I was originally planning to read something else for this prompt, but as I was reading Infamous by Lex Croucher, I realised this was a perfect fit.

What it’s about?

22-year-old aspiring writer Edith ‘Eddie’ Miller and her best friend Rose have always done everything together-climbing trees, throwing grapes at boys, sneaking bottles of wine, practicing kissing . . .

But following their debutante ball Rose is suddenly talking about marriage, and Eddie is horrified.

When Eddie meets charming, renowned poet Nash Nicholson, he invites her to his crumbling Gothic estate in the countryside. The entourage of eccentric artists indulging in pure hedonism is exactly what Eddie needs in order to forget Rose and finish her novel.

But Eddie might discover the world of famous literary icons isn’t all poems and pleasure . . .

What I think:

I really enjoyed Reputation, Lex Croucher’s debut novel, when I read it. It was a fun, modern twist on a Regency romance. She has continued this fun with ai famous.

Eddie is desperate to become a writer.She has written stories her whole life, with her main audience being her best friend Rose. As the girls become young women and enter society, Rose seems to embrace parties and finding a suitable husband while Eddie is still creative and chaotic. It seems like the friendship is beginning to fizzle out.

When Eddie becomes infatuated with poet Nash Nicholson Rose follows her to country house to make sure that everything is above board and protect from Nash whose interest in Eddie is clearly not just her brain.

Eddie is naive and has to learn from her mistakes. She finds herself in some compromising situations and often speaks before she really thinks. Her feelings for Rose are clear to the reader, but growing up in Regency England, Eddie does not see them for what they are.

This is a fun read. If you like your historical fiction to be an entirely accurate portrayal of the time then this is not the book for you as the characters and the way they talk is decidedly modern.

The book does explore sexuality and gender in a time when there were very clear expectations about acceptable behaviour in society. Nash’s friends are unconventional but true to themselves and the ending of the book really did make me smile.