Alicia's Reviews > The Diamond of London

I found this story frustrating. To be fair, Lady Hester found her life frustrating so maybe the writer captured that exceptionally well and that’s what I’m getting. However, I think part of this is that it reads like an autobiography and I didn’t want an autobiography. I wanted a story, to have fun and escape from the frustrations of my reality, and nothing in this book aided that. Oh, I came away exceptionally happy I didn’t live during this time, especially since chances are I’d be poor instead a lady having to depend on her rich relatives. Other than that, I was just sad for her, despite her saying how she learned to live with optimism and that she found adventure like she wanted.

This story starts, goes back a year or two, then more or less moves forward temporally. We meet some well known historical figures, dislike most of them, and move on to the next bit fairly quickly. There weren’t a whole lot of positive threads running through this either in friendships, romantic relationships, or family and since life is about relationships, I felt sad for her. She had a lot of blows.

Well written, interesting from a historical perspective, but a general good time in a fiction book this is not. I was hoping for adventure and instead I got…life.

Bottom line: not escapist enough to be enjoyable.