Sophy Stanton-Lacy has been Brought up by her diplomat father, Sir Horace, in continental Europe. HOWEVER, Sir Horace is traveling to South America and so he arranges for Sophy to stay with his sister, Lady Ombersley, in London. His sister Agrees to look after his "little" Sophy who is sweet and good and kind.
As soon as Sophy arrives there is mayhem. She's not "little" at all but a tall lady with a dog and a monkey and her own ideas about how to behave. She arrives in the Ombersley household like a whirlwind - and proceeds to turn Their ordered and dull lives upside down. The eldest son, Charles Rivenhall, is running the house (his father is a hopeless gambler) with iron fist and to a lack of humor and Charles 'betrothed, Miss Wraxton, keeps poking her nose into the younger Rivenhalls' business; Cecilia Rivenhall, surrounded by suitors, looks to be choosing the wrong one; Hubert, up at Oxford, is getting himself into serious trouble with gambling and poor young Amabel comes down with a serious illness. Sophie inserts herself into situations thesis, bringing them all to positive resolutions and along the way bringing Charles Rivenhall to many occasions where he Completely Loses His Temper.
As with all other Heyer books the writing is masterful, the situations and the characters well-Plotted just brilliant, even the minor ones. I loved the way did Lord Charlbury is scolded by Sophy for his ill-judged of catching mumps, and how to goad Charles Sophy Manages into firing her pistol inside the house. The events all work up to the final scene at Lacy Manor, Sophy's father's house in Sussex, where two inappropriate engagements are broken, Sophy shoots a man in the arm and a lot of ducklings get involved. It's a brilliant read, of course, and I did not Although One That INITIALLY enjoy as much as others it has grown on me and I massively Often turn to it for a re-read. If you liked Cotillion You'll enjoy this one, and if you like a good read you will love The Grand Sophy Certainly.
