Frederica

First published in 1965, this Regency novel follows Frederica Merriville, who brings her beautiful sister Charis, her brothers, and a dwindling income to London so that Charis may make a good marriage. She applies to a distant connection, the bored, wealthy Marquis of Alverstoke, for the social introductions she cannot buy. Alverstoke intends only a slight effort and is drawn into the family's scrapes, including the youngest boy's passion for engines and balloons. The comedy is of guardianship and courtship in drawing rooms, parks, and city streets, not a war story or a gothic plot.

Bound in light blue cloth, cover and spine gilt and black blocked with a lettering design by Jessica Hische. Dark blue endpapers. Light blue slipcase with monochrome printed portrait on front.