The Proposition

Starred review from November 29, 1999
When her father dies, Lady Edwina Bollash is ousted from her ancestral home in Regency London by her greedy cousin, the new Duke of Arles. To support herself, Edwina gives elocution and deportment classes to country folk and foreigners eager to enter polite society. She becomes so successful that twin lords Emile and Jeremy Lamont challenge her to turn Mick Tremore, an ill-mannered, uncouth Cornish rat catcher, into a gentleman and pass him off as a viscount at her cousin's annual society ball. Intrigued by the subject's accent and eager to exact some personal revenge, Edwina agrees to the wager. Little does she know that her life is about to be turned inside out: she discovers that Mick is a virile, handsome, incorrigible man. His wicked propositions boggle her virginal heart but stir her womanly passions. Through skillful writing, Ivory (Beast) captures the subtle sensual pleasures of her colorful characters, creating a sexy varitation on My Fair Lady.