The Gilded Lily: A Novel
In 1660 England, Ella sees the chance to escape the countryside and build a new life in London after the death of her employer. With her sister Sadie in tow, the two escape with valuables from their employer’s house, and with their employer’s twin brother hot on their heels, Ella and Sadie try to disappear into London. Life in the city is not as easy as they had hoped, though. Ella’s acerbic nature costs her a job, but her beauty catches the eye of Jay—a wheeler and dealer with connections to shady characters—who offers Ella a new position. When she realizes that her new opportunity is far from what she expected, Ella is quickly in over her head. Swift creates complex characters whose difficult lives and complicated motivations create compelling drama; the sibling relationship between Ella and Sadie is particularly fraught. Filled with action and sparked with romance, this will please the many fans of Swift’s companion novel, The Lady’s Slipper (2010). --Eve Gaus