Madeleine E. Robins

Madeleine E. Robins tried writing several different types of genre fiction--romances, sci-fi stories, comic books--before hitting literary paydirt with 2003's Point of Honour. This mystery series features a Regency-era alternate universe setting and an intelligent, strong-willed heroine named Sarah Tolerance, who abandoned her place in society and ran away with her brother's fencing master. After her lover's death, Sarah avoids the usual outcome for women in her situation (prostitution) by embarking on a career as a private investigator.

While Point of Honour and its sequel, Petty Treason, will probably be ignored by critics in favor of Susanna Clarke's showier Regency-period alternate history Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Ms. Robins's novels are clever, entertaining, and (at a little over 300 pages) of a far, far more manageable length.


Aftertaste:
None.

Availability:
Everywhere.

Other Recommendations:
Sorcery and Cecelia, by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia C. Wrede

Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell