BERKLEY Portrait of a Scotsman

I ordered this book because my wife likes this author writing style. I arrived the next day and my wife couldn’t wait to read it. She devoured it within two nights and enjoyed it so much she read it again. Who knows how many more times she will read this book, she’s like that when she likes an author.

As with her previous books, this book deals with the fight for female suffrage. Also deals with the mining industry in Victorian Britain and the rights of workers.There’s also a romance between a self made man and an upper class lady.It’s a good read with a a good bit of steam too

3.5 ⭐The third instalment in A League of Extraordinary Women series, Portrait of a Scotsman was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021. I absolutely adored the first two books and was very excited to read Hattie's story.There are a lot of aspects of this book that I loved - from the sunshine/grump trope to Hades/Persephone retelling, the educational elements about workers' conditions in Victorian Britain and Hattie's exploit into photography. Evie Dunmore for sure can write and her stories are always  very compeling and her characters three-dimensional.POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!I took an issue with the last few chapters of the book, not necessarily finding them out of character, bad or irrelevant, but I definitely think they happened too late in the story. Especially since completely unnecessary side plot with Mr Matthews took the space which could've been used to futher the relationship between Hattie and Lucien. I understand why the author decided it's important for Hattie to go away and for the couple to spend some time apart, I just think it should've happened earlier and been the central conflict of the book. It happening at the very end of the book felt too rushed.This is, in the end, a series about women fighting for their rights and the equlity in the world they live in and in their relationships, and Hattie leaving to be able to discover who she is and needing Lucien to court her properly after the way their marriage began is not unrealistic in that context, but after almost 400 pages I needed a closure, not the plot taking a new turn.Rant over! 😄 Otherwise I enjoyed this book, while it's not my favorite in the series, I look forward to discovering what's next for these characters!

Es handelt sich nicht nur um eine spannende und sehr gut erzählte Liebesgeschichte. Es geht auch die Zustände der Arbeitsbedingungen im 19 Jahrhundert, um die Selbstbestimmung von Frauen, um die frühen Stunden der Fotografie. Die Autorin schafft es, all diese Themen in eine sehr fesselnde Geschichte zu verpacken, die man einfach nicht aus der Hand legen kann.

Bought this as a gift. Recipient liked it and is a big fan of the series but felt the spirit of the feminist group of Oxford students from earlier books wasn't there so much. Still an enjoyable read.