A Certain Age
Summary:
The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers, brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.
As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.
But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother’s cavalier, presenting the family’s diamond rose ring to Ox’s intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.
Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams’ fiction and alternating between Sophie’s spirited voice and Theresa’s vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss’s comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby’s New York. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)
Please note: I received a free copy of this book courtesy of TLC Book Tours and I voluntarily chose to write a review
Review:
In this book, the romance is a rat’s nest and the mysteries even more so. I enjoyed the slow unravelling of everything and the fact that while some things were revealed early, it still left enough misdirection to keep you guessing. The book was a bit of a slow build for me and I had to commit to sitting down with it for a solid chunk of time before I got pulled into the story.
Once I was in, however, I was eager to find out what was going to happen next. The motivations of the different characters, particularly Octavian, were tough to figure out until the end of the book. That is both a pro, because you don’t know what is going to happen, and a con, because it was difficult to relate. I still really enjoyed this read and thought of it a lot while I was in the middle of the book. All in all, I’d highly recommend this one to anyone who likes the 20’s, historical fiction or a bit of mystery with the romantic entanglement.
Warning: Contains repeated sexual content and violence.
Rating: 4 stars!
Who should read it? Fans of the 20’s and the dramatic changes that came with them.