I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Nicolas appoints Gillian, a down-on-her-luck governess, to be his daughter Jessica's companion. He also anticipates that she will prepare Jessica for her coming out/season and explain the facts of life to her. He chooses Gillian for this task because he likes her and she is a widow, despite the fact that he has just met her, and despite the fact that Jessica has numerous siblings and (presumably) other relations.

I really didn't get on with this novel: I only managed to get to the end because I felt obliged to review it. I was distracted by the way the ages of the various characters didn't quite work (Nicolas needed to be at least 51 by my reckoning, rather than 49), the way the oldest of Jessica's sisters was sometimes Rebecca and sometimes Fanny, the totally inappropriate-for-the-period way Nicolas and Gillian spoke to and treated one another, the way no one even commented on the fact that Nicolas had daughters older than Gillian etc etc.

The characters were superficial - Nicolas reflects at one point that he knows little of Gillian's past, despite his having a (presumably slim) "employment file" for her, and this is how I felt about her too. She was happy to sleep with her employer with seemingly no concern about a possible pregnancy or worries about her long term prospects or even a moral qualm. I think there was one fairly humorous line, and otherwise every one took themselves deadly seriously.

Not for me. ( )