Description

[from inner dj flap] Readington gossips used to declare that Loveday's daughter was tied up in her mother's apron strings. For as one of Loveday's clients in her beauty salon told her, "It is difficult not to be too possessive with an only child."

It was this gossip which made Loveday persuade Petal to accept the invitation of her aunt, Lady Nuloughton, to be her guest in a castle on the Riviera.

Petal went reluctantly, but romance claimed her on her journey abroad. Her subsequent experiences at the castle were intriguing and at one point, terrifying.

Meanwhile, Loveday was having her own romance and adventures. Secretly anxious about Petal, distrustful of Lady Nuloughton, she travelled to Nice, where she met Nicholas Ravard, of the British Intelligence Service, and on the track of a famous woman spy. There came into his possession what seemed irrefutable proof that Loveday was the notorious Q9. He sought to inveigle her in man's oldest trap for a woman, only to find to his horror that he too had been caught.

But after heartbreak and excitement, happiness came both to Loveday and her daughter, in this swiftly moving story with its scenes in a beauty salon and on the glamorous Riviera.

Notes

There is a lot going on in this book. Probably too much. We're talking spies, concealed identities, family secrets, attempted murders, two romances, at least four perspectives. That's a challenging brew for even more capable pens than Nelson's and I wouldn't say she entirely pulls it off. The spy angle, especially. Or maybe I just don't understand why, in 1943, there's some Great Powers struggle going on over China and the spy working against GB is a Swede?

What kept me reading is definitely not that, and not the kind of pedestrian double love-at-first-sight romances, either, but, instead and resoundingly, the character of Petal, Loveday's 19-year-old daughter of the title. Petal is a delight! An old soul with delicate health but tremendous strength of character, she's beautiful, yes, but also intelligent, practical, and ambitious with "a self-reliance and humor" (74) that carries her, and the reader, through many (variably far-fetched) tangles and scrapes. From start to finish, Petal is unwaveringly focused on her true interest in life: "the beauty business" (120). Raised in her single mom's salon, she's completely taken with the industry. While Loveday does it to keep the wolf from the door, Petal declares repeatedly "...I love the work for its own sake. I couldn't bear to do anything else." (24) When she meets her young man, she's most captivated by the fact that he had once, at school, been interested in chemistry, reflecting: "It would have been marvelous if Keith had been a real chemist, she had often wanted to meet someone who would be interested in cosmetics from the production side" (51) and, even as their fortunes change dramatically, at the end, she is still cooking up plans for him along these lines. Hearing Keith and other men complain about how much she loves her career... "I believe you're fonder of that than you'll ever be of any man" (120) is both unfair and refreshing. And what reader couldn't fall in love with a character so single-minded she's described as: "She might appear to be shy and retiring, but this was largely a cover for genuine indifference rather than social awkwardness"? (36)

There's a warm mother-daughter relationship and also the nice, unexpected development of an intergenerational male friendship. Seeing a female character, the mom, Loveday, portrayed as a beloved and respected boss running a thriving business, by and for women, is a real pleasure, too.

Tags

1940s, English, Europe, England, Europe, France, ambitious, athletic, beautician, beautiful/handsome, brave, courageous, business owner, charming, clever, competent, cynical, dangerous rival, determined, disciplined, disguise, dominant, efficient, elegant, f/m, family member, dangerous, family, older relative, cantankerous, family, older relative, delightful, fashionable, female, forthright, hair, blond(e), hair, dark, hair, gray, heir/heiress, humorous, identity, concealed, identity, mistaken, independent, intelligent, interclass, late to love, love at first sight, love over money, loyal, middle-aged, mother, daughter find love, parent, practical, rich, romance, selfless, single, slight, spirited, spy, strong, strong f/f friendship, strong m/m friendship, suspense, talented, third-person, writer, young

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