A cute short tale of an eccentric social recluse from a wealthy british family during Victorian England that lives under a fake identity to avoid the social stigma because of her gender and sells bizarre mechanical inventions to a consort of Queen Victoria.

The problem is that everyone wants to meet The Owl and given she is almost finished building a robot with artifical intelligence... There is some humor, friendship and enough space for a sequel. A fun read. ( )

Lady Ruth Chapelstone is one of Victorian London's most eligible women. The Owl is the city's hottest inventor – and everyone wants to unmask him. Except the pair are the same person.

Top marks for writing style, inclusivity, characters, and autistic rep. One mark off because the Owl's latest invention stretches the bounds of credulity just a bit too far. ( )

Around 3.49 stars, really. Lady Ruth Constance Chapelstone and the Clockwork Suitor is a work of young adult fiction, at just over one hundred pages, set in the Victorian era and written to introduce a long-running character for a greater series. It is firmly part of the antique yet gorgeous steampunk tradition, nuts and bolts, steam and empire, yet it additionally addresses a cultural wrangle of old – the emancipation of women. The protagonist is a capable yet humble aristocratic woman in a man’s world, trying to apply her mind to engineering problems and simultaneously working her delicate fingers through the seam to get around the social straightjacket she was born into. Just imagine someone nowadays saying “You are of an age to get married. You must get married because that’s the only thing you are on Earth to do. Oh, and see to the laundry”. I’ve got a better idea. Bog right off.

The language is stilted and takes some adjusting to, which is correct because the tight Victorians really did converse like that. The only problem I had with the use of language in this book was that the high-up characters sometimes used expressions which would have been considered dead common, blemishes which would have marked them out as appalling social climbers. Examples of this are the very middle class “Pleased to meet you” (How do you do), “Got me beat” (have me beaten) and, unbelievably, “Me neither” from the lips of Queen Victoria herself (Neither can I). That latter is more suited to the blimey gawdhelpus stonethecrows Queen Victoria pub in Eastenders. Three brief examples then, no more, otherwise fine.

Apart from a couple of words to trip over (recluse – reclusive / place the tray down – placed) the story is positive, imaginative, constructed well and flows from one arrangement of characters to another like the indoor scenes of a theatrical performance. It has good stage-craft, so that’s one sign of a good writer. It also shows the application of social pressure, now thankfully punctured in most the world. I stayed engaged and completed this story in two sessions, then wondered how the rest of the series would go. London’s been done, so will she pop along to India or Africa? Although, as a reviewer, I sadly don’t have time to read every book in every writer’s series, I can see that readers of Lady Ruth Chapelstone will stay engaged and probably want to keep reading her adventures, so the series should grow into a success. As the greatest inventor in England, the character deserves no less, surely?

Lady Ruth is a creation that’s breaking the mould of a mouldy old social system, representing the glimmer of hope that when an era changes and enough judgemental steel-haired greylips go to their graves, the formal rules will loosen up and young people will be allowed to breathe. Lady Ruth will then be a pioneer, an inspiration for those to come after her. I’m not sure that the book did enough to also break the mould of storytelling in the same way that the character does for women in industry but I guess that is according to plan because this is supposed to compliment the steampunk genre, not reinvent it. The first instalment, Clockwork Suitor, is a reasonable start which I expect will now be built on for years to come. The second book in the series plunges Lady R into a travelling adventure on behalf of the Crown, so be sure to check that out too as this series can only get better. ( )

A cute short tale of an eccentric social recluse from a wealthy british family during Victorian England that lives under a fake identity to avoid the social stigma because of her gender and sells bizarre mechanical inventions to a consort of Queen Victoria.

The problem is that everyone wants to meet The Owl and given she is almost finished building a robot with artifical intelligence... There is some humor, friendship and enough space for a sequel. A fun read. ( )

19th-century, inventions, humor, urban-fantasy, steampunk

Great fun! Trapped in an era when women are so threatening that they are barred from being inventors and are expected to marry just to be considered respectable, Lady Ruth adopts an alias in order to pursue her calling. She is mechanically gifted and socially challenged, but even Queen Victoria recognizes her true worth. Until the exposure of her fiance as a clockwork man. Add in a vindictive wannabe suitor/ inventor, hijinks in France, and a gifted assistant who is not of the upper class, and you have the basis for lots of situational and verbal humor. I really enjoyed this one, and plan to read the next two as quickly as I am able! ( )