Hooked and Guessing
A Respectable Actress by Dorothy Love has something for everyone. It is a historical thriller with a gentle love story building in the background.
India Hartley is an actress in America in the middle of the nineteenth century. At this time, acting is not seen as a respectable career. A tragic event on stage sees India, at the start of the novel, suspected of murder. Now she has a reason to be twice shunned by society. Philip Sinclair offers his services to India, as her lawyer. It is up to him to prove her innocence before the hangman’s noose beckons.
A Respectable Actress is an amazing thriller full of plot twists and turns. I certainly could not guess the outcome, which made the action all the more thrilling. It was very intricate and held my attention from the start.
A Respectable Actress is also interesting as a social comment on the times. Following the American Civil War, slaves had been set free. Here in the novel, the reader sees what jobs the ex-slaves now have, and attitudes towards them.
India is very much a modern woman in ancient times. Her father having recently died, means that India must fend for herself, in a world where independent women were frowned upon.
India believes in personal achievement and dreams. She has her own, and she encourages the young girls to dream too, believing that nothing is beyond your grasp. One just needs to go for it.
Dorothy Love in the novel shows the importance of having encouragers in one’s life. When doubts creep in, everyone needs someone to be standing by them, believing in them.
I thoroughly enjoyed A Respectable Actress, it had me hooked until the very last page. This is the first novel I have read by Dorothy Love but I shall be seeking out more.
JULIA WILSON
I was given a free copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.