Book Review
May. 8th, 2022 08:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics
by Olivia Waite
This sapphic romance novel was sweet and satisfying. In 1816, Lucy Mulcheney is heartbroken over her lover's sudden marriage of convenience. Receiving a letter from the Countess of Moth seeking a translator for a French astronomy book, Lucy runs away to London to offer herself up as the translator, as she is both fluent in French and spent years assisting her astronomer father in his studies. Catherine, the Countess of Moth is the widow of a naturalist, and a talented embroiderer and designer. when Lucy shows up at her door, she agrees to let Lucy stay with her while she works on the translation. As Lucy works, the two of them fall in love and must negotiate both the male-dominated scientific world and their relationship.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. My only, very slight, criticism is that Catherine and Lucy get together rather quickly. I would have liked just a little more tension and build-up. But I did love their relationship - it was very mutually supportive and caring, and also quite hot. The main conflict in the relationship comes from the question of how Catherine and Lucy can feel secure and make a commitment when they can't do what their society views as the only way to achieve that: get married. The other conflict in the plot comes from the sexism Lucy deals with from the scientific community. The resolution to both this and the relationship issues is beautifully done.
by Olivia Waite
This sapphic romance novel was sweet and satisfying. In 1816, Lucy Mulcheney is heartbroken over her lover's sudden marriage of convenience. Receiving a letter from the Countess of Moth seeking a translator for a French astronomy book, Lucy runs away to London to offer herself up as the translator, as she is both fluent in French and spent years assisting her astronomer father in his studies. Catherine, the Countess of Moth is the widow of a naturalist, and a talented embroiderer and designer. when Lucy shows up at her door, she agrees to let Lucy stay with her while she works on the translation. As Lucy works, the two of them fall in love and must negotiate both the male-dominated scientific world and their relationship.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. My only, very slight, criticism is that Catherine and Lucy get together rather quickly. I would have liked just a little more tension and build-up. But I did love their relationship - it was very mutually supportive and caring, and also quite hot. The main conflict in the relationship comes from the question of how Catherine and Lucy can feel secure and make a commitment when they can't do what their society views as the only way to achieve that: get married. The other conflict in the plot comes from the sexism Lucy deals with from the scientific community. The resolution to both this and the relationship issues is beautifully done.
