Sephronia Temmenick was the youngest daughter in a large family. Her eldest sister is about to have her “coming out” party to introduce her to the other noble families and which could make or break her chances for an advantageous marriage. However as Sephronia is still a rather wild and unruly girl who is more interested in climbing trees and other “unseemly” things (such as dismantling clocks) for a young lady, and who cannot even curtsy or show the proper manners, it is recommended by an older family friend that she be sent to Madame Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. What neither Sephronia nor her family are aware of is that this finishing school is not the normal finishing school that most assume it to be. Instead, while it does train the students in the usual things taught at a finishing school, it also trains the girls in covert espionage tactics. And Sephronia is a covert recruit, who until she arrives, is herself unaware that this is not a normal finishing school.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book. The story in this steampunk novel was very entertaining and the narrator did an excellent job of keeping the individual voices distinct from each other. I enjoyed listening to Sephronia’s exploits at her new school, and her discovering that there were advantages to knowing some of the things a “proper lady” was expected to know, and how to use those skills to her benefit, both personally and professionally.
And naturally, as can be expected when there is a large group of students gathered together, there are usually some bullies among them. And in this case, Sephronia seems to have started out by making an enemy out of one of the older girls, simply in the process of trying to save her from a group of villains attempting to kidnap her.
This book clearly ties into the world of both the Parasol Protectorate and Custard Protocal series, though it takes place in a time before either of them. So if you happen to have read any of the books in either series, some of the characters within this book may be somewhat familiar to you.
Overall, I did enjoy listening to this book and look forward to continuing on with this series.
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