A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure - Angela Bell - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Angela Bell
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: Historical + Adventure + Clean Romance + Christian. If all these points are appealing to you, this entertaining book delivers exactly as it promises. If faith-based content isn’t your cup of tea, stay away. I loved the characters and the story. What a charming debut novel!


Plot Preview:
1860, England. Clara Stanton, lovingly called ‘little Atlas’ by her grandfather, actually feels like weary Atlas, always worried about protecting her beloved but eccentric family from her ex-fiancé who is intent on proving them to have hereditary insanity.
When her inventive Grandfather Drosselmeyer takes on a skilled vagabond named Arthur as an apprentice, Clara is sure “Arthur” is a spy working for her ex. She has no idea that “Arthur” is actually Theodore, looking for a fresh start away from his past. Before she can confirm her fears, her grandfather disappears in his secret flying owl machine, with a note asking Clara to follow him on the adventure and leaving clues for a scavenger hunt. Clara has no choice but to obey his wishes, but she isn’t happy about his last instruction: she needs to take “Arthur” along on the audacious journey.
To make matters worse, there is someone on their trail, who wants the flying machine at any cost. How will this quest pan out for the principal characters?
The story comes to us in the third person perspectives of Clara and Theodore.


Until a few years ago, if anyone called a book 'Christian fiction', all that came to my kind was a goody-goody family story where devout characters spouted biblical verses. Because of NetGalley, I discovered, to my great happiness, that this genre spans so many more sub-categories than just family drama. This book covers a jolly adventure though Europe, and the journey is thrilling as well as soothing.


Bookish Yays:
😍 Clara and Theodore: Loveable characters who are perfect for the storyline. Both are realistically sketched, and utterly adorable.

😍 Theodore’s physical features: If you observe the cover carefully, you will see that the MMC is disabled. This aspect is used well by the author in the plot without anyone resorting to sympathy or insults.

😍 Mrs. Stanton, Clara’s amazing mom: I dare you to find me a historical novel where the mom climbs trees willingly! Mrs. Stanton is such a wacky yet endearing character, well beyond her time. Her animal rights activism (or perhaps I should say, extremism) lends itself to some hilarious scenes. (Of all her non-human charges, I loved Fred the most!)

😍 The Scavenger Hunt: The hunt felt like a combo of ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ (without a challenge) and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (without the murders.) It runs through several wonderful locations across Europe, all of which are historically accurate in rep.

😍 The themes: Theodore has PTSD. Clara suffers from commitment phobia. Both of them have grief in their past. The writing also covers social stigma over supposed lunacy. The book doesn’t feel heavy-handed despite such intense topics.

😍 The romance: Slowburn and squeaky clean and based on a soul connection than a physical one – just as I love it. Moreover, the romance elements never overshadow the core plot.

😍 The automata made by Clara’s grandfather: These were far too advanced to be realistic, but let's treat them as an appealing fantastical addition to the story. I loved their imaginativeness! They complemented the scavenger hunt perfectly..

😍 The writing: Easy-going with a balance between characters and plot. There are many sweet moments balanced with tense ones, with a generous dollop of faith and fun.

😍 Some amazing quotable quotes herein, with a memorable first sentence that has the potential to become one of the best opening lines of 2024 fiction.


Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 The Christian content: As a practising Christian, I don’t mind books having faith-based content, as long the content isn’t restricted to characters spouting biblical verses. This book doesn’t have that issue. The belief system of the characters is integrated beautifully into the plot for most of the journey. However, the balance is missing towards the end, as the final quarter has too many faith-based thoughts and scenes, which affects the pace of the story.

😐 I wish Clara’s father had had a more active role in the story. He seemed like an interesting character, but we hardly get to see him.


Bookish Nays:
😒 I wish there had been no sob-story attached to you-know-who-if-you-read-the-book. That part didn't come across as convincing, and felt more like a forced justification. 


All in all, I enjoyed this adventurous romance that is more adventure and less romance. The historical elements obviously are not fully accurate considering the whimsical storyline and the innovative automata, but overall, it is still an entertaining and magical journey.

Definitely recommended to readers of historical fantasy who are okay with strongly faith-oriented content. I loved this debut full-length novel, and look forward to seeing what more amazing adventures this talented author will spin in future.

My thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for the DRC of “A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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