Editorial Content for The Secret Book Society
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Thrice-widowed Clara Chambers, the Countess of Duxbury, cordially invites Eleanor Clarke, Rose Wharton and Lavinia Cavendish to her London estate in June 1895, the year Charlotte Cooper defeated Helen Jackson to win the ladies’ singles title at the Wimbledon Championships.
In Victorian England, women were discouraged from reading. Although Jane Austen wrote several novels two decades after her birth in 1775, she had to anonymously publish SENSE AND SENSIBILITY in 1811. Women who did not submit to male dominance were conveniently committed to Bethlehem Royal Hospital, a horrific asylum that the working class Cockney dialect mangled to Bethlem and later Bedlam.
"The pacing is as gentle as Lady Duxbury’s soothing tea served in exquisite porcelain.... THE SECRET BOOK SOCIETY will be a top choice for book clubs. Listen up, Oprah!"
Eleanor is the pristine example of Society, though long sleeves and high collars conceal bruises caused by her tyrannical husband. Rose is a nouveau riche American not accepted in Manhattan’s Astor and Vanderbilt society. Her father’s wealth entices a financially failed British earl to marry her, conferring the title of Lady Wharton. Artistic Lavinia’s family hides a dire secret. The passionate debutante is forbidden to read novels or poetry, even prolific Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poems from the mid-1800s. Attributed to the audiobook version, “When women hold books, they hold power --- quiet, dangerous, and fiercely unstoppable.”
Lady Duxbury’s afternoon tea puts her guests at ease, with twittering acknowledgement that gentry wag-tongues imply she had murdered her three spouses. The ladies are invited into a secret garden where medicinal plants thrive. A little can cure, a lot will kill. They enter a dimension of unified strength through regular gatherings, reading books of their choice not available in their homes. And one is allowed to peruse Lady Duxbury’s diary. “The power of women coming together could truly do marvelous things.”
The pacing is as gentle as Lady Duxbury’s soothing tea served in exquisite porcelain. A strong feminist current courses through this book like the River Thames. It has a Victorian setting, but the glib flow is not anachronistic, although “reticule” and a few era words spurred web searches. It is reminiscent of Edith Wharton’s THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, which led the author to become the first woman to earn the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Perhaps Madeline Martin pays homage to this phenom by naming her American character Rose Wharton.
THE SECRET BOOK SOCIETY will be a top choice for book clubs. Listen up, Oprah!
Teaser
London, 1895: Trapped by oppressive marriages and societal expectations, three women receive a mysterious invitation to an afternoon tea at the home of the reclusive Lady Duxbury. Beneath the genteel facade of the gathering lies a secret book club --- a sanctuary where they can discover freedom, sisterhood and the courage to rewrite their stories. All are drawn to the enigmatic Lady Duxbury, a thrice-widowed countess whose husbands’ untimely deaths have sparked whispers of murder. As the women form deep, heartwarming friendships, they uncover secrets about their marriages, their pasts and the risks they face. Their courage is their only weapon in the oppressive world that has kept them silent. But when secrets are deadly, one misstep could cost them everything.
Promo
London, 1895: Trapped by oppressive marriages and societal expectations, three women receive a mysterious invitation to an afternoon tea at the home of the reclusive Lady Duxbury. Beneath the genteel facade of the gathering lies a secret book club --- a sanctuary where they can discover freedom, sisterhood and the courage to rewrite their stories. All are drawn to the enigmatic Lady Duxbury, a thrice-widowed countess whose husbands’ untimely deaths have sparked whispers of murder. As the women form deep, heartwarming friendships, they uncover secrets about their marriages, their pasts and the risks they face. Their courage is their only weapon in the oppressive world that has kept them silent. But when secrets are deadly, one misstep could cost them everything.
About the Book
A captivating new historical novel from Madeline Martin, set in Victorian London about a forbidden book club, dangerous secrets and the women who dare to break free.
You are cordially invited to the Secret Book Society.
London, 1895: Trapped by oppressive marriages and societal expectations, three women receive a mysterious invitation to an afternoon tea at the home of the reclusive Lady Duxbury. Beneath the genteel facade of the gathering lies a secret book club --- a sanctuary where they can discover freedom, sisterhood and the courage to rewrite their stories
Eleanor Clarke, a devoted mother suffocating under the tyranny of her husband. Rose Wharton, a transplanted American dollar princess struggling to fit the mold of an aristocratic wife. Lavinia Cavendish, an artistic young woman haunted by a dangerous family secret. All are drawn to the enigmatic Lady Duxbury, a thrice-widowed countess whose husbands’ untimely deaths have sparked whispers of murder.
As the women form deep, heartwarming friendships, they uncover secrets about their marriages, their pasts and the risks they face. Their courage is their only weapon in the oppressive world that has kept them silent. But when secrets are deadly, one misstep could cost them everything.
Audiobook available, read by Saskia Maarleveld
