The Scandal of the Season

Written by Sophie Gee

Narrated by Cameron Stewart

Jane Austen meets Philip Roth in a sexy, sparkling debut novel reconstructing the real-life scandal that inspired Alexander Pope's famous poem "The Rape of the Lock."

London, 1711. The rich young offspring of the city's fashionable families fill their days with masquerade balls, opera engagements, and clandestine courtships. Leading the pursuit of pleasure are the beautiful Arabella Fermor, with her circle of beaus, and Robert Petre, seventh Baron of Ingatestone, a man-about-town with his choice of mistresses.

Small, sickly, and almost penniless, Alexander Pope is peripheral by birth, yet his dazzling wit and ambition gain him unlikely entrance into high society. Privy to every nuance and drama, he is a brilliant and ruthless observer. As the forbidden passion between Arabella and Lord Petre deepens, fortunes change and reputations-even lives-are imperiled. Pope transforms their affair and its demise into a risque poem, "The Rape of the Lock," that catapults him to fame and fortune.

A witty, provocative tale of intrigue, seduction, and betrayal, The Scandal of the Season captures a time when marriage was a market, sex was a temptation fraught with danger, and a costume could conceal a dandy or a murderer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Aug 7, 2007
• ISBN: 9781598875300

Reviews for The Scandal of the Season

[mtnmamma · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4 stars for the period detail

[kiravk · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Poet Alexander Pope moves to London to set his mark on the world, but the road of literary ambition proves to be a little more difficult then he initially imagined once the social season begins. Amidst the endless succession of masquerades and parties, gossip runs rampant and a reputation can be destroyed in an evening. Beneath the superficiality of the party circuit, a darker undercurrent of political intrigue exists: the year is 1711 and murmurs of a Jacobite rebellion threaten to restore James VII of Scotland to the English throne. Alexander's exploits are juxtaposed with those of the spoiled, pretentious Arabella Fermor. When she begins an affair with Lord Petre, a leading peer of the realm, the consequences will inspire one of the most renown poems in the English language. Sophie Gee's prose is so witty and sharp that it's hard to believe The Scandal of the Season is her first novel. Decent historical fiction is hard to come by these days, particularly during this time period, but this entire book was an enjoyable read. My only complaint is the deceptive bodice ripper cover.

[d_burn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a delicious book, warmly recommended to me by a library member, just what I like,a steamy literary romance (the sex scenes had just the right dash of female interest eroticism) with edifying information about the era of Pope and the foppish manners of the English court, which had me looking up stuff in the encyclopedia to enhance the reading experience. A great first novel by an Australian, I hope she produces many more of this calibre.

[mabeline_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Novel about Alexander Pope and the events that inspired his poem "The Rape of the Lock." Slow moving, but interesting view of 18th century London.

[nhcoffin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had somehow missed being taught "the Rape of the lock" in my English classes over the years. This novel was essentially a light, though well-written period romance - that just happened to be based on the poem. The result is that I read the 1712 edition of the poem - conveniently reprinted at the end of the novel - to myself aloud. And really enjoyed it.

[selimacat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

[The Scandal of the Season]: [[Sophie Gee]]You enter this book believing that you'll be reading steamy, bloody, political historical fiction, only to be given the old AP-English bait-and-switch, and you soon discover that the main plotline is a fictionalized account of the circumstances behind Alexander Pope's poem "The Rape of the Lock". If you're still reading this review, you might actually enjoy the book. I very much enjoyed the unusual historical premise, as it was a nice change from re-envisioning this incredibly famous queen or that important moment, yet was not such a small event that I found myself wondering why I was reading it. [[Sophie Gee]] brings together a range of events--social, political, religious, and literary--to create context, a fulfilling story, and a satisyfing backdrop. Her research into the "stuff" of the period was well done and added to the umwelt without seeming too clever, smug, or overwhelming. The book is not without its flaws, however. The characters can be a little precious, especially Alexander Pope, who is written to be the book's dwarfish-but-loveable hero. It's also a little simplistic, which makes for an easy, enjoyable read, but doesn't really transport the reader in any meaningful or lasting way.

[gwendolyndawson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fictional account of the poet Alexander Pope's season in London that was his inspiration for the poem The Rape of the Lock. The story follows a scandalous affair and also a Jacobian plot to murder the queen. This book aspires to be "literary fiction," but it does not quite achieve that goal.

[cariola_6 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A charming novel imagining the events that led to Pope's writing of "The Rape of the Lock." While I agree with the reviewer who said the characters weren't very developed, I believe that the author may have been trying to recreate the superficiality that was so much a part of London society in the early eighteenth century. She gets the tone of conversation just right, with everyone genteely battling to be wittier than the next person and to be the center of polite attention. The continual jockeying for position among the belles, beaux, and literati seems appropriate, and the characters would have been more concerned with appearances and reputations than depth of character. Not a great novel, but an intriguing one.

[joririchardson · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Lately quite a few fluffy pieces of historical drivel have been making their way onto my reading lists due to my unfortunate decision to stop judging books by their covers so strictly. This one is unfortunately my latest addition to my accidental and lamentable trend.It is a "story behind the story" type of book, based on events that supposedly inspire the poet Alexander Pope to write "The Rape of the Lock." Alexander is a struggling writer searching for literary recognition in London, and longing after the love of his childhood friend. The future subject of his famous poem is to be Arabella Fermor, a young and stunningly gorgeous debutante. Arabella finds herself drawn to Robert, a rakish man who she knows she would do well to avoid. What a mess this book was, from start to finish. It was exasperating and annoying. The moment I finished it, I slammed it down onto my 'discard' pile with a smack.There was not a single character that I ever even mildly liked or wanted to hear more about. Alexander was insufferable, and whenever I glimpsed his name appearing frequently on the pages ahead, I groaned and thought to myself 'please no, please no...' He was a show off and a know it all, very sure of himself in a grating sort of way. Every character in this book seemed to always be trying so desperately to be sharp and witty, Alexander most of all. Rather than dazzle me with his wit, Alexander only inspired utter contempt from me. I hope that this doesn't cloud my opinions when I read some of his work one day.The real main character, Arabella, seemed intriguing at first, when she was still off scene somewhere, but once we get to her part of the story, she quickly loses all this. She is described as "the beauty of her age," and everyone seems captivated by her looks. Few paragraphs were allowed to pass by without the reader being reminded of how gorgeous Arabella was. This pretty much always annoys me, but of course it is possible for a girl to be stunningly beautiful. However, it was also convenient to the plot for her to be viewed as undesirable for not having a huge fortune. There is also a big to-do over her love interest, Robert, probably not being interested. Of course he won't be, he would never be interested in her, the most beautiful girl in London. Who would be? It seemed like the author wanted both - the ultimate desirable goddess, and the poor reject - in one character. It seemed conflicting to me and didn't work. The romance story here fell flat. It wasn't really a romance plot at all, because it was only sex. I found it annoying that Robert is portrayed as such a flawless, gentlemanly hero, when really he is just getting free sex from (in case you forgot) "the most beautiful girl in London." I also found in annoying and unlikely that Arabella would so willingly and lightly give up her virginity, and thus her entire reputation, on this fling. Even if she had been so carried away by her passions, surely it would have been a bit more difficult for her to sneak out and meet Robert. But she never appears to come across any problems there. At one point she even just shows up randomly at his house in the middle of the night.All of the parties that took up so much of the book were dull. It was all just a lot of "and she wore this, and he danced with this girl, and that girl said this, and guess which famous author was there...?!" It sounded like a gossip column at times, except about boring people I don't care about. The author often switches from character to character, taking us into Alexander's perspective and then to Robert's, who leads us to Arabella's words, and other such arrangements. It would be convenient, except that she was incapable of pulling it off.Something that especially annoyed me was how Gee made all of her characters try so hard to be sharp and witty. Subtlety is the key to a good, hilarious satire - but Gee instead feels the need to throw satire at us for pages and pages. I just wanted to snap the book shut and read a REAL satire before my mind was contaminated by pretend-satire overload. The characters are always referencing how witty they all are, and Gee is constantly describing her character's personalities or conversations with that same (overused) word, but I never see any evidence of this. All I saw were stupid people who talk in the most forced, stilted conversation I have ever heard of, and then try to pass it all off as brilliant wit.Well, I suppose that by the time anyone has finished reading this they will have assumed that I didn't like it one bit. Normally I try to find at least something I like about a book, but I honestly couldn't come up with anything here.To be discarded, and good riddance.

[smithsj01_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fabulous read that although takes a few pages to get going is worthwhile in the end. I enjoyed watching the relationship between Arabella Fermor and Robert Petre develop through the eyes of the poet Alexander Pope. However it is London 1711 and their relationship is not conventional, providing the scandal of the season from the title. Alexander is in need of inspiration and it isn’t until the end of the novel that he sees the motivation for this most famous poem. You can tell the author has an interest in literature as well as history as both are excellently entwined within the novel. The writing style is great, Gee has made this time in history extremely readable and you forget at times you are reading about real events. For me, the blurb lives up to its hype. As a bonus in the edition of the book that I have was an explanation of the sexual mores of the times. Don’t expect the 18th Century written by Jane Austen in this novel, as Gee explains this is set a lot earlier than she was writing and people had much more freedom.Underlying the sizzling sexiness of the novel is treasonous plot against Queen Anne. Therefore there is a range of material to appeal to different audiences. For me it was reading about Alexander Pope, for others it might be the seductiveness of the period or the political plots and fears. I prefer the UK cover to the US cover in that the UK cover looks more of the times whilst the US cover appears modern in its interpretation. A super read, one I’m pleased I was recommended to read.

[bachaney · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this book as a Christmas gift, and I was anxious to read it because I usually really enjoy historical fiction. Unfortunately I felt like this book was more romance than history. I mostly enjoyed the romance, and at times the book really was a page turner. But in the end the novel felt a little flat. The characters were quite flat, and there was little of the historical element that I had been expecting. The author writes well, so I hope if there is another novel it has more of a historical slant.

[wandering_star_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is a fictionalised account of the events which led up to Alexander Pope's composition of The Rape Of The Lock – Pope's arrival in London and introduction to the literary scene, his decision to abandon the epic style and start writing satire, and the scandalous liaison which led to the incident described in the poem. It was interesting reading this in follow-up to Wolf Hall, as there was a sub-plot about the discrimination that Catholics were still suffering in the early eighteenth century – not permitted to live within ten miles of London and unable to inherit. The story could also have been an interesting one, and the book was certainly trying to be a bit of a romp. But unfortunately I found the writing a bit ponderous – unsuccessfully mimicking the esprit and gallantry of contemporary satire, and telling rather more than showing.