d experienced (hers was a love match with the Colonel), Lady Bushnell hated becoming old and surrendering her independence to that dratted thing. She hated it so much that she’d rather be alone than have people pamper and smother her, which her DIL means to do. She knew that her DIL means well, but that’s not a life Lady Bushnell wanted. And so went the lady’s companions one by one, until Susan joined and tried her best to change that scenario.
No, Susan’s first day under the scrutiny of her new employer didn’t start smoothly. In fact, she was sure the Dowager would turn her off soon enough. Even David Wiggins’s impromptu, and very surprising, marriage proposal couldn’t help her. After all, she didn’t know him well no matter how attracted she was to him, or he to her. :) When Susan was feeling the most helpless, Lady Bushnell calms her down by saying she’d decided to give her a trial period, which was all she was asking for. A little time to prove herself. I knew there was something in that first meeting. Lady Bushnell knew of Susan’s background, and she may have, just may have felt a little sympathy, and maybe a little tenderness that she wouldn’t show at all. A girl from a peer’s family wouldn’t ever resort to some type service unless her situation was quite dire indeed.
This begins a new chapter in Susan’s life that she found she was very much enjoying. Even though her employer was rather distant, and can be cold at times, Susan couldn’t dislike her. The mother and daughter duo in the kitchen become her best friends in no time. She liked everything about the estate too, including that Waterloo seeds that the bailiff dreamt of farming one day. Then, there was the bailiff himself who made Susan feel weak in her knees with both his wit and charm.
The more she begins learning of Lady Bushnell’s background—her courageous efforts that now made her a national treasure, and the tragedies that befell her— the more Susan begins falling in love with her employer. She had always missed her mother’s love, and Lady Bushnell, in a way, reminded her of her mother. The individuals may not have been the same in any way, but the void that they both had after losing each of their loved ones, came into play here as I had hoped it would. At one point, Susan knew her job was quite safe. And she wouldn’t leave here for anything else in the world. If not Lady Bushnell, then David Wiggins makes it impossible for her to think of leaving here and going somewhere else.
David and Susan’s chemistry wasn’t subtle or slow burn, even if it wasn’t that intense in the beginning. It was there, quite palpable and I wished it wasn’t a clean romance many-a-times. *sigh* I needed to see them together cause I really liked what I read. How Susan accepted David as he was, trying to make him forget his supposed ‘shortcomings, his not-so-savory past. And how David adored Susan despite her ridiculous family. Regardless of everything, they all were united in one quest; to keep Lady Bushnell safe and happy here as long as possible because she hated the thought of being moved and treated like a invalid.
But things won’t go so picturesquely for them as old age was taking its toll, and Lady Bushnell, no matter how much she wanted to be left alone, couldn’t be by herself any longer. Despite her disgust about the notion, she knew she needed help. By then Susan was a true companion; I’d say their relationship went quite deep, that of a mother-daughter. She was entrusted with the old letters from Lord Bushnell that Lady Bushnell treasured beyond anything. Susan would read those to her then cry in secret, more often than not on the Bailiff’s quite strong and capable shoulder, after knowing the pain she’d suffered. How lonely she must’ve been all these years! The Dowager was now easy enough with her to ask for help when she needed it and Susan considered it a victory on its own. Yet both David and Susan knew they needed to inform the current Lady Bushnell, soon to be Mrs. March, about the latest developments. After all, they were mere employees who were under order to inform any deterioration in the Dowager’s health.
The ending is rather melancholy, yet full of joy and happiness too. David and Susan are rather forced to marry ASAP so that they can keep the Dowager at the country estate until the end, which they all knew were fast approaching by how downhill her health have gone in the past few months. But personally, their marriage was anything but forced. They were already attracted to each-other, wanted each-other and have come to love each-other quite unknowingly while working together for the Dowager. This was a very happy thing for them both, though not so much for Susan’s family. They were a sad lot and behaved abominably with Susan and David when learn of the news. Her aunt was the worst! Though Susan felt humiliated, David was there to soothe her telling her it doesn’t matter. All they wanted was to inform them so they can’t later accuse them of any wrongdoing.
There is no descriptive sex scenes for those who wish to know but you get enough to know that Susan and David were very, uh, ‘compatible in bed’. The subtle mentions were quite fun to read, which is where again, I wished it was not a clean romance. :P By the time the Dowager leaves this earth, both David and Susan knew they’d found a home together. When the story ended, the only thing that bugged me was the fact that David’s real name was never mentioned anywhere. Not even once. I wish I knew it, can’t explain why but I just felt that way. Other than that, The Lady's Companion was truly lovely. 4 stars and recommended.
The Lady's Companion by Carla Kelly is the latest in her backlist I finished a few days ago. It was amazing, to say the least. A very heartwarming traditional regency with an sweet heroine, a superb hero made grand with Ms. Kelly’s beautiful storytelling.
I decided to bring The Lady's Companion up my TBR pile because for a reason. A few months ago, I read another book by Ms. Kelly titled Marriage of Mercy, where the reviewers criticized the book for having almost the same storyline as this one. Marriage of Mercy is a later publication (2012) whereas The Lady's Companion was first released in 1996. The whole notion definitely intrigued me. I was expecting a pretty same storyline with different names for characters, and I agree with them to a certain extent. However, the storyline itself was very different. I mean very, if you can excuse the first 2 chapters where the h Susan’s fate spin almost exactly like that of Grace’s. I would call it plagiarism had the later not also been Ms. Kelly’s publication. I still don’t know how can anyone say both had the same stories so I decided I’m just gonna ignore it and enjoy. Which I did thank you!
Susan Hampton, daughter to Sir Rodney, should’ve had an amazing life with balls and parties and dreams of suitors, marriage and her own family. But no thanks to her spendthrift father, it’s now all just that— a dream. Since her mother passed when she was young, Susan, now 25, had been living on her father’s extravagant, and very fantastical, dreams of this and that—a grand life with loads of money he’d win of these days. Sir Rodney’s gambling habit was so extreme that everyone knew him, and avoided him as much as possible. So far, he’d sold every single thing worth selling one by one to get the money needed. Not only that, he has to live like a peer of the realm that he was, which he does even if he can’t afford it. You can only imagine Susan’s shattered dreams as well as disillusionment.
At one point, when they had to resort to living with her pinch-penny Aunt, as their own house was lost in another ‘grand scheme of thing’, is when Susan has had enough of this crap. She wasn’t going to be the maid-of-all-tricks for her Aunt and fade away as a spinster. Her father’ll never change and nothing good will ever happen unless she stepped up and did something for herself. So, against all odds and all the discouragement from her family, Susan seeks out an employment agency to find a job. She was good in many things a governess should know. The rest she could learn.
Even though the agency had nothing at hand to offer her, the proprietor, one Joel Steinman, asks if Susan would like to be the lady’s companion to an old Dragon whose DIL, the current Lady Bushnell, is at a lost and desperately in search of one. There have been many in the past few months that came and went, couldn’t even stay for a few weeks. They were all turned off by the Dowager herself. Even though she’s quite old and have been ill, she won’t take any help. Lady Bushnell, who had been a widow for a while now has decided to remarry so she wants her MIL to be in good hands.
Susan passed the initial test when Lady Bushnell hired her on spot, though quite doubtful of Susan’s chances of being employed for long. And that’s all Susan knew when she journeys towards the Bushnell country estate where the Dowager lived with her very few servants. Pretty scared and alone, all by herself, Susan knew if she’s turned away she can do nothing else but to return to her family. And she didn’t want to if she could help it! So she must make herself useful enough for the Dowager to keep her. Now to wait for the bailiff to come and get her, as Mr. Steinman had instructed.
David Wiggins comes by at the inn, in the middle of the night, to check out the newest addition to the household staff, pretty much sure she won’t last a month. Like he was utterly sure, especially when he found the little Miss (Susan was short) to be a pretty little thing and much younger than the other lady’s companions. Now, being a soldier, David hasn’t lived the life of a saint and Miss Hampton interests him on the get go. BUT, David has changed since the war ended and he’d settled down to be Lady Bushnell’s bailiff some 5/6 years ago. His life now revolves around all the estate work that he can do being the only able bodied man around, plus his own Waterloo grain seeds that he’s been experimenting with. David has no time to think of anything else.
Susan found David to be tall and quite attractive and definitely much younger than she’d thought he’d be, only 33 or thereabout. But it was also clear that he’s not English when his Welsh accent bleed through his perfect English. David has done his best to hide his origins from everyone but it wasn’t always helpful with his dark Welsh looks and accidental lapse of accent. We learn gradually that his wasn’t a blessed life as his mother was a prostitute who died leaving him young. He never knew his father. You can only imagine how he lived until he was forced to come into England, change his name (I was never sure whether he changed his complete name or just his surname) and join the Army. He tried his best to wash away his Welsh root, of which he wasn’t that proud of, by learning better English and how to read and write. He copied the lords who joined the army by buying commission and tried his best to imitate. He was good in his lesson and has done a good job in the army. He was a Sergeant Major when the war ended, now retired to become a farmer. And David Wiggins knew he had no chance with a lady like Susan Hampton, no matter that she’s now come down her high ladder. No matter what he feels for her.
But when you begin living with people in such close quarters, see them every day and begin to know them by heart, your perspective change. Susan was never as snotty as the rest of her family to begin with, seeing what a loser her father was. In contrast, David was hardworking and honest, whatever his past may have been. And he was very very caring of Lady Bushnell whom he’d met during the war. Susan saw nothing wrong with him and it stayed that way till the end.
Now, Lady Bushnell was one of those characters who stay with you for a while. She was one of those wives who accompanied their husbands in every battlefield. Her daughter Elizabeth also accompanied them until, on one fateful day, both father and daughter were killed together. She’s an old Dragon in the sense that she maybe old but still mentally very strong. She pretty much rode with the Army and saw everything they saw in a battlefield. She brought back the bodies of her loved ones and buried them. A few years later, when her other family, her only son Charles died in another battle she had no one to call her own. None of her children had issues of their own so she knew her family line dies here. Even with all the tragedies she’d seen, all the heartache she’d experienced (hers was a love match with the Colonel), Lady Bushnell hated becoming old and surrendering her independence to that dratted thing. She hated it so much that she’d rather be alone than have people pamper and smother her, which her DIL means to do. She knew that her DIL means well, but that’s not a life Lady Bushnell wanted. And so went the lady’s companions one by one, until Susan joined and tried her best to change that scenario.
No, Susan’s first day under the scrutiny of her new employer didn’t start smoothly. In fact, she was sure the Dowager would turn her off soon enough. Even David Wiggins’s impromptu, and very surprising, marriage proposal couldn’t help her. After all, she didn’t know him well no matter how attracted she was to him, or he to her. :) When Susan was feeling the most helpless, Lady Bushnell calms her down by saying she’d decided to give her a trial period, which was all she was asking for. A little time to prove herself. I knew there was something in that first meeting. Lady Bushnell knew of Susan’s background, and she may have, just may have felt a little sympathy, and maybe a little tenderness that she wouldn’t show at all. A girl from a peer’s family wouldn’t ever resort to some type service unless her situation was quite dire indeed.
This begins a new chapter in Susan’s life that she found she was very much enjoying. Even though her employer was rather distant, and can be cold at times, Susan couldn’t dislike her. The mother and daughter duo in the kitchen become her best friends in no time. She liked everything about the estate too, including that Waterloo seeds that the bailiff dreamt of farming one day. Then, there was the bailiff himself who made Susan feel weak in her knees with both his wit and charm.
The more she begins learning of Lady Bushnell’s background—her courageous efforts that now made her a national treasure, and the tragedies that befell her— the more Susan begins falling in love with her employer. She had always missed her mother’s love, and Lady Bushnell, in a way, reminded her of her mother. The individuals may not have been the same in any way, but the void that they both had after losing each of their loved ones, came into play here as I had hoped it would. At one point, Susan knew her job was quite safe. And she wouldn’t leave here for anything else in the world. If not Lady Bushnell, then David Wiggins makes it impossible for her to think of leaving here and going somewhere else.
David and Susan’s chemistry wasn’t subtle or slow burn, even if it wasn’t that intense in the beginning. It was there, quite palpable and I wished it wasn’t a clean romance many-a-times. *sigh* I needed to see them together cause I really liked what I read. How Susan accepted David as he was, trying to make him forget his supposed ‘shortcomings, his not-so-savory past. And how David adored Susan despite her ridiculous family. Regardless of everything, they all were united in one quest; to keep Lady Bushnell safe and happy here as long as possible because she hated the thought of being moved and treated like a invalid.
But things won’t go so picturesquely for them as old age was taking its toll, and Lady Bushnell, no matter how much she wanted to be left alone, couldn’t be by herself any longer. Despite her disgust about the notion, she knew she needed help. By then Susan was a true companion; I’d say their relationship went quite deep, that of a mother-daughter. She was entrusted with the old letters from Lord Bushnell that Lady Bushnell treasured beyond anything. Susan would read those to her then cry in secret, more often than not on the Bailiff’s quite strong and capable shoulder, after knowing the pain she’d suffered. How lonely she must’ve been all these years! The Dowager was now easy enough with her to ask for help when she needed it and Susan considered it a victory on its own. Yet both David and Susan knew they needed to inform the current Lady Bushnell, soon to be Mrs. March, about the latest developments. After all, they were mere employees who were under order to inform any deterioration in the Dowager’s health.
The ending is rather melancholy, yet full of joy and happiness too. David and Susan are rather forced to marry ASAP so that they can keep the Dowager at the country estate until the end, which they all knew were fast approaching by how downhill her health have gone in the past few months. But personally, their marriage was anything but forced. They were already attracted to each-other, wanted each-other and have come to love each-other quite unknowingly while working together for the Dowager. This was a very happy thing for them both, though not so much for Susan’s family. They were a sad lot and behaved abominably with Susan and David when learn of the news. Her aunt was the worst! Though Susan felt humiliated, David was there to soothe her telling her it doesn’t matter. All they wanted was to inform them so they can’t later accuse them of any wrongdoing.
There is no descriptive sex scenes for those who wish to know but you get enough to know that Susan and David were very, uh, ‘compatible in bed’. The subtle mentions were quite fun to read, which is where again, I wished it was not a clean romance. :P By the time the Dowager leaves this earth, both David and Susan knew they’d found a home together. When the story ended, the only thing that bugged me was the fact that David’s real name was never mentioned anywhere. Not even once. I wish I knew it, can’t explain why but I just felt that way. Other than that, The Lady's Companion was truly lovely. 4 stars and recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2017
This was a rather sweet book about social divide, what happens when one falls beneath one's social standing, and how one should try to gracefully accept whatever may come one's way.
Our lady of the story, Miss Susan Hampton, was past marriageable age, her coming-out money long squandered away by her spendthrift of a father. At 25, her marriage prospects were at a low point, her means so destitute that she could only envisage herself living and tending to her Aunt Louise until the end of her life. So, she did something that could only seem abhorrent to those in her social class - apply for work. And apply she did, to work for a Lady Bushnell, a widow who was determined to retain her dignity and independence for as long as she could manage. The thing was, she hadn't counted on her Lady's baliff, David Wiggins, being so young, handsome, or even unmarried.
It was rather fascinating, reading about how despite fears that they weren't social equals, she still acknowledged just how much she loved David, and was determined to see them through, no matter how abhorrently she was treated by her Aunt Louise and her father. To be frank, now that I consider it, there are similarities between this and Persuasion - a spendthrift father, and a woman marrying below her social standing. But there are some rather sweet moments and quotes from this book too. I especially loved Susan's interactions with Lady Bushnell, who started out rather foreboding and bitter, and gradually grew on me as someone as dear as how Susan and David regarded her.
All in all, this was a lovely story. It may not have all the sex and witticisms as modern-day HR novels may have, but it is still incredibly clever, and very sweet. And no less a complicated study of how things might've been, all those years ago.
Our lady of the story, Miss Susan Hampton, was past marriageable age, her coming-out money long squandered away by her spendthrift of a father. At 25, her marriage prospects were at a low point, her means so destitute that she could only envisage herself living and tending to her Aunt Louise until the end of her life. So, she did something that could only seem abhorrent to those in her social class - apply for work. And apply she did, to work for a Lady Bushnell, a widow who was determined to retain her dignity and independence for as long as she could manage. The thing was, she hadn't counted on her Lady's baliff, David Wiggins, being so young, handsome, or even unmarried.
It was rather fascinating, reading about how despite fears that they weren't social equals, she still acknowledged just how much she loved David, and was determined to see them through, no matter how abhorrently she was treated by her Aunt Louise and her father. To be frank, now that I consider it, there are similarities between this and Persuasion - a spendthrift father, and a woman marrying below her social standing. But there are some rather sweet moments and quotes from this book too. I especially loved Susan's interactions with Lady Bushnell, who started out rather foreboding and bitter, and gradually grew on me as someone as dear as how Susan and David regarded her.
All in all, this was a lovely story. It may not have all the sex and witticisms as modern-day HR novels may have, but it is still incredibly clever, and very sweet. And no less a complicated study of how things might've been, all those years ago.
January 8, 2025
I wanted to slowly read this book – to slowly devour every word. I love this book!! The hero and heroine are so great – two tortured, abused people who find each other and everything good happens to them!! It was just so romantic and warm!! I just picture them together forever and all their little children. I loved reading about David and Susan. I loved the story - the ending always makes me cry. I read this book once a year just because I love it so much.
One of my favorite Carla Kelly books. Loved the hero, loved the heroine and loved the plot and all the secondary characters!!
I really enjoyed reading about this couple - so they go on my favorite couple list!! Loved the story so it goes on favorite book list.
BEST USE OF: wheat and the battle of Waterloo
ALPHA MALE 10
SPUNKY HEROINE 10++
CUTE KID 5
SOME SEX 3
HEA(HAPPILY EVER AFTER) 10+++
PROLOGUE/EPILOGUE A very satisfying Epilogue - no prologue
Rating System
10 - Perfect! - Keeper shelf material
Heat Level
2 – Mild – Lovemaking scenes have little detail. They are sex scenes with no graphic descriptions. Married sex, sexy hero.
HOLLYWOOD CALLING: This is one book that I don't want made into a movie - it would be ruined. But if a book ever calls to be made into a movie - this is the book - the scene of Susan running in the rain into David's arms - perfect movie scene.
COVER COVERS IT: The cover shows the wheat field - but not the characters - the depiction of David is the closest - not Susan!!
One of my favorite Carla Kelly books. Loved the hero, loved the heroine and loved the plot and all the secondary characters!!
I really enjoyed reading about this couple - so they go on my favorite couple list!! Loved the story so it goes on favorite book list.
BEST USE OF: wheat and the battle of Waterloo
ALPHA MALE 10
SPUNKY HEROINE 10++
CUTE KID 5
SOME SEX 3
HEA(HAPPILY EVER AFTER) 10+++
PROLOGUE/EPILOGUE A very satisfying Epilogue - no prologue
Rating System
10 - Perfect! - Keeper shelf material
Heat Level
2 – Mild – Lovemaking scenes have little detail. They are sex scenes with no graphic descriptions. Married sex, sexy hero.
HOLLYWOOD CALLING: This is one book that I don't want made into a movie - it would be ruined. But if a book ever calls to be made into a movie - this is the book - the scene of Susan running in the rain into David's arms - perfect movie scene.
COVER COVERS IT: The cover shows the wheat field - but not the characters - the depiction of David is the closest - not Susan!!
May 18, 2017
I didn't dislike this book, but it was a bit boring. The romance was sweet but underwhelming. I did like both MCs, flawed as they were, but I had a hard time finding it in myself to care. It felt like there were too many themes competing for attention: class differences, the lingering effects of war, lying to protect loved ones, the effects of gambling addiction, etc. that my attention ended up falling on finding another book to read. I appreciate how relatively clean it was and the lack of ow/om drama. The beginning of this book really grabbed my attention but it was a downhill journey after that.
Safety
Safety
January 5, 2017
Carla Kelly's books are generally comforting and cozy, and for the most part this one was, too. It didn't wind up being a favorite of the ones I've read, however. It started out pretty strong, but I lost interest toward the end.
There were some descriptions of Jewish characters that seemed very old-fashioned to me and made me feel a little uncomfortable, even though the characters were not described negatively in any way. They just veered into stereotypes at times.
Also, while Kelly is good at writing sweet, gentle romance, any time the story ventures into sex it gets super awkward to me. The best way I can explain it is that it's explicit enough to be uncomfortable, but uptight enough to lack sexiness. Mary Balogh is the same way. For me there's always a cringe factor in her sex scenes as well.
Overall, this was just okay for me. 4 stars for the first half, 3-ish for the last.
There were some descriptions of Jewish characters that seemed very old-fashioned to me and made me feel a little uncomfortable, even though the characters were not described negatively in any way. They just veered into stereotypes at times.
Also, while Kelly is good at writing sweet, gentle romance, any time the story ventures into sex it gets super awkward to me. The best way I can explain it is that it's explicit enough to be uncomfortable, but uptight enough to lack sexiness. Mary Balogh is the same way. For me there's always a cringe factor in her sex scenes as well.
Overall, this was just okay for me. 4 stars for the first half, 3-ish for the last.
May 17, 2020
I really loved this book. A sigh-worthy romance for grown-ups. A heroine desperate to be in charge of her own destiny (and seeing the writing on the wall if she were to stay with her aunt and father) lands a job as a lady's companion to a tough-as-nails Dowager and finds an ally in the Dowager's bailiff. Richly drawn characters, great dialogue, plenty of charming flirtation, and emotional moments that practically ripped my guts out (OMG - her mother's wedding dress!). So, so good.
January 28, 2014
A beautifully written and emotional historical romance by Carla Kelly. Loved this story of an impoverished aristocratic heroine who finds love and emotional security across the barriers of social class with a bailiff. The characters (including a wonderful cast of secondary characters) were realistic and endearing. A definite keeper and reread!
May 28, 2017
Susan Hampton, beautiful and witty and a lady born and bred, reaches her twenty-fifth birthday still unwed. Still without even having had her Season, her chance at the Marriage Mart—all because of her inveterate gambler of a father, who is certain that the very next throw of the dice will allow him to redeem all his lost fortune. Matters come to a head when he loses their home and is obliged to go, with Susan, to seek shelter with his wealthy sister. Susan, slowly being suffocated by the veiled contempt of her aunt and the unrepentant attitude of her father, finally rebels after he steals (and subsequently gambles away) his wife’s pearls, the only thing of her mother’s that Susan still had.
It is then that Susan leaves home, goes—audaciously—to seek employment, and ends up as a lady’s companion to old widowed Lady Bushnell, who lives out in the Cotswolds with her memories of following the drum through India and the Peninsula…. Susan has been warned that she is only the latest in a long line of lady’s companions, Lady Bushnell not caring for the breed her widowed daughter-in-law tries to foist on her. But as Susan tries to worm her way into Lady Bushnell’s good graces, she finds herself attracted to David Wiggins, the Welsh bailiff who had once been sergeant to Lord Bushnell—both father and son—and who is now Lady Bushnell’s right hand.
The Lady’s Companion is quintessential Carla Kelly: romantic in a warm, charming way, and with an emphasis on developing companionship rather than mad passion. The relationship between Susan and David is balanced by her relationship with Lady Bushnell, and her realization that behind the gruff demeanour of the old lady lies a lonely old warrior, frustrated at her own frailty. Added to that is the secret that David harbours from Waterloo.
If you’re looking for a torrid romance between an alpha male and a fragile damsel, this is not for you. If you like thought-provoking and poignant stories of people, their flaws and dreams and memories and all, do give The Lady’s Companion a try—it’s an uncomplicated but nuanced, touching novel that reveals a deep, sympathetic understanding of human nature.
It is then that Susan leaves home, goes—audaciously—to seek employment, and ends up as a lady’s companion to old widowed Lady Bushnell, who lives out in the Cotswolds with her memories of following the drum through India and the Peninsula…. Susan has been warned that she is only the latest in a long line of lady’s companions, Lady Bushnell not caring for the breed her widowed daughter-in-law tries to foist on her. But as Susan tries to worm her way into Lady Bushnell’s good graces, she finds herself attracted to David Wiggins, the Welsh bailiff who had once been sergeant to Lord Bushnell—both father and son—and who is now Lady Bushnell’s right hand.
The Lady’s Companion is quintessential Carla Kelly: romantic in a warm, charming way, and with an emphasis on developing companionship rather than mad passion. The relationship between Susan and David is balanced by her relationship with Lady Bushnell, and her realization that behind the gruff demeanour of the old lady lies a lonely old warrior, frustrated at her own frailty. Added to that is the secret that David harbours from Waterloo.
If you’re looking for a torrid romance between an alpha male and a fragile damsel, this is not for you. If you like thought-provoking and poignant stories of people, their flaws and dreams and memories and all, do give The Lady’s Companion a try—it’s an uncomplicated but nuanced, touching novel that reveals a deep, sympathetic understanding of human nature.
January 27, 2019
Lovely book! David is such a wonderful hero. No gentleman, bastard, bailiff, former thief and occasional lier, he is so real and so loyal that I fell head over heels in love with him in a few chapters.
Suzie is a lady in a difficult situation that ends up becoming a lady’s companion to a reluctant lady.
How hard it is to eat an indigestible humble pie, but what a wonderful world opens up to our heroine.
Lovely read! Great characters!
Suzie is a lady in a difficult situation that ends up becoming a lady’s companion to a reluctant lady.
How hard it is to eat an indigestible humble pie, but what a wonderful world opens up to our heroine.
Lovely read! Great characters!
April 28, 2019
Signet has been rereleasing some of their old Regencies as digital editions, and I love Carla Kelly's writing, and my library has been adding them, so I've been reading them as they become available. So sweet. So innocent. Just really nice romances set against horrible life circumstances.
April 22, 2024
Delightful. Even if I cried a lot at the ending. Feels like a lot happened in only 220 pages. Definitely going to seek out more by this author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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