jessthanthree's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Classism
Minor: Infidelity, Alcohol, Murder, Police brutality, Confinement, Hate crime, and Death
morebedsidebooks's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite is a greatly detailed sapphic historical fiction romance set in England during a restless political period of 1820-21. The shadows of murder plots against the British cabinet and a royal tug-of-war between King George and Queen Caroline loom in pubs and printing houses a like. Politics, state censorship, decency societies, and the subject of the institution of marriage and women’s positions in England abound. Though most of the anxiety with much twisting of gloves, tugging on cuffs, clutching of skirts and twitterpated hearts is all part of a very slow burn between Penelope Flood (pan with a preference for women), a beekeeper with a marriage of practicality to John (the actual romantic partner of her seafaring brother Harry), and Agatha Griffin (bi), a serious and bit too traditionalist widowed printer. In their forties the two women meet when Agatha finds a large beehive in her warehouse during one of the regular business trips outside London. After Penelope rehives the bees to a more suitable spot on the property the two women strike up a correspondence, then friendship, but also harbor a powerful mutual attraction while carefully ascertaining how or if to do anything about it. As the methods to take on the trials that present themselves for these women and those they care about. Though the story develops over more than a single season, this second volume in the Feminine Pursuits series is the sort of book to read on equally languid and long summer days emulating the atmosphere of beautiful gardens, the pastoral countryside and lots of bees.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Classism
Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity
The book opens with a description of the public execution of five men involved in the Cato Street Conspiracy.
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