Without getting into all of the background, Adele is the step daughter of Jane. She is sent off to boarding school where she tries to become a proper English lady. The problem is she was raised in France by her prostitute/dance hall mother, so her knowledge and worldview differ from the cloistered girls at her school. She is frustrated at the expectations and etiquette in the interactions she must have with men. The girls are paraded around at social gatherings with hope of finding a proper suitor. These suitors are often young men, but sometimes their are wealthy old men.
Her disdain for these rules of society and her growing affection toward women make Adele ready to fight for her right to be a free thinking woman. A sexual assault of a school mate provides the opportunity for Adele to make men pay for the way they treat women.
I do like books with strong female characters who fight against people and society for the right to be free and treated with respect. There was not as much of that in this book, but I enjoyed following Adele as she evolved into that person.
For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.
