Secrets of a Lady

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY FEB 11, 2002

Brit history maven Grant's debut novel aspires to be a historical thriller, an incisive study of the "spy game" and a revisionist, feminist take on pre-Victorian England, all rolled into one breathlessly paced 500-page package. Unfortunately, Grant's skills as historian exceed her talents as writer, and her graceful intentions are shanghaied by a welter of stale characterizations, unsurprising plot twists and clunky prose. (It's never encouraging when a book opens with a sentence like "It was the sort of night that cloaks a multitude of sins.") Centering upon M lanie and Charles Fraser, an upper-crust 1810s London power couple he's a member of parliament and the grandson of a duke; she's a flawlessly coifed social diva the novel kicks into gear when their beloved son, Colin, is kidnapped by thugs in the employ of a sinister Spanish antiroyalist. As the Frasers frantically investigate Colin's disappearance, they discover that the kidnappers are after the Carevalo Ring, a legendary object with Tolkienesque symbolic power, which may be in the possession of Helen Trevennen, a sly, erstwhile actress. The Frasers pursue the elusive Trevennen amid a barrage of revelations, most notably the less-than-shocking admission that M lanie is actually a former French spy. For the rest of the novel, the reader is plunged into a morass of uninspired action set pieces and maddeningly repetitive dialogues on betrayal, dishonor and forgiveness. Despite its many flaws, Grant's tale is at least swift-moving and fairly involving, leaving room for hope that her next endeavor will be more satisfying.