CUPBOARD KISSES

Rating:
Summary: a throughly enjoyable read
Review: I first read this novel almost 10 years ago; I enjoyed it then, and I enjoyed again when I reread it a few days ago. The plot of this novel revolves around Cristabel Swann, and the unfortunate set of circumstances that cause quite a few people to mistake her for a high-class courtesan.

Cristabel teaches music at a borading school. Her only outlet from this rather deary task is her day dreams of owning her own home and having a private income to go with it. And her only hope of ever achieving this dream lies in the belief that she will one day inherit her uncle's house and whatever monies comes with it. So, when Cristabel receives a letter from her uncle's lawyer requesting her presence in London, she impulsively quits her job and sets out to receive her inheritance. Imagine her horror when upon her arrival she discovers that her uncle has gambled all he owned away to a loutish naval captain!

Aghast at her situation, the captain offers Cristabel a job as the landlady of a boarding house in Kensington that her uncle formerly owned. What neither the captian nor Cristabel realise is that the house is actually a high-class bordello. And so the sweet and somewhat naive Cristabel finds herself looking after a stable of young "working" women who seem to have a lot of admirers and who seem not to have to go to work very much. Soon Cristabel is making friends with her "boarders" and meeting all kinds of people. And for the first time ever, she even seems to have a beau of her own, even if he is a tad too familiar in his attentions. Things are looking up indeed for Cristabel Swann. But what will she do when she discovers exactly what kind of house it is she is running, and why her beau is so forward?

What really makes this book work is the central character in this novel: Cristabel Swann. I really felt for the young woman who had so few friends and who spendt her time daydreaming about having her own house and possessing at least one pretty dress; I entered fully into her feelings of anger and disappointment when she discovered that she had no inheritance at all, only a mountain of her uncle's debts; and I cheered when Cristabel started her rant on the perfidy of men. The men in this book, and there were a few, while playing somewhat pivotal roles were completely secondary to the plot -- this is Cristabel's story. And Barbara Metzger tells it in a deft, capable and magical manner. Cristabel Swann in a heroine that will charm and win hearts. A thoroughly fun read.