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A Perfect Hand

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By Ayelet Waldman

Publisher Description

A richly drawn, captivating, and endlessly amusing novel of love and subterfuge between a lady’s maid and her clandestine lover, set in the country estates of nineteenth-century England.

Miss Alice Lockey, daughter of a tenant farmer, has by dint of hard work, innate intelligence, and a cunning ability to predict the moods of her betters, raised herself to the lofty status of lady’s maid at Alderwick Park. Though her mother has advised Alice to work only until marriage, Alice has thus far resisted the temptations of matrimony among the neighboring widowers and pig farmers, more content to enjoy the fruits of her labor—or at least the portion of it her father will share after it is paid to him. Alice spends her days arranging Lady Jemima Alderwick’s blond hair into the latest French styles, chignons and plaits, laundering her lady’s surprisingly malodorous petticoats and drawers, and carefully sewing all manner of fripperies, ribbons, lace, and silk flowers, to her lady’s bonnets and gowns.

But when a visiting servant, a valet named Charlie Wells, catches her eye, Alice begins to understand the constraints of her position. In a ploy to spend time with the object of her affection, Alice attempts to arrange a romance between Lady Jemima Alderwick and Charlie’s employer, one Baronet Sir Nigel Wynstowe. If only they would fall in love—then Alice and Charlie might live together as man and wife! Challenged by Lady Jemima’s love for another and Sir Wynstowe’s eccentric personality, Alice must use all of her cunning to bring about this unlikely romantic union. Will this low-born servant successfully manipulate the hearts of these lords and ladies? Will Charlie and Alice ever improve their stations? Or, as the beginning of women’s suffrage begins to percolate in the drawing rooms and salons of London, will Alice discover a different sort of path for herself?

A deliciously funny, gorgeously detailed, utter enthralling novel, A Perfect Hand is a glorious novel of class, gender, and England on the cusp of enormous change.

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A Perfect Hand Reviews

3.5

Andrea

Created about 1 month ago

“I must admit that I chose this book because I believed it would be our typical romance novel (a genre I very much enjoy), and I would say that it largely was, until the final chapters. I was truly taken aback! It provided me with great motivation and made me feel very proud of the woman depicted. It was a truly inspiring experience.”

sydlunsford

Created about 1 month ago

Stella

Created about 2 months ago

“2.5 rounded down -- This book felt like it was trying to do a crossover of Bridgerton and Downton Abbey (great concept!) but wasn't executed very well. I really appreciated the vocabulary and style, which felt very true to a 19th century novel. However, I felt like the narrator breaking the fourth wall made the book feel quite silly, which gave me whiplash when it was also trying to address labor issue, women's rights, and the abolitionist movement at the same time. I liked the ending quite a bit and I feel this was a fun silly read, it was just a bit all over the place and could have been better structured. Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage and NetGalley for advanced access to this book in exchange for my unbiased review.”

kearstin 🌻

Created about 2 months ago

“I finished this book as a crying mess at 11:59 PM. A stunning novel from start to finish. Ayelet Waldman did a fantastic job creating a world that was so immersive, characters who were so loveable, and a compelling storyline that was so hard to put down. Alice and Charlie were such beautiful characters to follow. And their chemistry? Their love? Loved it. All of it. The only thing keeping this from being a 5 star read for me was the authors use of breaking the fourth wall. I think had it only been something in the beginning it would’ve been fine, but to do it continuously throughout the story would really pull me out of the world. I really loved my time with these characters and reading the book. Highly recommend! Thank you Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage for ARC in exchange for my honest review!”

LivvyAllbritty

Created 2 months ago

“There were some really good moments here, but everything felt very surface level. The romance plots, the class and gender equality element, the scheming all fell a bit flat and distant. Most of all, the choice in narration really took me out of the story; the somewhat omniscient narrator didn’t really work in this context and the constant fourth wall breaking became distracting. *thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC in exchange for my honest review*”

Change and grow Feel distant Likeable Predictable but satisfying Uneven pacing Clear but uninspired Easy to read Funny Original Simplistic

About Ayelet Waldman

AYELET WALDMAN is the author of A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life, the novels Love and Treasure, Red Hook Road, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, and Daughter's Keeper, as well as of the essay collection Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace and the Mommy-Track Mystery series. She is the editor of Inside This Place, Not of It: Narratives from Women's Prisons and of the forthcoming Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation. She was a Federal public defender and an adjunct professor at the UC Berkeley law school where she developed and taught a course on the legal implications of the War on Drugs. She lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband, Michael Chabon, and their four children.