Customer Reviews

The Ambitious Stepmother

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In the third outing for the Countess Ashby de la Zouche and the intrepid Alpiew, the setting moves to the French court of the exiled King James. Anastasia and Alpiew have been hired to escort young Virgina to the exiled court to find her a husband. As the story progresses, they are robbed by highwaymen, Virginia has a secret agenda, and no one at the court is exactly who he or she appears to be. Because of their penurious condition, Anastasia is banished to the attics and Alpiew to the kitchens, where life suddenly becomes much more interesting--and dangerous.

Fidelis Morgan has hit Anastasia and Alpiew's stride with this one. There are some laugh out loud moments: the Countess inadvertently invents Bechamel sauce, and the would-be novelist Isabel Murdo-McTavish, in search of the perfect title for her book, proposes "Gone with the Wind" and "War and Peace." As always, real characters drift in and out of the story, and Anastasia and Alpiew find themselves in the company of the Man in the Iron Mask in the Bastille and grouse about the King's fondness for peas to an incognito Louis the XIV.

This is a light-hearted series for all it doesn't gloss over the real discomfort and physical unpleasantness of 17th and early 18th century life. Ms. Morgan doesn't hesitate to describe the filthy streets of her setting or the dubious personal hygiene of her characters, but the contrast makes Anastasia's and Alpiew's antics that much more credible. As always, the loose ends are tied up, and the chapter headings having to do with 17th century cooking are fascinating. (Larks tongues, anyone?).