This Halloween will be different from any previous spooky holiday anyone has ever experienced before. While we can’t go out to our usual costume-themed parties or go trick-or-treating with our families, we can still enjoy ourselves despite the current circumstances. This weekend, you can snuggle up with a book by one of my favorite authors, Evie Dunmore.
Nestle into your favorite old leather chair with a cup of tea and a blanket and dive into Annabelle Archer’s riveting tale. Filled with stunning imagery and complex metaphors, Bringing Down the Duke will hold your mind and heart in a vice grip. When I first read this novel (published in September 2019), I was so enamored by the story that I couldn’t put the book down and finished it in one day. Dunmore’s novel follows young Annabelle Archer, one of the first female students studying at the University of Oxford on scholarship in the nineteenth-century, who also campaigns for women’s rights with her friends Lucie, Catriona, and Hattie. In her efforts to push for women’s right to vote, Annabelle becomes entangled with the icy Sebastian Devereux, the calculating Duke of Montgomery, who stands in the way of nearly everything she wants. Annabelle’s main challenge is to convince the Duke to support her righteous cause while trying to avoid falling for his ice prince-like looks and brilliant mind. In the Duke of Montgomery, Annabelle has met her match.
This witty, romantic, historically rich, and extraordinary novel celebrates the British suffrage movement of the nineteenth-century and shows the power of true love instead of surface-level lust. Sebastian not only finds that he is attracted to Annabelle’s beauty but also her bright mind and determination. This fiery love story will haunt your dreams and make your blood roar with excitement and frustration. You will find that you won’t be able to stop turning pages and find yourself enchanted by this unique tale. This book will leave you feeling enlightened, inspired, and empowered. Read Dunmore’s debut novel and run around historic Oxford with some incredible feminist rebels who are not afraid to fight for their rights, no matter what it takes.
After reading Bringing Down the Duke, you can continue to follow the Oxford rebels and their adventures in Dunmore’s latest sequel, A Rogue of One’s Own. Filled with highly descriptive writing and historical details, this gripping sequel is just as captivating as the first novel. This enthralling story follows one of Annabelle’s suffragist friends, Lady Lucie, who faces one major obstacle in her path to control one of London’s biggest publishing houses. The obstacle’s name is Tristan Ballentine, who not only stands in the way of her feminist mission but also happens to be rakishly handsome and manipulative. In order to achieve her dreams and take down Parliament, Lady Lucie must work with Tristan and win their battle of wills. Both Lady Lucie and Tristan are formidable forces to be reckoned with. Which one will achieve their goals and win their verbal and political battle? A Rogue of One’s Own will make you laugh and cry, bewitch you, and further inspire you to continue to fight for women’s rights in the present day. These novels are two of my favorite books that I have ever read, and I promise that you won’t regret leaping into these unforgettable stories.