First published 2026
Alice Lockey arranges Lady Jemima Alderwick's golden hair into elaborate French styles and tends to her malodorous undergarments at Alderwick Park. The tenant farmer's daughter has climbed to the position of lady's maid through intelligence and her talent for reading aristocratic moods. Alice has rejected marriage proposals from local widowers and pig farmers, preferring her earned independence. When Charlie Wells, a visiting valet, captures her attention, Alice devises a plan. She decides to orchestrate a romance between Lady Jemima and Charlie's master, Baronet Sir Nigel Wynstowe. If the employers fall in love, Alice and Charlie could marry and serve the same household. Lady Jemima loves someone else entirely, and Sir Wynstowe proves eccentric and difficult to manage. Alice must deploy every trick she knows to manipulate hearts above her station. As women's suffrage stirs in London drawing rooms, Alice faces questions about her future that extend beyond securing Charlie's affections.
Genres: fiction, romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, social-climbing
Setting: Alderwick Park, London
Period: 19th-Century
304 pages · Hardcover · Knopf