Novel

Title: The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin

Author: Alison Goodman

Publisher: Harper Collins Australia

I devoured the Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin, the follow-up to the deliciously titled The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies. While having read the first will assist, it probably isn’t necessary to be moving on here, thanks to the careful placement of sufficient back story. The first featured three distinct adventures linked by an overarching plot involving a fallen nobleman with whom our point-of-view heroine, Gus, becomes entangled. This plot becomes the driving force of the Ladies Road Guide, with a secret cabal, a dollop of spies, and hindrances from societal and familial expectations adding healthy measures of intrigue and complication. Gus and her sister, Julia, make a formidable, but not infallible, duo, ably supported by a likeable supporting cast. The command of character and the Regency setting makes it a joy as the action thumps along like a rushing phaeton – mind those potholes, ladies! Just as pleasing is the clear suggestion that there is more to come. C’est magnifique!