Back in Society

August 1, 1994
Chesney wraps up The Poor Relation series ( Colonel Sandhurst to the Rescue ) with this enjoyable story. Featuring several old series hands--blustery and sarcastic Sir Philip, the still unmarried Miss Tonks and Lady Fortescue, the eccentric hoteliers' concerned mother hen--the story hinges on the group's efforts to help their new guest, young Lady Jane Fremney, after she proves unable to pay her bills and attempts suicide. As in the first five entries in this popular Regency series, the plotting is lushly tangled and rich in romance (Lady Jane, who's run away from home to avoid an arranged marriage, is forced to choose between a stable but boring Englishman and an unpredictable but dashing French count). Though her language sometimes shifts disconcertingly from the formal, even antique (``she preferred to stay wrapped in dull numb misery that would make what she had to do the easier'') to the colloquial and modern (one character ``put the pistol in his mouth and blew his brains out''), Chesney delivers a pleasurable farewell to a memorable cast of heartwarming characters.

July 1, 1994
Chesney closes her popular "The Poor Relation" series (e.g., Colonel Sandhurst to the Rescue, LJ 5/1/94) with this frothy tale of Regency England. The hotel owners unite to help Lady Jane Fremney find romance and happiness. Bullied and oppressed by her father, poor Jane comes to London to end her life. Instead, she is taken in by The Poor Relations, who call on old friends to bring her out into society. The plot is peppered with assorted society fops and belles and a spot of Napoleonic intrigue. Fans of the series will appreciate the fact that the author ties up loose ends for all the hotel owners, with even the sour Sir Philip finding an avenue open for the future. Buy wherever the series is popular.-Barbara E. Kemp, Library Consultant, Reston, Va.

July 1, 1994
The Poor Relations, a hotel founded by a group of outcast aristocrats with more gumption than shillings, has been the site for many romances throughout Chesney's six-part series. As this volume opens, Lady Jane Fremney tries to commit suicide to avoid an unsuitable marriage, Miss Tonks pines for the attention of the actor who has joined the ranks of the Poor Relations, and Colonel Sandhurst tries to convince the originator of the scheme, Lady Fortesque, to retire with him to the country. As she sorts out these crises, Chesney injects just the right elements of suspense, romance, and outrageous humor into this smashing Regency. ((Reviewed July 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)