Iza Brekilien’s Reviews > A Most Dreadful Guide to Ruin > Status Update

"It was, she reflected, a singular thing—a lady’s self-regard. To think oneself pretty was vanity; but to doubt it was false modesty. One could neither be beautiful nor unbeautiful without causing some offence. Society, it seemed, was determined to ensure that every woman, regardless of her actual appearance, should feel herself insufficient in some essential respect.'