The Arrival of Lily Curtis by Rachel Brimble

The beginning of The Arrival of Lily Curtis is another reminder why it’s good to live in modern times for women: twenty-three is past prime marrying age; parents can choose/force who you marry (though for some men, too); even just dancing too close or talking too long to a man can ruin you; and earning you living is very limited. Don’t even ask to be on your own or independent in England, so Elizabeth goes incognito and thus we have The Arrival of Lily Curtis.

At the mention of an arranged marriage, Elizabeth Caughley feels her life is over at the age of three and twenty….so she hatches an escape plan. She will reinvent herself as a housemaid. Overnight, Elizabeth becomes Lily…
Viscount Westrop wants nothing more than his legacy to be passed to his own son one day. Even though he feels insurmountable pity for the unborn child already, he knows how much pain a broken promise can cause and will do what is right. But with the arrival of his new housemaid, his plans are thrown into disarray. Lily is funny, feisty and the most beautiful creature on earth – Andrew is thunderstruck. But if anyone suspects how much he wants to ravish her and endlessly love her, Andrew’s lineage will be in peril. And he cannot let that happen…

Elizabeth Caughley is the daughter of a lawyer, a nice middle class family. But at twenty-three, her parents are fed up with her “wasting” time and have picked out a man for her to marry. She refuses, however, having watched her older sister and friends become “half the people they were before;” men forcing their control on the women. She won’t loose her independence and hide her feisty nature under some man who doesn’t love her and she doesn’t love in return.

She comes up with the idea to go to France where women have more freedom and control. She is willing to work and save up money for the passage there and to keep herself once there until she finds employment of some sort afterward. Convincing her parents she is serious, they help her get a position as a housemaid in Viscount Westrop’s Manor in the country where she shouldn’t be recognized. Her mother insists she changes her name so as not to damage the family reputation, not to bring any shame onto the family name. And so Lily Curtis is ‘born.’

Viscount Westrop, Andrew comes from a long line of distinguished Earls, and as such a gentleman his is known to be honorable and kind even if his household is too informal. But his father has become gravely ill and wants to ensure the line continues, so he has gotten the Viscount’s promise to marry and conceive an heir before the Earl dies, which seems to be imminent. Everyone expects him to offer for his best friend’s cousin, Lady Tasmin. Even the families and his best friend, Charles, are pushing the match. However, Andrew wishes he could take his time in marrying and pick his own bride. So he keeps delaying asking Lady Tasmin, much to everyone’s upset, even his romance inclined butler, Nicholas.

Lily’s arrival to Cotswold Manor doesn’t help anyone. As Andrew says, “she is a breath of fresh air,” with her up-front opinions and feistiness. Andrew has to take a wife asap to keep all of the estates together and pass them on to future Earls. But he is drawn to Lily from their first encounter and every exchange they have after just pulls him in deeper. But his is no rake to spoil housemaids and tries to resist. He also knows there is more to her than just a housemaid with her vast language skills, love of reading, and ‘modern’ thinking, education. Finding out what is really going on is only an excuse to spend more time with her.

Lily is attracted to the Viscount like no man she has ever met. He is also nice and talks to her, asking her opinions like no man has ever done either. She wants her independence more than anything, but he may actually be the one person to temp her. She all but decides she has to leave sooner than expected when she learns his deepest secret: that he believes he is responsible for his mother’s death when he was little (from messing with her horse’s saddle) and thus won’t break his promise to his father. She has come to care for him and thinks he needs to see that he isn’t to blame for his mother to have a happy future. Then she is leaving as fast as she can because she fears for her heart!

When Charles threatens Lily, she tries to leave earlier than planned. But Andrew wants her to stay. And Lily feels he should be asking Lady Tasmin to marry and may not without an extra push. Now everything is in question…Andrew wants Lily but feels obligated because of his title and family otherwise. Lily is pulled between her desire for freedom and her desire for Andrew, she means the Viscount, darn it! And will society even let these two be happy?

The Arrival of Lily Curtis is a lot of fun. I am not sure how much Elizabeth/Lily is based on reality, but I loved her anyway. And with the start of the woman’s movement around this time, we could see someone like her pushing the boundaries society had created for women. And she is not looking to make trouble, but is willing to work for her “freedom” and the independence she is seeking. That she has a hard time keeping her mouth shut or her opinions to her self is not only funny sometimes, but reminds me of times I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth (though I’m never funny when I do that). I loved that Andrew is drawn to this part of her personality. His being great and informal with all his staff keeps it from seeming like he is drawn to just her looks but actually likes her. And he really has issues with how lacking in backbone most society girls are (that he is suppose to choose a wife from). The only issue I have with him is that he doesn’t stand up to Charles before he learns of Charles threatening Lily. Early on he gives hits to having doubts about Charles but puts up with him for some reason; not good there. Otherwise, I think Andrew is great and he and Lily challenge each other as well as blend together beautifully.

Though I didn’t talk about them, The Arrival of Lily Curtis has a suburb supporting cast. We only meet her a couple times, but Lady Tasmin is nice enough, if completely wrong for Andrew. The other staff are great, from the effeminate, high-strung butler to the motherly cook-housekeeper. They help Lily a lot, and have some outrageous humor going on in that group.

The Arrival of Lily Curtis takes classic historical romance and adds humor with a feisty, modern thinking (for the times) woman to make a great read. This is Rachel Brimble first historical and she does a great job. The Arrival of Lily Curtis has the perfect balance of historical setting and background without going overboard, the characters have a modern enough feel for us to relate well with them, and the story is different enough to stand out from others while still fitting in the genre for those of us who love it. I will be looking forward to her next foray into this venue.