Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls’ school and a well-respected author of “silver-fork” novels, stories written both for and about the upper-class ladies of Victorian society. But by night, she writes very different kinds of stories–the Penny Dreadfuls that are all the rage among the working-class men. Under the pseudonym Mr. King, Elizabeth has written about dashing heroes fighting … fighting supernatural threats and dangerous outlaws romancing helpless women. They contain all the adventure and mystery that her real life lacks.
Fletcher Walker began life as a street urchin, but is now the most successful author in the Penny Dreadful market, that is until Mr. King started taking all of his readers–and his profits. No one knows who King is, including Fletcher’s fellow members of the Dread Penny Society, a fraternity of authors dedicated to secretly fighting for the rights of the less-fortunate.
Determined to find the elusive Mr. King, Fletcher approaches Miss Black. As a fellow-author, she is well-known among the high-class writers; perhaps she could be persuaded to make some inquiries as to Mr. King’s whereabouts? Elizabeth agrees to help Fletcher, if only to insure her secret identity is never discovered.
For the first time, Elizabeth experiences the thrill of a cat-and-mouse adventure reminiscent of one of her own novels as she tries to throw Fletcher off her scent. But the more time they spend together, the more she loses her heart. Its upper-class against working-class, author against author where readers, reputations, and romance are all on the line.
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A most consuming and delightful book that I will re-read many times. Stories within stories amidst a backdrop of penny dreadful novels and the most wonderful characters that you just yearn to spend time with. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life–and that is saying something! Sarah M. Eden
Sarah M. Eden has written a fabulous Victorian mystery and romance novel in The Lady and the Highwayman. This book is full of adventure, monsters, and headstrong women. Oh and of course romance. There are twists and turns in this story that pop out when readers least expect them. Although the monsters in this story bring a bit of a different angle to Eden’s storytelling that some readers may not anticipate, Eden’s writing and storytelling is excellent as always, bringing this fascinating story to life. Readers interested in the Victorian era with a bit of mystery will thoroughly enjoy this story!
Genre: historical, romance, mystery, Victorian
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Publication date: September 3, 2019
Number of pages: 352
A review copy of this book was provided by Shadow Mountain Publishing. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are my own.
Definitely swoon worthy and captivating!
What a fun read! In The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden the reader is actually treated to three books in one. The main narrative follows Fletcher Walker and Elizabeth Black, both notable authors in their own right. By day, Fletcher is a popular penny dreadful author who pens tales about street urchins and the ugly, sinister monsters out to get them. Pulling from his own childhood, Fletcher is never without a good yarn to tell. By night, however, Fletcher and his noble Penny Dreadful Society members do all they can to right the wrongs against the most vulnerable populations in London — the very poor, the very orphaned, and the very downtrodden. Over on the better side of the tracks, Miss Elizabeth Black is headmistress of a school for middle-class girls. Her goal is to give her students the opportunity to succeed in a world where they really don’t fit in — they aren’t quite poor enough to be considered urchins, but they certainly aren’t wealthy enough to be part of the elite. Elizabeth, however, is willing to do all she can to keep her students and her school afloat. While her students are all tucked into bed fast asleep, Elizabeth stays up late into the night penning penny dreadfuls herself, loving every minute of it and praying no one discovers her secret. Because if anyone in Society ever found out she wrote such lowbrow literature her school would be done quicker than you could say, “kill the canary!”
My favorite aspect to this story is the character of both Fletcher and Elizabeth. To say they are both brave would be an understatement. Fletcher was born and raised on the mean streets of London. His number one goal in life is to produce enough money through his penny dreadfuls so he can take care of the many children who find themselves in situations that he luckily absconded from. Fletcher’s entire life is dedicated to saving young street boys and girls from beatings, starvation, misuse, homelessness, and prostitution. Elizabeth’s character is quite the same. Although she did not grow up in a situation like Fletcher’s, she knows what it is to lose social standing. Elizabeth is not afraid of hard work and sacrifice, and she does just that in this story. What I love the most about Elizabeth is her ability to sacrifice her safety and security for the sake of one destitute and abused child. She doesn’t need the boy’s backstory. Knowing that a child is in danger and in need of her help is enough to throw Elizabeth into action. The world would be a much better and safer place if there were more Elizabeths and Fletchers in it.
As I said above, readers are treated to three stories in one in The Lady and the Highwayman. Book two and three in this novel are actually the penny dreadful serials by Fletcher and Elizabeth. I won’t go into detail in regards to these two story lines because they are delightful and I don’t want to ruin a thing about them. But, I will say that I am incredibly impressed. I can only imagine how intense it is to write one novel, but to write three unique plots in one book is quite the feat! I thoroughly enjoyed reading “The Vampire’s Tower” and “The Lady and the Highwayman.” I found both stories to be unique, engaging, suspenseful, and fun. And, I love how each serial shows a little bit more into the hearts and character of both Fletcher and Elizabeth.
The Lady and the Highwayman is a fun story and I’m really sad my time with Fletcher and Elizabeth is up for now. I definitely look forward to book two in this series, The Gentleman and the Thief, due to release on November 3. If you are a fan of penny dreadfuls, Victorian Romances, and/or just plain good storytelling then The Lady and the Highwayman is the book for you!
I purchased an eBook copy of this novel from Amazon.com on September 2, 2019, in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Okay. I love this book. I love Elizabeth. I love Fletcher. I love the premise behind author against author, both doing their utmost best to write books that will sell and allow them to take care of the poor or destitute. I loved the penny dreadfuls. I loved the schemes and mysteries and stories inside stories. I loved the adventure and the feminism. This is not eloquent in the least, but gosh, I just loved it!
Elizabeth is a winning character. She’s witty, humble, smart, and knows exactly how to play her cards. Fletcher is charming and daring and so good you almost wonder how he could be “real.” Supporting characters like Ana, Stone, Hollis, Janey, Daniel, and Joe all rounder out the story very well and gave it such color and life. I like all of them immensely.
Learning about the cultural diversity in London at the time was interesting, as were the opinions of education among the poorer classes and women. As I often find when I read Eden’s books, I am very appreciative of the fact that she writes strong female characters, who have a small sense of feminism and create a life for themselves outside of the conventional societal expectation.
I read this book aloud to my husband and quite enjoyed putting different accents on the characters. I’m sure I butchered it horribly, but it is a fun way to read it.
Absolutely loved every single page of this book. Fletcher is my new favorite hero. Street-savvy, charming, witty, and a complete flirt! And I cannot help but love Elizabeth. That this book is about AUTHORS made me love it still more. I honestly cannot think of enough positive things to say about this novel. I listened to the narration until I came to the point where the narrator could not unveil the story quickly enough to satisfy me, then I devoured the paperback as quickly as possible, yet hating that I came closer to the end with each turn of the page.
Not only has Sarah presented a story as masterfully as ever, a story of a man and woman with noble goals coming to love each other, but she also gifted us with two wonderfully written, period-accurate, penny-dreadful tales. One a harrowing story of a vampyre, the other a love story. It really cannot get any better.
Sarah also expertly wove in the social norms, the political issues, and the vocabulary of the past. I always feel a little smarter after I finish a book by Sarah M. Eden. I laughed while I read, squealed in delight over the best of the “falling in love” scenes, and I really, truly hope we are gifted with more books in this same world. I have to know what the Penny Dreadfuls do next!
I adored this book. I forgot just how much I enjoy Sarah Eden’s books. The historical details are always so on point, the characters are realistic and easy to root for, and the romance sweet and sigh-worthy.
I loved that in addition to the main story, The Lady and the Highwayman also included two Penny Dreadfuls written by the main characters Fletcher and Elizabeth. I loved that whole concept and enjoyed both of these additions immensely. Fletcher’s The Vampire’s Tower was ominous and intriguing, and Elizabeth’s The Lady and the Highwayman was exciting, mysterious, and suspenseful.
Fletcher was my absolute favorite part of this story. He’s such a good guy. Yeah, he’s a little rough around the edges, but he was so likable and had a heart of gold. He had a rough childhood living on the streets, so now that he’s found some success with his Penny Dreadfuls, he’s made it his mission to save street kids from dangerous situations like the ones he faced growing up.
If you’re a fan of historical romance, especially the Victorian era, I highly recommend The Lady and the Highwayman. I had a great time reading it and am looking forward to the next one in the series.
A delightful story! Each character had a fun, quirky way about them. Sarah Eden easily paved the way for the next story. It had just enough mystery to keep me engaged and reading the Penny Dreadfuls as a part of the story was fun.
Brilliant, clever, wonderful characters. Loved this book.
Great read it had a little bit of everything but I really enjoyed that it included the characters penny writings thoughtout the story it just added a nice touch to the story that made it different than other stories.
I love this series. I read Hollis’ story before Fletchers. I enjoy the stories within the main story.
Great clean romance!
Almost Three Stars – 2.5
I rate this book a 2.5 because although there are aspects of the plot I liked, the story just didn’t come together cohesively. Attraction sizzled between Elizabeth and Fletcher from the beginning, but it was nice to see the affection for each other develop as they spent more time together. Also, I liked the way the author incorporated Penny Dreadful samples popular during the Victorian period. Unfortunately, the side stories were too long and distracting from the main story.
I absolutely loved this book. The characters, the story, the humor, the romance, every page was a delight. I also loved the two Penny Dreadful stories told by Fletcher and “Mr. King”. They were a fun addition to this amazing story. This author truly has a gift of story telling. There are very clever lines that made me smile throughout. Each true to the character who says them.
The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden is a delightful historical romance set in Victorian London. Characters are complex and believable, plots are compelling and spotlight social inequalities and problems of the time. The Penny Dreadful stories add interest and authenticity. Her writing is excellent. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Thoroughly Fun – Never a Dull Moment
“The Lady and the Highwayman” by Sarah M. Eden narrator Justine Eyre
I thoroughly enjoyed my 8-plus hours within this audiobook story. A truly fun (for me) Victorian suspense-romance with ‘Penny Dreadful’ authors, their stories and of course the villains because without one or more villains where would the suspense be? A never a dull moment story.
I don’t know whether to review this book as clever or confusing. It’s three books in one. To make it even more confounding, the storylines copycat each other. Just about the time you get into one story, you’re pulled into another. It was entertaining at first, but the longer it went on the more annoying it became. I liked the setting. The writing (all three stories) held my interest. There weren’t too many anachronisms to jerk me from the 19th to the 21st century. I just didn’t care for the three stories in one angle. It felt gimmicky. I’ll try the next book in this series, but I won’t continue the series if it’s treated the same. Good writing, though. I’ll definitely investigate other books (not in this series) by this author.
Once I stepped into the world of the Dread Penny Society I didn’t want to leave. The fascinating plot of weaving several stories into one amazing historical romance left me awestruck. This story had everything I enjoy- noble characters, suspense, romance, justice seekers, and Gothic elements. I was sorry to see the story come to an end.
I listened to this as an audiobook and thought it was excellent. I hope that future books in this series will be produced as audio productions.
I love learning a bit of history in a fiction setting. I hadn’t ever heard of “penny dreadfuls” before and this unique book combined many enjoyable elements into a complex story that was very entertaining from the start. Just in case you don’t know what penny dreadfuls are either, they were sold for a penny and told tales of adventure, pirates, highwaymen, crime, and detection. In this book, the reader is treated to not only a love and adventure main story, but as Fletcher and Elizabeth are both authors, books they’re each writing also make appearances, including penny dreadfuls. I love how Elizabeth uses one of her stories to try and throw Fletcher off the trail.
Eden does a great job in portraying a fairly accurate (in my opinion) view of Victorian social life, including issues. While the story goes back and forth, a cat and mouse game emerges and kept me eagerly flipping the pages. I thought this book was very well-written and engaging and look forward to more of this Proper Victorian line.
Content: mild romance; mild violence/danger
*I received a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.*
Book one in The Proper Romance Victorian series a well written story, by an Author I have not read before. This is Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls’ school in 1830s Victorian London and Fletcher Walker’s of two Authors and a secret identity. I enjoyed reading. I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This story was so good, so original, and kind of addicting! I loved Fletcher and Elizabeth! Their banter and flirtation was so fun! Fletcher is such a gem! I love how he tried to help so many because of his history. He was just such a good guy! I also loved Elizabeth’s spunk and willingness to help Fletcher even if it put her in danger. I thought the addition of the penny dreadful stories was ingenious. This was just a really fun and addicting story and I can’t wait for the next story!