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To Sir Phillip, With Love
by
Julia Quinn
historical romance in Paperback edition that was published by Avon Publications on August 25, 2009 and has 372 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After, Romancing Mister Bridgerton
Fifth in the Bridgerton Family historical romance series set in post-Regency England. The couple focus is on Eloise Bridgerton and Sir Phillip.
My Take
It’s certainly an original premise with Eloise flitting off on her own. I have no idea what she could have been thinking to take off like this. Quinn doesn’t even provide a reasonable scenario to explain why Eloise thinks she can behave so outlandishly. It’s one thing to be a comfortable woman almost on the shelf for this time period, but to run off without a maid? It’s not like the family can’t afford one. No, Quinn simply hasn’t thought this one through.
Although it is a good thing for those poor kids. Their reaction to their mother’s death is…so depressing, and their father’s reaction to it all is, well, typical for the time. So they’re lucky that the indomitable Eloise appears in their lives and takes charge. She can take it and she can dish it out as well, LOL.
I do like that Eloise is thrown by Phillip’s reaction to her arrival. Serves the idiot right. Just because her own family is used to her, doesn’t mean the rest of the world is ready for her. She’s certainly old enough to know better.
This must be the most introspective courtship with most of it occurring within their own minds as Eloise and Phillip trying to understand each other, themselves, and marriage while trying to get close to the children. Children whom Phillip is shocked to discover have all sorts of skills and interests of which he is unaware. It’s not the only aspect of life in which he’s clueless. He reckons without his bride accepting his selfish conduct. A behavior he’s adapted to protect his children.
Oh, I do love that even in this situation, Colin stays true to himself and is tucking in like a starving man.
The Story
It’s Pen’s marriage to Colin that sets Eloise off on her own adventure, a need to escape, as she’s depressed. She had always thought Penelope would be there in the background, that she would never marry. Now she’ll take advantage of a clandestine correspondence which began over her cousin’s death, and escape during Daphne’s grand ball.
Eloise may have missed Colin’s big announcement, but she’s handling much tricker affairs down in Gloucestershire when Sir Phillip’s children try to kill her. It’s only her own experiences with her nephews and nieces that enable her to switch up and take a completely unexpected tack with the twins.
It’s quite fun for Eloise to play house, at least until her brothers find her.
The Characters
Eloise Bridgerton is a character who can’t stop talking and doesn’t exactly think her own actions through. She has turned down every request for her hand, secure in her self and knowing that Penelope would always be there for her. Now she can’t turn to anyone else in this fresh bewilderment, for all her siblings are too bloody happy. Or widowed.
Sir Phillip Crane, a second son who should never have inherited, has suffered for eight years with his depressed wife, Marina. Until the day she affects a major change. He takes refuge in the greenhouse, pursuing his botanical interests, avoiding his children. Miles Carter is his very short-lived secretary. It was Nurse Millsby who watched over the children when Marina was still alive. Now it’s Nurse Edwards who cares for the eight-year-old twins: Oliver and Amanda. An extremely rude and tricksy pair. Mrs. Hurley is the housekeeper; Gunning is the very competent butler. Thomas Crane was Sir Phillip’s brutal father.
The rest of the Bridgerton family includes:
Anthony Bridgerton is the oldest, Viscount Bridgerton, married Kate in the Viscount Who Loved Me, 2; they have a two-year-old, Charlotte. Benedict Bridgerton married Sophie in An Offer From a Gentleman, 3, and has pursued his art; they have a five-and-a-half-year-old son, Charles who’s dying. Graves is their butler. Penelope Featherington has married Colin Bridgerton (see Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, 4). Daphne was the first to marry when she and Simon Bassett fell in love in Duke and I, 1; they have three children now: Amelia, Belinda, and Caroline. Somehow Francesca got married without any of Quinn’s readers being aware of it; she’s now widowed. Violet, Lady Bridgerton is their mother and quite relentless about getting her children married off. Gregory and Hyacinth are the remaining unmarried children.
The Cover and Title
The cover is like looking at an old photograph, the kind that gets that blue haze over it. In this case, it’s a lovely, self-effacing, country cottage, Romney Hall, as only the gentry can build.
The title is a clever play on how Eloise and Sir Phillip “meet” over letters: To Sir Phillip, With Love.
