Customer Reviews

The Lady Disguised

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I must admit that I'm partial to Elizabeth Mansfield's books: I have yet to pick one up and be disappointed. This book is no exception.

The premise of this book is that 19-year-old Ada's young brother has disappeared. When her older brother gives up on the search after one day, Ada decides she will have to find her brother. However, she decides it is safer to search as a young man, not an unaccompanied young woman. Enter Derek, a jaded (but not irredeemable) lord who deduces Ada's deception. His conscience prevents him from letting the spunky lady venture alone so he tags along for the search. As the search leads across the countryside and London, Ada and Derek realize they are falling in love. However, before true love can be found, many other problems must be worked out, including revealing Ada's gender deception.

This book has a wonderful, forward-moving plot and very lovable characters, especially Ada and Derek but also the varied cast of secondary characters. Superb writing makes this a treasure in itself. If you can find a copy of this book, keep it--you won't regret spending the time reading this one.

This was one of the very few Mansfield books that I did not like. While Ms. Mansfield's writing was good as usual, it was the heroine, Ada, that I had problem with. I think she had an admirable intention and fiery determination, but lacked a lot of common sense, which made her an unbelievable character. Although the story was quite funny at times, especially when Derek was playing with her by acting as her buddies. There was also the inconsistency on her little brother's eye color at the beginning of the book. Otherwise it was a decent but average book to me.