Sedition
A Novel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Extremely impressive . . . . A wonderful read from a born storyteller." —Chris Cleave, New York Times bestselling author of Little Bee
"A wicked sense of humor . . . . Subversive and thrilling . . . It will keep you up all night." —The New York Times Book Review
"Like Jane Austen on crack cocaine . . . . A triumph of wit and brio." —The Scotsman
An unforgettable historical tale of piano playing, passions, and female power
The setting of Sedition by Katharine Grant: London, 1794.
The problem: Four nouveau rich fathers with five marriageable daughters.
The plan: The young women will learn to play the piano, give a concert for young Englishmen who have titles but no fortunes, and will marry very well indeed.
The complications: The lascivious (and French) piano teacher; the piano maker's jealous (and musically gifted) daughter; the one of these marriageable daughters with a mating plan of her own.
While it might be a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a title and no money must be in want of a fortune, what does a sexually awakened young woman want? In her wickedly alluring romp through the late-Georgian London, Italian piano making, and tightly-fitted Polonaise gowns, Katharine Grant has written a startling and provocative debut.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The first novel for adults from British YA author Grant is a witty, dark, and sophisticated tale set in 1790s London. Four men, wealthy but not well-bred, meet in a coffeehouse to discuss finding upper-class husbands for their five daughters. A concert on the still-new pianoforte, they decide, will display the girls perfectly to London's elite. Piano-maker Vittorio Cantabile soon delivers the expensive instrument, along with a French music teacher. The aptly named Monsieur Belladroit begins a program of instruction and seduction, but is surprised when one of his charges, Alathea Sawneyford, makes the first move. Alathea, whose sexual boldness has unhappy roots, finds an unexpectedly deep connection with Annie, Cantabile's hare-lipped daughter, like her, already an accomplished musician. Music provides the story's intrigues as well as its moments of joy, but even art's power to transcend human limits can't produce a happy ending. Grant eschews period clich s in favor of sharp, unsentimental storytelling that evokes the era with zest and authenticity. Her London, like her characters, is both flawed and fascinating. The novel's epigrammatic voice "London was never so lovely as when you were about to leave it" is another of its delights, detached in tone but delivering what are often dark ironies with memorable brevity and cleverness.
