In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince-while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable?but not too amiable. Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit...

In the year of the 150th anniversary of 'Origin of the Species', set in a town where Jane Austen was a frequent visitor, Tracy Chevalier once again shows her uncanny sense for the topical.

Two entwined families: the aristocratic Inghams and the Swanns who serve them. One stately home: Cavendon Hall, a grand imposing house nestled in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. Two best friends: DeLacy Ingham, daughter of the earl, and Ceci Swann, daughter of the valet. Inseparable from childhood, but with two very different destinies. But the year