Set in 1863, The Duchess War could easily be mistaken for another wannabe Historical Romance in the Georgette Heyer fashion, but Courtney Milan's (pseudonym for Heidi Bond) novel is much more than that.
Ms Wilhemina Pursling / Minerva Lane is quite a solid heroine. She is a much stronger heroine than most of those in novels set in this time period. Her history - as it is revealed is quite unique and interesting. So there is obviously a Duke - in this case, Robert Blaisdell, the Duke of Clermont - who is trying to unravel her story.
What is interesting about this novel is that historical events like the workers rights movement, founding of food co-operatives, civil unrest due to suspicion against vaccinations, Gregor Mendel's early discoveries in the field of genetics are woven very well into the story itself.
The author has made a few tweaks to history to get a better flow for her story, but she owns up to each one of them in a note at the end. Quite an interesting read.
Rating : 3.5 / 5
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