A Factory of Cunning

A Factory of Cunning by Philippa Stockley
Historical Fiction

"Mrs. Fox" arrives in late eighteenth-century London on the run from a scandalous French past. She has taken on a new identity and wishes to rehabilitate herself to her former class level. At the same time a dear friend from the Netherlands has asked her to destroy Earl Much. Earl Much is a British aristocrat who collects priceless objets d'art and ruins young maidens.

The reader is transported to a world of bawdy houses, debauchery, ruination of willful maidens and intrigue. The earl proves to be a equal match to the cunning sinfulness of Mrs. Fox.

This is written in an epistolary mode, that of letters and diary entries. It was very difficult to get into the story to start with but finally near the middle of the story I started to 'get' it.

First Line: "Scribbled at the quayside, London."

Rating:
(3.5/5)