Mistress Suffragette
Young Adult Historical Fiction
by Diana Forbes
A young woman without prospects at a ball in Gilded Age Newport, Rhode Island is a target for a certain kind of “suitor.”
At the Memorial Day Ball during the Panic of 1893, impoverished but feisty Penelope Stanton draws the unwanted advances of a villainous millionaire banker who preys on distressed women—the incorrigible Edgar Daggers. Over a series of encounters, he promises Penelope the financial security she craves, but at what cost?
Skilled in the art of flirtation, Edgar is not without his charms, and Penelope is attracted to him against her better judgment. Initially, as Penelope grows into her own in the burgeoning early Women’s Suffrage Movement, Edgar exerts pressure, promising to use his power and access to help her advance. But can he be trusted, or are his words part of an elaborate mind game played between him and his wife?
During a glittering age where a woman’s reputation is her most valuable possession, Penelope must decide whether to compromise her principles for love, lust, and the allure of an easier life.
REVIEW
5 out of 5
First, I LOVED Penelope. I can totally relate to her attitude towards the position she was placed in. Placed in an impossible position, she decides to forge her own path. She doesn’t need love or a husband to make her life complete, even though that’s what society expects of her. I knew in the first few pages she was going to be a wonderful heroine, and I’m so glad I wasn’t disappointed. Yes this is political fiction in a way, with the Suffragette movement as a backdrop and at times driving force. Most of all, it is about a young woman finding herself and coming into her own in a way society at the time did not expect.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Diana Forbes is the pen name for Vicky Oliver. Diana Forbes is a 9th generation American, with ancestors on both sides of the Civil War. Diana Forbes lives and writes in Manhattan. When she is not cribbing chapters, Diana Forbes loves to explore the buildings where her 19th Century American ancestors lived, loved, survived and thrived. She is passionate about vintage clothing, antique furniture, ancestry, and vows to master the quadrille in her lifetime. Diana Forbes is the author of New York Gilded Age historical fiction.
