“On the morning we are to leave for our Grand Tour of the Continent, I wake in bed beside Percy. For a disorienting moment it’s unclear whether we’ve slept together or simply slept together.”
So begins this rollicking romp in 18th Century Europe. Monty is an English gentleman, but he’s also a playboy, regularly getting into compromising positions with both girls and boys. He’s leaving on a grand tour of Europe with his sister, Felicity, and his best friend (and secret crush), Percy. Monty is determined to have one last hurrah before his father imprisons him in gentlemanly adult responsibilities, like marriage and overseeing the estate. He has barely started his adventures in France when, at the Palace of Versailles, he gets caught naked with a courtesan and flees out the window, but not without stealing a pretty box of the Duke of Bourbon’s out of spite. They learn just how valuable this box is when highwaymen run them down the next day. Now, Monty, Percy, and Felicity appear to possess the secret to immortality and must decide what to do with it and manage to stay alive to do it.
This is at once a hilarious, scandalous, and thrilling book that may also surprise you with poignant moments. It was pure enjoyment the whole way through. Lee’s writing was a delight—snarky and funny one moment, tender and poetic the next. Percy and Felicity are lovable without question, while Monty is so selfish and irresponsible, it takes a while (and some growth) before I came to love him as well. It may seem a bit fluffy because of the light tone and humor sprinkled throughout, but Lee includes some pretty serious and ambitious ground: grand tours of Europe (which was a common practice for the upper classes at the time), epilepsy at a time when people had no real understanding of it, ditto for homosexuality, physical abuse, feminism, alcoholism, racism, shall I continue? And yet it all works together. She explains the historical context for many issues covered in the book in her note. Are there anachronisms? Is it a bit rosy to be realistic? Probably. Did I care? Not so much. This book made me laugh, blush, gasp, and fall in love. I warn you, it’s a bit mature for a teen book; there’s a fair amount of raunch, but alas, I absolutely loved it.
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