In this week's episode, Claire and I talk about Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger. Miss Gail is one of our most favorite authors and her books are our favorites, too. In fact, her books and the Finishing School episode way back in the before times was what got Claire listening to the podcast in the first place and what eventually brought us together to become the amazing super duo we are now! What would we do without Miss Gail?
We've decided to delve back into this series, since, in the before times, we didn't go into really any detail at all on the books. We thought this series needed a revisit, so here we are discussing the first book, which fits in nicely with our monthly theme Excessively British: Read a book set in Britain or with a British protagonist. The more tea, the better! Sophronia and her friends at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Qualitaaaayyy* definitely have tea and are definitely British. So what happens in book one?
Sophronia's mother is fed up with how unladylike her youngest daughter is, so she's sent away to finishing school; however, she didn't quite realize what kind of finishing she'd be doing at this school. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, the young ladies learn how to become spies and assassins whilst also learning proper etiquette. On her way to school for the first time, the carriage Sophronia is on is hijacked by flywaymen who are looking for a mysterious prototype and Sophronia and her friends spend the rest of book one discovering what the prototype is, what it's for and why it's important. Are they able to keep the prototype out of the hands of the villains while also enjoying tea and learning the perfect curtsey? Read or listen to the book (definitely listen, it's so good), listen to our episode and read our summary to find out all the details!
Here's a recording picture of us. We decided to dress fancily because one, we love this book and needed to be properly attired, and two, it's Claire's birthday week! Everyone tell her happy birthday!
Until next time!
Amanda
*if you listen to the audiobook and the episode, you will understand this PERFECTLY!
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