Order “Etiquette
& Espionage” HERE
Read An
Excerpt HERE
Etiquette and Espionage—published February 5, 2013 via Little, Brown Books
for Young Readers—is the first of Gail Carriger's new YA Finishing
School series, set in the same world as The Parasol Protectorate, but 25 years earlier. If you've read The Parasol Protectorate, you'll
recognize a couple of characters; if you haven't, don't worry.
Our protagonist Sophronia is essentially drafted into a finishing school that is
nothing like what a proper finishing school should be—where the girls are being
trained to “finish…everything…and everyone…as needed.” That is to say, they
don't just learn proper curtsies and quadrille technique; they are also taught
poisons and covert operations. Sophronia,
not being the passive sort, adapts to her new circumstances, assembles cohorts,
and sets about unraveling a mystery.
Of course, there are mechanimals, flywaymen, evil
genius societies, werewolves, and vampires, to name but a few complications.
Unlike in The Parasol Protectorate,
the main characters are not endowed with any kind of magical abilities, and so Sophronia's perceptiveness,
quick-thinking, and daring are the most powerful tools in her arsenal, and she
applies them with aplomb.
Etiquette and Espionage has the same
lighthearted whimsy, fascination with etiquette and steampunk technology, and
stroppy lady protagonist that I loved from Soulless.
Although the tone is light, Carriger nevertheless
sneaks in commentary on and subversion of first impressions, racial
generalizations, gender roles, and social hierarchies. It's a fun, fast-paced
read, and it looks like there will be three more books in the series, the next
of which, Curtsies and Conspiracies, we
can expect this November.
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