Forever and a Day

November 14, 2011
What begins as a straightforward retelling of The Prince and the Pauper becomes a mishmash of bewildering strands that never really get woven together. Georgia Milton, a young and pretty widow, lives in the notorious Five Points neighborhood in 1830 New York City. The sassy laundress is under the protection of the notorious Forty Thieves and dreams of moving out west. Then she meets Roderick Gideon Tremayne, the duke of Wentworth. When he loses his memory after being hit by an omnibus, he thinks he’s Robinson Crusoe. Georgia takes care of him while the doctor tries to find Tremayne’s family, and as she teaches him how to live as a poor person, they fall in love. Despite having amnesia, Roderick remembers certain things about being wealthy, and his bewildered reaction to Georgia’s desperate conditions is the only high point of this meandering, overcomplicated romance. Agent: Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Starred review from December 1, 2011
Marvelle (Prelude to a Scandal, 2011) launches the Rumor series by vividly bringing to life lower-class New York City, circa 1830. Georgia Milton is horrified when the apparently wealthy gentleman who volunteers to chase down a purse-snatcher is hit by a passing vehicle and left with amnesia. While an overworked doctor tries to determine the man's identity, Georgia shelters him because she realizes how lacking in street smarts he is. A respected widow, she has enough gang protection to move freely in the hardscrabble underbelly of society. As they get to know each other, Robinson, as the man calls himself, and Georgia fall in love, an idyll that abruptly ends when it is discovered that he is an English lord's son. Can the barely educated but down-to-earth Georgia make the transition from lower to upper class? Does Robinson, now known to be the Duke of Wentworth, want her to adopt the faade of the ladies in his social circle? Marvelle adeptly explores the best and worst of social class divides in this unforgettable story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)