A Mad, Wicked Folly

by Sharon Biggs Waller

Genres: YA Social Themes; YA Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist-a nearly impossible dream for a girl.

After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse-or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?

Release date: January 23, 2014

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers

Print pages: 448

Sample

With Will next to me, the fog no longer seemed ominous; instead, it felt peaceful. The fog blotted out the surroundings and any passersby, making it feel as though we were the only people about.
“So you believe in votes for women?” I asked as we walked.
“I don’t see the point in denying half the population the right to vote.” He shook his head. “It’s daft. So yes, the suffragists have my sympathies. I can’t work out which side you’re on, though.”
“With the women, of course.”
“But you don’t fight with them?” He looked at me, his eyes questioning.
“I’m going to help them with the artwork. I’m not the fighting type.” I twirled my beret around my hand.
He grinned. “And an artist can’t fight?”