'A winner. The narrative is crisp, the characterisation revealing, the ending quite modern in its ambiguity.' The Lady Two very different, but physically identical, young ladies meet at a boarding school once attended by Jane Austen. Joan Aiken's engrossing regency novel is perfect for fans of the major Netflix romantic drama series, Bridgerton. Self-righteous Louisa wants to escape her grand family life in Northumberland and become a missionary in India. Imaginative and quiet Alvey has no family and only longs for peaceful independence to complete her novel. So when Louisa suggests swapping identities it seems like the perfect plan: Alvey will have a peaceful country manor in which to write her book and Louisa will be free to voyage across the globe. But when Alvey becomes a beloved and indispensible member of her extraordinary new family, how will they view the return of the horrible Louisa? Joan Aiken weaves a complicated plot of deception and identity, peopled with strong female characters, in this unique historical romance.

ジョーン・エイキンが描く本作は、単なる入れ替わり劇の枠を超え、女性の自立への渇望を鮮烈に描き出した野心作です。ジェーン・オースティンへの敬意が滲む端正な世界観の中で、役割に縛られた少女たちが「本当の自分」を求めて演じる偽りの生は、社会への静かな叛逆として力強く響きます。 白眉は、作家志望の孤独な魂が偽りの家庭で居場所を見出していく、その内面の変容と葛藤です。結末に用意された現代的な曖昧さは、安易な救済を拒み、アイデンティティの本質を読者に鋭く問い直します。歴史小説の香気と、嘘から始まる真実の物語が、あなたの心を激しく揺さぶるはずです。