The Season

The Season
By Sarah MacLean
Orchard Books, 2009. 343 pgs. Young Adult.

Alexandra Stafford, only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Worthington, dreads coming out this season and being a commodity on the marriage market. Relieved that her good friends, Ella and Vivi, (also ladies) will be there with her, the three intelligent (and, in more private company, quite outspoken) young women avoid all the events of the season as best as they can. They soon become entangled in intrigue when Earl Blackmoor dies and his young son Gavin, Alex’s good friend and pseudo-brother, becomes the earl. Gavin is convinced his father was murdered and after Ella overhears a conversation about the elder Earl’s death, the three young ladies set out to find who killed him and to save Gavin from a similar fate. Of course, Alex and Gavin have many encounters along the way which help Alex realize her true feelings for him.

In the acknowledgements, MacLean says that this book is “at its core, a story about the power of female friendship.” While the friendship is important to the storyline, this is, first and foremost, a romance with some adventure and mystery thrown in the mix. Although hampered by an unfortunate cover, I enjoyed this mostly fun trip through regency England. Readers beware: even though it happens in this book, I don’t think teenage girls in this time period said “forever” with the same emphasis and exaggeration that teenage girls today do.

MN