My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, #1)

by Cynthia Hand

He thought he finally understood the Meaning of Life now, the Great Secret, which he’d boiled down to this: Life is short, and then you die.

Jane, as we mentioned earlier, loved books. There was nothing she relished more than the weight of a hefty tome in her hands, each beautiful volume of knowledge as rare and wonderful and fascinating as the last. She delighted in the smell of the ink, the rough feel of the paper between her fingers, the rustle of sweet pages, the shapes of the letters before her eyes. And most of all, she loved the way that books could transport her from her otherwise mundane and stifling life and offer the experiences of a hundred other lives. Through books she could see the world.

This is a quote I relate to and really sums up Jane as a person. This is also a lovely quote about books.

Jane’s first engagement had been to the son of a silk merchant. Humphrey Hangrot had been his name, and since Hangrot Silk had been the only silk merchant in all of England, they controlled the prices. Humphrey’s parents were not shy about reminding the Grey family of their exciting new wealth. Most notably this was done by draping their stick-figure son in layers and layers of their most expensive brocade available. Jane had lost count of the number of balls

she’d been forced to attend at the Hangrot family home; she’d survived by always having a book in hand.

Jane’s first husband.

The second engagement had been to Theodore Tagler, a virtuoso violinist from France. He’d been touring England with the Oceanous Orchestra when his family came to visit London. Several highborn families had heard about the Taglers’ desire to find a wife for their son—a lady of refined taste and good family, and who wouldn’t mind her husband’s long absences, should she decide not to accompany him on tour. Lord and Lady Grey had immediately suggested Jane—they were still trying to recover from the Hangrot scandal—and the match was approved.

He seems to be more in Jane’s league for me. I think they would have gotten along.

The third engagement had been to Walter Williamson, the grandson of a famous but reclusive inventor, though what it was he had invented was said to be a state secret. If it hadn’t been for the whole marriage thing, Jane wouldn’t have minded Walter; he appeared intelligent and well read, and spoke often of the legacy his grandfather had left. He, too, had aspirations of invention. It was in his blood, he said, not that he had ever shown a hint of creativity.

Third engagement

Whew. This nose—rather, this man—wasn’t Gifford, but Stan Dudley, the older brother who sometimes accompanied his father to court. (Not that Jane paid much attention at court; she had so many books to read.) But what if Gifford’s nose was worse?

What a mood Jane

So. Her husband-to-be was a philanderer. A smooth operator. A debaucher. A rake. A frisker. (Jane became something of a walking thesaurus when she was upset, a side effect of too much reading.)

Yikes

Public poetry readings were known to be a rough business, especially when presenting new material. A man could lose a lot more than just his pride.

Most of the time he greatly preferred the company of dogs to the company of men.

I’m more of a cat person. This is a mood though.

If it is a gift, I do not deserve it. If it is a curse, I do not deserve it.”

Who on earth could feel comfortable enough to sleep in a room with no books?

But if you are a bucker of the system, a friend of truth, an ally of love, and a believer in magic, then read on.

At that moment we should confess that Edward briefly considered murdering his dear sweet grandmother. And he might have gotten away with it, too, on account of the rest of the world thinking the old lady was already dead.

I love seeing this insight from Edward.

“Armies aren’t very good about carrying libraries with them. I can’t imagine why. We’d fight so much less if everyone would just sit down and read.”

I love this quote about bookish people.