Book Review: The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

Lady Augusta Colebrook and her twin sister Lady Julia are in their forties, unmarried, and thus considered to be of negligible worth by vast swathes of their Regency English society. Fortunately, they have both financial security and a supportive circle of friends, one of whom has asked them to assist her in a delicate matter. Lady Charlotte Davenport seeks to recover several indiscreet letters she once wrote to a paramour. She asks the Colebrook sisters to meet with her blackmailer and exchange some jewelry for the incriminating missives.

The rendezvous doesn’t go exactly as planned but the sisters emerge both triumphant and with a newly whetted taste for adventure. So when Charlotte asks for their help once again, they’re more than willing to listen.

Charlotte’s goddaughter Caroline made an advantageous marriage some years ago, but has since come to fear for her life after being unable to bear the heir her husband so desperately desires. Sir Reginald Thorne has made it impossible for any of Caroline’s friends or relatives to see her, and her family only knows of her predicament through a letter smuggled out by a sympathetic maidservant. Caroline’s sister, Millicent, begs for the Colebrook sisters to intervene and help her sister escape imprisonment, despite the fact that they—or indeed anyone in 1800s England—have no legal standing to do so:

By law, our attempt to extract Lady Thorne would be considered kidnapping or abduction and very much outside the law. However, the fact that Sir Reginald was mistreating his wife was not against the law and would not be so until she was dead by his hand or design. According to the laws of England, and indeed God, she was his chattel and he could do with her as he pleased up to the point of murder. Was it any wonder that I could not reconcile this God with my own moral sense?

Julia’s kindly nature immediately prompts her to agree to help, but Augusta is spurred more by dissatisfaction with the general oppression of her sex. And if God does not exist, as she’s starting to believe, then she had better step up to help make the world a better place herself. 

On the way to Sir Reginald’s estate, the sisters have a pivotal encounter with a highwayman who will turn Augusta’s world upside down. Lord Evan Belford has returned from the colonies in order to continue his life of crime, or so it would seem. Over the course of press ganging him into their scheme, the sisters are surprised to discover in him a steadfast ally. While the Colebrooks both come to appreciate his assistance, Julia is more wary of his continuing presence in their lives, largely due to the effect he has on Augusta:

“Still, when you are in Lord Evan’s company you are too reckless. You become another person.”

 

“That is unfair. I have always been reckless.”

 

Although perhaps she had a point; I did feel strong and smart and a great deal bolder when I was with him. All admirable qualities in a man but adding up to recklessness in a woman. Yet, I rather liked the person I was in his company.

With more than one successful caper under their belts, the sisters soon find themselves the founders of the title benevolent society, dedicated to eschewing politeness and gentility in favor of saving women and girls from the most oppressive, if not outright deadly, of circumstances. In addition to Lord Evan and Lady Charlotte, they gain staunch allies in their faithful servants, John Driver and their freedman butler Weatherly, and an increasing circle of sympathetic contacts.

Of course, this also means that they have plenty of detractors, including their own younger brother, Duffy. While presented as neither evil nor criminal, he certainly represents so much of what was wrong with Regency society, leading to a perhaps inevitable series of family breaks that are painful for our protagonists to bear. The deep and sensitive exploration into this and many other aspects of the period’s injustices—too many of which linger on to the modern day—are only a small part of what makes this swashbuckling romance novel equal parts thrilling and thoughtful. Whether addressing legal or medical aspects in which women and people of color were given little recourse or autonomy, this book neatly weaves each clearly well-researched topic into its engaging, lively plot.

I loved reading how the Colebrook sisters defy convention to ensure that good prevails in the world, and how naturally and convincingly the romance between Augusta and Evan blooms. By the end of the book, I was desperate to know what happens next. I can’t wait to read more of the series after this splendid start!