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Child #2
Tuesday's Child
Can a veritable angel find heaven with a most devilish gentleman?
Once firmly in the mainstream of London society, the Simmons family has fallen on hard times. Now, with an ailing father and a menagerie of waifs and unfortunate souls to feed, Miss Felicia Simmons is forced to give piano lessons and rent rooms in her formidable home.
Any hope of reentering society seems destined to be dashed by vicious gossip about Felicia's plight. But across the street, Sir Christopher Wilde, newly returned from India, is intrigued by this graceful beauty who polishes brass door knockers and feeds the hungry from her doorstep.
Cynical about the ton, he is only too willing to aid a lady in need, especially one who so unsettled the heart of such a confirmed bachelor as himself.
Once firmly in the mainstream of London society, the Simmons family has fallen on hard times. Now, with an ailing father and a menagerie of waifs and unfortunate souls to feed, Miss Felicia Simmons is forced to give piano lessons and rent rooms in her formidable home.
Any hope of reentering society seems destined to be dashed by vicious gossip about Felicia's plight. But across the street, Sir Christopher Wilde, newly returned from India, is intrigued by this graceful beauty who polishes brass door knockers and feeds the hungry from her doorstep.
Cynical about the ton, he is only too willing to aid a lady in need, especially one who so unsettled the heart of such a confirmed bachelor as himself.
- GenresRomance
234 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
23 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Hazard
57 books15 followersBarbara (Booth) Hazard, a resident of Exeter, NH, died on October 25, 2019 in Boston, MA surrounded by family. Born in 1931 in Fall River, MA, the daughter of Albert L. and Lillian (Holland) Booth, she was raised and educated in New England. She graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1953 and was briefly employed by Ginn & Company in Boston as a Technical Editor. She married Donald T. Hazard in 1954 and next worked as a Graphic Designer/Artist for a Concord, NH advertising firm.
Originally trained as a musician, Mrs. Hazard also studied oil painting with Amy Jones and for a time had several shows in New York and Vermont. She began to write historical fiction in 1978. First published in 1981, she went on to write and publish 48 books, several of which are also in circulation abroad. She won several awards for her writing.
Mrs. Hazard wrote that there were several things in her life that she was most proud of; being Concertmaster of the MA All State Orchestra in Symphony Hall in Boston, having a successful career as an artist and as a writer, which was her greatest love besides her husband, three sons and their wives.
She loved New England and in particular, Cape Cod, which she visited every year for most of her life. Her other loves included her family, reading and music. She also wrote under the pen name of Lillian Lincoln.
Originally trained as a musician, Mrs. Hazard also studied oil painting with Amy Jones and for a time had several shows in New York and Vermont. She began to write historical fiction in 1978. First published in 1981, she went on to write and publish 48 books, several of which are also in circulation abroad. She won several awards for her writing.
Mrs. Hazard wrote that there were several things in her life that she was most proud of; being Concertmaster of the MA All State Orchestra in Symphony Hall in Boston, having a successful career as an artist and as a writer, which was her greatest love besides her husband, three sons and their wives.
She loved New England and in particular, Cape Cod, which she visited every year for most of her life. Her other loves included her family, reading and music. She also wrote under the pen name of Lillian Lincoln.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 22, 2014
Sir Christopher Wilde returns to London for the first time in many many years. He ran away to India at 17 and made his fortune in the shipping trade. Now his father and older brother have died and he must take up the duties of the baronetcy. He finds it all very tedious and his London friends shallow and callow. He's far more interested in the lovely young woman who cleans the brass doorknobs with such joy. When he discovers the "maid" is actually the lady of the house, Miss Felicia Simmons, he's determined to find out who she is and how to help. Felicia is an impoverished young lady of Quality with an ill father and a big heart. She takes in waifs and strays in need of a home and feeds urchins at her door each night. She barely has enough herself and must make ends meet by teaching music lessons. When her situation becomes more precarious, she takes in lodgers, Miss Cecily Perkins, a spoiled beauty and her mother. Then out of the blue, Felicia's godmother returns to England and wants to take up Felicia. Felicia is reluctant to accept, but the members of her household insist. Being launched into the ton isn't easy for Felicia and if anyone knew the truth about her, she would be ruined. Always by her side is Sir Christopher to tell her what to do. She can not understand why he always commanding and authoritative. She admires him and fears a certain look in his icy gray eyes. Chris doesn't believe in love and has no use for women. Why then is he so eager to help Felicia?
This is rather a Cinderella type story, at least for the first 1/2 of the book. The writing is decent and the author incorporates a fabulous amount of detail about the everyday lives of Londoners in 1811. Felicia's world is not the glittering world of ballrooms and drawing rooms - at least not entirely. I liked the gritty details as much as the fashion and ton activities. Actually I liked the gritty details better because it made the story stand out. The misunderstanding is unique and actually kind of funny. After that the plot drags a bit. The last third of the book is like a different story. A villain is introduced randomly into the story and serves as the catalyst to bring the action to a conclusion. This part felt a bit rushed.
The characters add a lot of dimension to the story. Felicia is not just another Cinderella/Mary Sue. She's proud and stubborn and has a bit of a temper. She can stand up for herself and take care of herself when she has to. I admire her strength and her big heart but I think she could have saved her money and donated her time or/and money to a worthy charity. You can't solve the problem of London's poor all by yourself. That to me, was her only real fault. I had issues with Chris. His story doesn't come out until late in the novel and we only get it second hand. He comes across as rather too steely and authoritative for my tastes. He also has a heart of gold but hides it. I didn't like his anti-woman attitude much either. The secondary characters add the humor to the story. I loved all the various members of Felicia's household, even little George who is such a rascal. I had a love/hate relationship with Marjorie. She's so bubbleheaded, it's annoying yet she means well and she's funny. Her husband is amazing and they're very sweet together.
I won't go out of my way to find more Barbara Hazard books but if I come across more, I would probably read them.
Spoiler for those who know Georgette Heyer's The Nonesuch
Cecily is even worse than Tiffany!
This is rather a Cinderella type story, at least for the first 1/2 of the book. The writing is decent and the author incorporates a fabulous amount of detail about the everyday lives of Londoners in 1811. Felicia's world is not the glittering world of ballrooms and drawing rooms - at least not entirely. I liked the gritty details as much as the fashion and ton activities. Actually I liked the gritty details better because it made the story stand out. The misunderstanding is unique and actually kind of funny. After that the plot drags a bit. The last third of the book is like a different story. A villain is introduced randomly into the story and serves as the catalyst to bring the action to a conclusion. This part felt a bit rushed.
The characters add a lot of dimension to the story. Felicia is not just another Cinderella/Mary Sue. She's proud and stubborn and has a bit of a temper. She can stand up for herself and take care of herself when she has to. I admire her strength and her big heart but I think she could have saved her money and donated her time or/and money to a worthy charity. You can't solve the problem of London's poor all by yourself. That to me, was her only real fault. I had issues with Chris. His story doesn't come out until late in the novel and we only get it second hand. He comes across as rather too steely and authoritative for my tastes. He also has a heart of gold but hides it. I didn't like his anti-woman attitude much either. The secondary characters add the humor to the story. I loved all the various members of Felicia's household, even little George who is such a rascal. I had a love/hate relationship with Marjorie. She's so bubbleheaded, it's annoying yet she means well and she's funny. Her husband is amazing and they're very sweet together.
I won't go out of my way to find more Barbara Hazard books but if I come across more, I would probably read them.
Spoiler for those who know Georgette Heyer's The Nonesuch
Cecily is even worse than Tiffany!
March 18, 2023
The other two reviews discuss the plot so I won't get into it, but I thought the book pretty boring. It's a Cinderella story with a very dull, Mary Sue type of heroine. The only positive is that she's very kind. Unfortunately, she has no spirit or any other interesting qualities. I actually prefer quiet and sensible heroines but they need to have some sparkle: intelligence, wit, passion for something... Felicia was meek and downtrodden. She became tongue tied when conversing with the hero. Even when she attempted to be witty, I found it fell flat. I've no idea what the hero saw in her and there was nothing lover-like about him, only a desire to help her. At one point, she thinks he's going to kiss her, and I was completely surprised because I sensed nothing. The story itself is just a series of events to get Felicia into society and, most of the time, she's worrying about her reputation and how people see her. She became more assertive towards the end, but I just didn't care anymore at that point. I've read other stories by Hazard that I enjoyed, but this one was sadly lacking both in the main characters and the plot.
September 6, 2007
Poor Felicia Simmons. Since her father's illness, the family has fallen on hard times. But that doesn't stop her from feeding every orphan who comes by, or from trying to provide for her household of misfit servants. Felicia gets by with her music lessons. At first, when Sir Christopher Wilde moves in across the street, he scarcely notices her. But circumstances put them in each other's company, and he begins to admire her kindness and grace. When a fairy godmother in the form of her scatter-brained godmother intervenes, the romance begins to bloom. I enjoyed this book. It is the second in a series, and before I got a chance to read the next, they were out of print!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews