I don’t think I wrote a single book review in the first decade of this blog, and here I am with the third in less than a month.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall is a period love story between two dear friends separated by war, one damaged by it both physically and psychologically, the other, presumed lost but using the circumstance to liberate herself from being the person she never was.

For our heroine, the stakes of her transition are much higher than what we consider difficult these days, because she is forced to give up her name, her title and her property in addition. Her friend, meanwhile, is in physical pain and mental anguish over his participation in the fighting and over the loss of his cherished friend.

The higher stakes only serve to make the ultimate happy ending sweeter and more intense. But what makes everything so deeply felt is the exquisite writing of the author. The slow build of bringing them back together, of anger and forgiveness and difficult decisions, of layering of emotion on emotion, of needs against duties, desires against station, and the even slower unwinding of it all into a sublime resolution.

It makes you feel proud that the heroine is one of us, that she has the courage she has to be strong and to be vulnerable, that she has the joy of being truly desired as she is, for just exactly who and what she is, and without any doubt that she is worthy of it even if she doubts it herself. She is a worthy role model, but so is her dear friend and even the family members that surround her. There is love in their hearts and precious little judgment.

It would be nice if things could be like that 200 years of evolution later, but alas, not quite. We’re moving backwards. A Lady for a Duke is a wonderful and uplifting escape from current events.