The third novel in the Society a Sirens series and just as good.
Plot: Thaïs Magdalene is the most desired courtesan in England and proud of this. Her desirability is rooted in her renowned beauty, sexual expertise, and the exclusivity she has developed. Fiercely independent, once established, Thaïs has refused to take the same lover twice, or for more than one night. Determined to fund a school for girls like the one she had been, to give them more options than she had, she puts a month of her company on auction to the highest bidder. The winner? One of the stodgiest progressives in the House of Lords, who is so inexperienced and inept in bed he’s afraid to marry. Good thing he’s paid a princely sum for an expert. She’ll teach him necessary skills in secret, and then he’ll go find an appropriate match for himself. Easy peasy. Shenanigans ensue.
Peckham has a powerful talent in developing pathos. She has a way of rooting you in a character’s mind until their most frustrating decisions and behaviour become understandable. Even as you’re pulling your hair and wishing you could shake some reason into someone, everything they do makes perfect sense for who they are and how their life has gone.
Peckham stays true to her promise to write Alpha heroines – women who are loving and kind but also tough as nails, have zero fucks, and refuse to settle. Thais is no different. She is bold and unapologetic, having done spectacularly well for a young girl from the rookeries that was forced into the sex trade as a young teen. Still, she chafes at the limitations even her success have not lifted. She is not as educated as her friends, or as polished, and she knew well enough that her renown meant she was sought after by only a certain type of crowd, and for a certain type of company.
Pekham’s heroes, somewhat ironically, vary a lot more than in the work of authors with more “palatable” heroines. Alistair though, is a classic cinnamon bun. Growing up in an emotionally tumultuous household, he craves order almost religiously, but as it turns out, you don’t need order for peace, what you need is emotional maturity and people who are willing to risk conflict to tell you to your face when something is wrong.
I adore Pekham’s take on the regency era. I end up reading a lot of books set in this time, and very few authors are willing to engage honestly with the true hardships of the time, especially for poor women, and never in a lead character. Getting to read about a courageous, take no shit woman who got the absolute shit end of every goddamn stick and who managed through sheer force of will and determination make a life for herself that allows her to be happy, comfortable, and in a position to help others, is precisely the sort of energy I need going into 2025.