This book was about naive author Prudence--24 years old and pretty much on the shelf--and the poet that she practically idolizes, Lord Dammler. When they are first introduced by their publisher, Dammler finds Prudence, with her caps and her quiet manners, eminently forgettable, but when he reads her novels, he finds himself attracted to her wit and intelligence and he befriends her. She, crushing on him from before the first moment of their acquaintance (he's rather a rock star as a result of his books of adventurous poetry), embraces their friendship despite being sure that he first sees her as an older friend (not unlike his many male friends), then a sister and finally...well you'll have to read it yourself although of course you know what the ending will be, right?
The best part of this book was the witty dialogue between Prudence and Dammler. Of course, the thing that draws them together is her irreverence (theoretically she's irreverent because she's naive, but really her irreverence is a part of her character. There are many plays on her name--she's a prude, she always acts prudently, etc, but she is really further from true prudence in her language and attitudes than I imagine the "ideal" Regency lady would dream of being) and his rakish behavior. Rather an unseemly commonality that made the whole story ring with overtones of naughtiness. I couldn't completely embrace that idea, but I was totally charmed by Uncle Clarence and, as I said before, I really liked the bright conversation between our main characters.
A fun book--I'm looking forward to reading more by Joan Smith.
Sex: aside from references to Dammler's "prime articles", there was no sex
Bad language: none
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