A Spy’s Devotion

A Spy’s Devotion

by Melanie Dickerson

Waterfall press, 2016. 314 pgs, Fiction

Nicholas Langdon came home from war injured in hopes of recovery and also to fulfill a promise to a fellow soldier to deliver an encrypted journal. He attends a ball at the Willherns one of the most powerful families in England, where he meets their ward Julia Grey. After the ball when he tries to deliver the journal he is mugged and the journal is stolen. When suspicions then point to the guardians of Miss Julia Grey he must find a way to get more information without endangering the woman he is beginning to fall in love with.

I enjoyed this story. It is more of a romance than a mystery, espionage sort of story, but it was fun to read. I don’t know that I would have fit in to society way back when, and it makes me grateful that I can have a job and take care of myself as opposed to having to climb the social ladder by marrying the richest guy who came along. I enjoyed Julia’s character because I think she is a good representation of what someone of an orphan class would struggle with during the time period. She is not lowly enough to be a servant, but she is at the mercy of her guardians to find a “suitable” match. There were not many opportunities for women at the time and there was no way to realistically balance standing up for yourself and fitting in with the norms of society, the ultimate catch-22.

MH