Lady Constance Bledlow is rich, beautiful, and positively dazzling. She is also naïve, privileged, and nearly isolated in the world. Recently orphaned, Lady Connie moves to Oxford to live with her aunt and uncle and tries to adjust to her new environment. This multifaceted coming-of-age romance story, set in the early twentieth century, unfolds amid the backdrop of Edwardian England and is rife with class distinctions and gender dynamics. Torn between the traditions of the aristocracy and the progressive ideals of independence and personal identity, Lady Connie challenges societal norms while navigating encounters with new and familiar faces. Confronting a rejected suitor from her past leads her on a journey of self-discovery to define what she genuinely wants in life—and, more specifically, whom she wants.

Mary Augusta Ward was a celebrated romance novelist with bestselling books in the United States in 1903 and 1905. President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned her to chronicle Great Britain’s efforts in World War I, prompting her to brave the battlefields and examine the harrowing realities of war in three books.