Portrait of a Scotsman (#3 in A League of Extraordinary Women) by Evie Dunmore (2021)

 

Evie Dunmore’s League of Extraordinary Woman is made up of four Oxford students who have banned together in 1880 over their belief that changes needed to be made to the Married Women’s Property Act which gave husbands financial and legal control over their wives along with control of all property owned by the now married woman and that woman deserved the right to vote.

Hattie Greenfield is the heroine of Portrait of a Scotsman, who after being caught kissing her father’s business rival, financier Lucian Blackstone, is forced to marry him. Hattie only knows Lucien by his reputation for being ruthless in business and fears he will be the end of her dream of becoming a recognized artist.

Lucien is a self-made man driven by political ambitions and a need for revenge. He has wealth but no power and marriage to Hattie is his entry into polite society where the power is held.

As in so many romances Lucian has no time for his new bride but things start to change when he takes Hattie to Scotland with him to check out a mine he just purchased. Although the two discover they really do care for one another, Hattie asks for a divorce when they return to England. Divorce was a scandalous thing in 1880 and had to be allowed by the husband. Hattie was not willing to stay with a husband whom she felt had bought and paid for her, she wants to be wooed.

The Married Women’s Property Act was finally changed in 1882. The new law allowed women to own/buy/sell property, keep any income from the property or an occupation, and keep any inheritance. The law also made both parents equally responsible for their children. Under the former law woman had no rights to their children. The women of Britain were granted the same voting rights as men in 1928.

Although it is not necessary to read the books in order, the characters and events from previous novels are mentioned in the books that follow.

Bringing Down the Duke (2019)

A Rogue of One's Own (2020)

The fourth title has not yet been announced

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This series is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.