But terrible scandal has followed Ada's beloved father all the way from India. Still, she can't help but wonder what her life might have been had she been born a lady, like Ada.įor the first time in a decade, the Averleys have returned to Somerton, their majestic ancestral estate. Rose knows she should be grateful to have a place at a house like Somerton. Especially now that she, at barely sixteen, has risen to the position of ladies' maid. Clever, rich, and beautiful, Ada Averley treats Rose as an equal. Rose Cliffe has never met a young lady like her new mistress.

No, it's not a Serious Work of Litrachure, but Rasheed doesn't romanticize the era or the culture by ignoring the ugly or unfair bits: instead, she uses them to heighten the drama. If, like me, you like The Luxe in all of its Bathtub Book Glory-the bitchiness and the period clothing, the page-turning plot twists, the secrets and lies and romantic entanglements-then Cinders and Sapphires will totally be up your alley.One house, two worlds. As I said, broad brush strokes, but it's all there. Cinders and Sapphires deals with gender and class with identity, colonialism, and individuality with privilege, duty, ambition, sacrifice, prejudice, and the blurring of barriers. The characters-especially the secondary ones-never really develop into three-dimensional beings, but that doesn't make their escapades any less entertaining or enjoyable. You'll meet said stepmother's three children, one of whom who is following right in her mother's Bitchmonster footsteps, and another who is desperately trying to hide a life-threatening secret. You'll meet Lady Ava's new stepmother and her maid, both of whom bring new meaning to the term Conniving Bitchmonster From Hell. a young woman who dreams of composing music despite her low station, and who happens to bear a striking resemblance to the Averleys. You'll meet Rose Cliffe, the daughter of the housekeeper at Somerton, Lady Ada's family home. with handsome Ravi Sundaresan, a young man she met on her voyage from India back home to England. You'll meet Lady Ada Averley, who needs to marry well in order to save the family estate and restore her father's reputation, but who secretly dreams of studying at Oxford. Not that there's anything at all wrong with that: I read the hell out of the entire Luxe quartet.) (By which I mean that Cinders and Sapphires is painted with a broader brush than Downton.

Seriously, that's about it: Like Downton Abbey, it's set in the Edwardian Era and has an Upstairs, Downstairs storyline, but in terms of characterization, subtlety, and nuance, it's got much more in common with The Luxe.

At somerton cinders & sapphires