What do you think?
Rate this book
Debutantes #1
Debutantes
A century ago, marriage, and marriage alone, offered a nicely brought-up girl escape from the domination of her parents. Indeed it was the only path to freedom. That path led her to a Season in London and, the ultimate goal, Coming Out as a debutante. But along the way she had to survive a terrifying few months, a make-or-break time in which her family's hopes for her could only be fulfilled through a proposal of marriage.
For Lady Emily Persse, Coming Out means leaving her beloved Ireland and its informalities for England and its stricter codes. For Portia Tradescant, released from the boredom of life in the English countryside, it means trying to get through the Season despite the best efforts of her eccentric Aunt Tattie. For beautiful May Danby, the Season is an entrée to a whole other life, worlds away from her strict convent upbringing in Yorkshire.
Debutantes, Charlotte Bingham's delightful and stylish new saga, centres around a single London Season in the 1890s. But it is not just about the debutantes themselves. It is as much about the women who launch them, and the Society which supports their way of life. It is also about the battle for power, privilege and money, fought, not in the male tradition upon the battlefield, but in the female tradition...in the ballroom.
708 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 6, 1995
429 people are currently reading
291 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Bingham
75 books74 followersThe Honourable Charlotte Mary Thérèse Bingham was born on 29 June 1942 in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, UK. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, wrote detective stories and was a secret member of MI5. Her mother, Madeleine Bingham, née Madeleine Mary Ebel, was a playwright. Charlotte first attended a school in London, but from the age of seven to 16, she went to the Priory of Our Lady's Good Counsel school in Haywards Heath. After she left school, she went to stay in Paris with some French aristocrats with the intention of learning French. She had written since she was 10 years old and her first piece of work was a thriller called Death's Ticket. She wrote her humorous autobiography, called Coronet Among the Weeds, when she was 19, and not long before her twentieth birthday a literary agent discovered her celebrating at the Ritz. He was a friend of her parents and he took off the finished manuscript of her autobiography. In 1963, this was published by Heinemanns and was a best seller.
In 1966, Charlotte Bingham's first novel, called Lucinda, was published. This was later adapted into a TV screenplay. In 1972, Coronet Among the Grass, her second autobiography, was published. This talked about the first ten years of her marriage to fellow writer Terence Brady. They couple, who have two children, later adapted Coronet Among the Grass and Coronet Among the Weeds, into the TV sitcom No, Honestly. She and her husband, Terence Brady, wrote three early episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs together, Board Wages, I Dies from Love and Out of the Everywhere. They later wrote an accompanying book called Rose's Story. They also wrote the episodes of Take Three Girls featuring Victoria (Liza Goddard). In the 1970s Brady and Bingham wrote episodes for the TV series Play for Today, Three Comedies of Marriage, Yes, Honestly and Robin's Nest. During the 1980s and 1990s they continued to write for the occasional TV series, and in 1993 adapted Jilly Cooper's novel Riders for the small screen. Since the 1980s she has become a romance novelist. In 1996 she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.
In 1966, Charlotte Bingham's first novel, called Lucinda, was published. This was later adapted into a TV screenplay. In 1972, Coronet Among the Grass, her second autobiography, was published. This talked about the first ten years of her marriage to fellow writer Terence Brady. They couple, who have two children, later adapted Coronet Among the Grass and Coronet Among the Weeds, into the TV sitcom No, Honestly. She and her husband, Terence Brady, wrote three early episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs together, Board Wages, I Dies from Love and Out of the Everywhere. They later wrote an accompanying book called Rose's Story. They also wrote the episodes of Take Three Girls featuring Victoria (Liza Goddard). In the 1970s Brady and Bingham wrote episodes for the TV series Play for Today, Three Comedies of Marriage, Yes, Honestly and Robin's Nest. During the 1980s and 1990s they continued to write for the occasional TV series, and in 1993 adapted Jilly Cooper's novel Riders for the small screen. Since the 1980s she has become a romance novelist. In 1996 she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
August 31, 2020
3,5 stars for this great mix of historical and women's fiction.
WELCOME TO LONDON, TO THE SEASON of the 1890s.
So exciting!!!
Who are the most eligible bachelors? Who are the most promising debutantes to catch them?
The book follows the fates of 3 young girls with very different personalities and backgrounds. No matter where they started from, they all end up in London at the Height of THE SEASON as players or victims (?) of this great & elegant (but still) Fleshmarket of High Society to try their chances.
Miss Portia Tradescant - a lovely, shy country girl with a doting, but weird & impractical bunch of artistical relatives (Uncle Lampard is rumoured to have connections to Oscar Wilde himself!). She is in love with the son of a wealthy family in the neighbouring estate & realizes too late that she was never considered a serious candidate to become his bride. She hopes that the novelties of London make her forget what she left behind in Norfolk.
Lady Emily Persse - a wayward, but kind daughter of an Anglo-Irish Peer. Her family agrees to the dazzling Lady Evesham's (former, formidable & famous lover of the Prince Albert, heir apparent to the Throne) offer of launching Emily into Society to find her a rich husband. Emily's free spirit is truly tried under Lady E's tuition & begins to suspect that lady of having some evil, ulterior motive.
Miss May Danby - uncrowned debutante queen of The Season and everyone's darling..... and her way to stardom? A very devious road with twists and turns hiding a plot for revenge.
A bit slow-moving (the build-up to the actual events in London is way too long!), but a very interesting and thoroughly well-researched book on Victorian society dos and don'ts & with truly sympathetic characters. While the plotlines are all romantic, sometimes bordering on the fairy tale, the realistic background manages to give it all plausibility.
WELCOME TO LONDON, TO THE SEASON of the 1890s.
So exciting!!!
Who are the most eligible bachelors? Who are the most promising debutantes to catch them?
The book follows the fates of 3 young girls with very different personalities and backgrounds. No matter where they started from, they all end up in London at the Height of THE SEASON as players or victims (?) of this great & elegant (but still) Fleshmarket of High Society to try their chances.
Miss Portia Tradescant - a lovely, shy country girl with a doting, but weird & impractical bunch of artistical relatives (Uncle Lampard is rumoured to have connections to Oscar Wilde himself!). She is in love with the son of a wealthy family in the neighbouring estate & realizes too late that she was never considered a serious candidate to become his bride. She hopes that the novelties of London make her forget what she left behind in Norfolk.
Lady Emily Persse - a wayward, but kind daughter of an Anglo-Irish Peer. Her family agrees to the dazzling Lady Evesham's (former, formidable & famous lover of the Prince Albert, heir apparent to the Throne) offer of launching Emily into Society to find her a rich husband. Emily's free spirit is truly tried under Lady E's tuition & begins to suspect that lady of having some evil, ulterior motive.
Miss May Danby - uncrowned debutante queen of The Season and everyone's darling..... and her way to stardom? A very devious road with twists and turns hiding a plot for revenge.
A bit slow-moving (the build-up to the actual events in London is way too long!), but a very interesting and thoroughly well-researched book on Victorian society dos and don'ts & with truly sympathetic characters. While the plotlines are all romantic, sometimes bordering on the fairy tale, the realistic background manages to give it all plausibility.
September 28, 2020
This novel is entitled 'Debutantes'. I was disappointed. I had assumed it would be devoted to the challenges and rivalries of the London season. Unfortunately, the story turned out to be slow moving and the three young ladies do not arrive in London until about three quarters of the way through the book.
Ms. Bingham has a fine sense of humour. Many of her readers will enjoy it. Unfortunately, my humour does not match hers.
Ms. Bingham has a fine sense of humour. Many of her readers will enjoy it. Unfortunately, my humour does not match hers.
May 30, 2021
Daring , Darling Debutantes
This well crafted story was thoroughly enjoyable from first word to last. It was such a pleasure to be introduced to each Debutante in their own particular scene. You gained a real sense of each character as an individual and what made them tick. It was a privilege to meet some of the most likeable characters with an unconscious smile as it was with a frown and grimace that you became acquainted with the less desirable characters. There were very well crafted scenes that felt so familiar, you could dive into the book and not feel lost or like unfamiliar territory surrounded you. There were so many wonderful aspects of the whole book that knowing the "Season" was drawing to a close, I felt absolutely compelled to purchase the second book just to be able to savour the continuation of the Debutantes' futures.
This well crafted story was thoroughly enjoyable from first word to last. It was such a pleasure to be introduced to each Debutante in their own particular scene. You gained a real sense of each character as an individual and what made them tick. It was a privilege to meet some of the most likeable characters with an unconscious smile as it was with a frown and grimace that you became acquainted with the less desirable characters. There were very well crafted scenes that felt so familiar, you could dive into the book and not feel lost or like unfamiliar territory surrounded you. There were so many wonderful aspects of the whole book that knowing the "Season" was drawing to a close, I felt absolutely compelled to purchase the second book just to be able to savour the continuation of the Debutantes' futures.
May 19, 2021
First, this is a long book. The book introduces three young women who are not your typical debutants. They are not necessarily society families, but each is given the opportunity to have their season and make a wonderful match. The book spends about 2/3 introducing the girls and their backstories. There really is not a lot about the season and them the book rounds up their lives.
This is the first of a series, not sure about the others in this series.
This is the first of a series, not sure about the others in this series.
July 5, 2021
Society
I have to say I really enjoyed this book, which has surprised me as I felt it to begin with, very long winded in places and I couldn’t see where the title ‘Debutante’ came into it at all.
However, it slowly emerged that it was in the skill of the writer, painting a background which converged centre stage to the title.
Charlotte Bingham skilfully did this I think and I shall certainly read No 2 in the series.
I have to say I really enjoyed this book, which has surprised me as I felt it to begin with, very long winded in places and I couldn’t see where the title ‘Debutante’ came into it at all.
However, it slowly emerged that it was in the skill of the writer, painting a background which converged centre stage to the title.
Charlotte Bingham skilfully did this I think and I shall certainly read No 2 in the series.
September 27, 2021
Absolutely brilliant. Such a clever novel and terrifically well researched. It seems there is not a detail of this period that Bingham cannot describe in wonderfully accurate detail. I love a nice, long, engaging novel with multiple points of view and varied characters, and this is exactly what I got with Debutantes; precisely the kind of novel I'm always looking for. I plan to read more of Bingham's works if this is what I can expect.
November 24, 2020
Victorian/Edwardian debutantes (x 3) adventures in finding a husband for each. Descriptions of clothes, characters, etc is really well done. Times past was a bit of a meat market for women, glad I wasn't alive then ! It's unfair to go into the story too much as spoilers would give too much away. Entertaining read - and with a follow up too.
November 22, 2021
Bravo!
The wonderful story of three very different girls. I enjoy reading about this period in history and the details throughout the book help you visualize exactly what is happening. It was longer than I thought and took me longer than I had planned but I am anxious to read the second book in this series.
The wonderful story of three very different girls. I enjoy reading about this period in history and the details throughout the book help you visualize exactly what is happening. It was longer than I thought and took me longer than I had planned but I am anxious to read the second book in this series.
January 17, 2022
A rollicking read
For lovers of Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey, a story of three debutantes in late 1800's -- how they became them (not entirely how you may think they came to that position) and how that experience changed their lives. It was such a fun read and I really enjoyed the main characters.
For lovers of Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey, a story of three debutantes in late 1800's -- how they became them (not entirely how you may think they came to that position) and how that experience changed their lives. It was such a fun read and I really enjoyed the main characters.
June 12, 2021
Well served
Really good book! Such an entertaining evil villain in the story. Enjoyed the plot to take her down. What a crack up! Loved reading about the girls with such diverse backgrounds and how they handled the rituals of being presented at court.
Really good book! Such an entertaining evil villain in the story. Enjoyed the plot to take her down. What a crack up! Loved reading about the girls with such diverse backgrounds and how they handled the rituals of being presented at court.
November 21, 2021
Three stories in one
The lives of three girls from different backgrounds as they enter society and the effect it has on their future. Well written and an accurate historical account of the period
The lives of three girls from different backgrounds as they enter society and the effect it has on their future. Well written and an accurate historical account of the period
September 25, 2022
the debutants
Such an interesting book of three women who experience life as a debutant coming from different seasons of life with meeting and coping with different personalities and the growth they learn
Such an interesting book of three women who experience life as a debutant coming from different seasons of life with meeting and coping with different personalities and the growth they learn
November 22, 2024
It's a very good story. At first you think you are reading the wrong book. The story of three young womem that for diferent reasons go to London for their Season. And then the stories begin to mix into each other. At the end it's very hard to put the book down
August 20, 2025
This was a very long book - maybe too long. Story wove around 3 debutantes and their stories - neither of which were true socialites. Each girl had their story and the trials and tribulations of dealing with the "London Season" in 1890. Loved the story - just a bit too long for me.
May 9, 2017
Would not be surprised if this was written with the intention of it becoming a screenplay. Great ending. Worth the effort :)
April 25, 2021
Fun story!
May 1, 2021
Enjoyable
This book was quite long and provided many hours of reading pleasure. It was a Downton Abbey meets Pride & Prejudice type of story.
This book was quite long and provided many hours of reading pleasure. It was a Downton Abbey meets Pride & Prejudice type of story.
May 4, 2021
fun read - and very accurate
May 7, 2021
Very clever and enjoyable story! I look forward to reading book #2.
Read
May 13, 2021The story of four very different girls facing the rigors of preparing for their debutes.
May 19, 2021
Loved this book
Didn’t want it to end. For lovers of historical fiction, this is the book for you. Highly recommend this book. Well written.
Didn’t want it to end. For lovers of historical fiction, this is the book for you. Highly recommend this book. Well written.
June 1, 2021
Not for me
I gave up on this book very quickly. The dialogue I found boring and lady what's her name's speech affectation was extremely irritating
I gave up on this book very quickly. The dialogue I found boring and lady what's her name's speech affectation was extremely irritating
June 3, 2021
Good light story but it went on for too long! I also lost track of some of the characters.
January 5, 2022
Ee bah goom, finished. What a slog!
March 18, 2023
Kept me interested throughout. About to read the sequel, "The season".
did-not-finish
April 14, 2023I might come back to this one later, but the writing style isn't my preference, so I'm putting it down for now.
March 9, 2024
Oh the Debutante ball
May 14, 2024
Ugh. I thought it would never end….
June 15, 2021
Three different young ladies, each with a different background, make their debut in the same Edwardian London season. As it happens, their lives have some connections via families and they become friends rather than competitors. One of the connections is the villainess of the story, a socialite and former mistress of the Prince of Wales, who is now a bit past the prime of her beauty and influence. (Sorry, read this awhile ago and can’t remember all the names, especially as the characters are all archetypes instead of fleshed out memorable people.)
The book is easily twice as long as it should be. Each of our ingenues is given her own backstory that’s novelette length. And the most annoying thing in the book is the recreated speech affectation of the fading beauty- I couldn’t stand reading her dialogue, and usually I don’t mind, and often enjoy, authors’ written dialects.
I needed something light after a couple of heavy books I recently read, and this was light, with a reasonably satisfying ending, but it wasn’t anything very good.
The book is easily twice as long as it should be. Each of our ingenues is given her own backstory that’s novelette length. And the most annoying thing in the book is the recreated speech affectation of the fading beauty- I couldn’t stand reading her dialogue, and usually I don’t mind, and often enjoy, authors’ written dialects.
I needed something light after a couple of heavy books I recently read, and this was light, with a reasonably satisfying ending, but it wasn’t anything very good.
September 23, 2016
A wonderful historical novel telling the tale of three unlikely girls from totally different backgrounds, social echelons and family rank and the behind the scenes spite and machinations of the world of the debutante.
Lady Emily Persse has breeding and lineage but what her family lacks is money to keep their ancestral Irish home so in desperation sends her to London to be trained in the etiquette of the court and hopefully ensure a propitious marriage and thereby save Glendarvon in spite of the fact she is truly in love with Rory O'Connor.
Portia lives with her eccentric aunt and uncle in the country, perfectly happy with her life she is in for a rude awakening when its proposed that she needs to have a more conventional, ladylike life so needs to go to London to become one of that season's debs.
Whereas May is literally dragged out of the gutter by her loving, adoptive parents after her rescue by Herbert Forrester a man secretly in love with her mother, the lady who ran a brothel.
Three disparate girls, three separate stories and three fates but all inextricably bound as all three struggle to find their place in an alien world.
Full of wonderful characters you can fall in love with and rich with sweeping historical detail and an evil villain thrown in for good measure in the shape of Daisy Lanford this is a must for any historical fan and though it DOES have a sequel, which purely by accident I read that first they are both great stand alone novels.
Lady Emily Persse has breeding and lineage but what her family lacks is money to keep their ancestral Irish home so in desperation sends her to London to be trained in the etiquette of the court and hopefully ensure a propitious marriage and thereby save Glendarvon in spite of the fact she is truly in love with Rory O'Connor.
Portia lives with her eccentric aunt and uncle in the country, perfectly happy with her life she is in for a rude awakening when its proposed that she needs to have a more conventional, ladylike life so needs to go to London to become one of that season's debs.
Whereas May is literally dragged out of the gutter by her loving, adoptive parents after her rescue by Herbert Forrester a man secretly in love with her mother, the lady who ran a brothel.
Three disparate girls, three separate stories and three fates but all inextricably bound as all three struggle to find their place in an alien world.
Full of wonderful characters you can fall in love with and rich with sweeping historical detail and an evil villain thrown in for good measure in the shape of Daisy Lanford this is a must for any historical fan and though it DOES have a sequel, which purely by accident I read that first they are both great stand alone novels.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews