A Proper Education for Girls

February 23, 2009
British novelist diRollo's mixed debut, set in 1850s England and colonial India, tells the story of twin sisters Alice and Lilian Talbot, who were born into an aristocratic but eccentric English family and raised by their widowed father among his collected curiosities and creepy acquaintances. One of those acquaintances, closet pornographer Dr. Cattermole, assists the Talbots in their curatorial obsessions. Their quiet existence is thrown into upheaval when Lilian is married off against her will to a missionary and forced to move to India with him. The sisters struggle and rebel against their suffocating situations—Lilian slogging through the subcontinent, Alice under the cruel and exploitative manipulations of Dr. Cattermole—until Lilian sends her sister a coded letter and a photograph, setting events in motion to bring them together. The vivid and sometimes graphic details of Victorian-era obsessions are intriguing, though the prose quality is spotty and the dialogue is often wooden (“ 'Release me!' cried Alice. 'You are committing a grave and punishable crime to hold me in this way' ”). The premise is wonderful, but the execution doesn't do it justice.

March 1, 2009
Two unconventional Victorian sisters try to break free from the oppressive society in which they were born.

Growing up motherless in the chaotic midst of their father's massive collection of antiques and oddities, Lilian and Alice Talbot always knew they could look to each other for comfort and companionship. But that all changes after a seduced and abandoned Lilian is forced to hastily marry a dour missionary and move to India. Forbidden by her father to even write to her sister, Alice all but resigns herself to a lonely life as glorified housekeeper. Things get a bit interesting, though, with the arrival of Mr. Blake, a young photographer assigned the job of shooting Mr. Talbot's Collection. He takes a shine to the tall and athletic Alice, who discovers several piquant photos in Mr. Blake's possession—the worst of which feature Dr. Cattermole, an oily quack who has gained her father's confidence. For some reason the odious doctor has become obsessed with Alice, believing her frank manner and boyish figure to be signs of a serious medical condition. He conspires with her father to"cure" her surgically without her consent. Lilian, meanwhile, has fallen in love with her exotic new home, if not her husband, and hatches a scheme to summon Alice to her side. Revenge also plays into Lilian's plans after she is reacquainted with the dashing Mr. Hunter, the same adventurer who ruined her reputation and broke her heart. He claims he has changed, but can Lilian ever trust him again? Does she even want to? Thousands of miles apart, the girls must use their considerable resourcefulness to get out of some sticky predicaments, including a native revolt, ether addiction and various acts of astonishing misogyny, all in the hopes of seeing each other again. Not surprisingly, the male characters in this spirited debut fare badly, but Alice and Lilian are fabulous, quirky characters, gifted with an engrossing plot. Here's hoping we will meet them again.

A rollicking good time that does not take itself too seriously.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 15, 2009
In 1857, twins Alice and Lilian are the only surviving daughters of Edwin Talbot, an extremely eccentric, self-centered man whose pride and joy is The Collection, a jumbled mix of anthropological pieces, naturalist objects, and progressive machines that has taken over the family's large estate. The story begins after Lilian is married off in disgrace to a missionary heading to India, leaving Alice the sole caretaker of The Collection, Mr. Talbot, and the elderly aunts. Told from the sisters' perspective in alternating segments, the story shows each facing challenges to her physical and emotional safety as they work toward their reunion. Seeing English society transplanted in rural India through Lilian's unconventional viewpoint and battling Mr. Talbot's unpredictable, focused mania through Alice's independent nature results in a complete and complex story. This debut is ideal for readers who enjoy unconventional historical fiction peppered with interesting, intelligent characters.Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2009
DiRollos delightfully original debut simultaneously mocks and colorfully depicts British imperialism and the Victorians obsessive pursuit of scientific progress. It is 1857, and the daughters of noted eccentric Edwin Talbot are about to fight back against the strictures of their repressive circumstances. Plain Alice remains at home, charged with overseeing her chauvinist fathers huge collection of antiquities and oddball artifacts. Beautiful Lilian, forced into wedlock after an indiscretion, travels to India with her priggish missionary husband and endures the company of xenophobic military officers and society wives. As one would expect of any sensible heroine in modern historical fiction, these intelligent, independent-minded sisters have a rebellious streak. Embracing the native customs and language, Lilian journeys into the Indian countryside to paint pictures of local flora, while Alice sees an escape route in the sex-starved photographer hired by her father. Their candid thoughts on the walking stereotypes surrounding them are hilarious, but the novel resists fully indulging in parody. The sisters wacky adventures aside, the threats posed by Mr. Talbots evil doctor friend are disturbingly real.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)