Abounding Might
by Melissa McShane
★★★★★
Another strong heroine, great story.
Melissa McShane’s Extraordinaries series has its third amazing heroine. Written as a near-history with believable world-building, McShane’s novels evoke colonial Britain.
Abounding Might takes a foray to India with Lady Daphne St. Clair, an Extraordinary Bounder, who wants to serve her country in wartime but has been disgraced by her weakness of fainting at the sight of blood. Shuffled off to India and shuttling a family as a glorified bounding taxi, she works to redeem herself. Great story, a genuinely strong heroine, and wonderful characters.
I think this story can stand alone, but if you haven’t read the others in the series, it might help to read them first, just to understand the whole culture of Extraordinary talents.
I’m very glad to have discovered this series and this author. I’ve also found her books The Smoke-Scented Girl and The God-Touched Man, plus the Tremontane and the Convergence series quite enjoyable.
Book description
Calcutta, 1813.
Lady Daphne St. Clair, who as an Extraordinary Bounder is capable of transporting herself anywhere in the world with a thought, has longed to serve in the Army for years. But an unexpected weakness at the sight of blood makes her responsible for a good man’s death in battle. Unable to serve on the battlefield, Daphne is sent to India to be transportation for the Governor-General’s wife and children. In disgrace, Daphne fears she will never achieve the fame and glory she has worked so hard for.
A chance encounter with Captain Phineas Fletcher, attached to the Honourable East India Company as a troubleshooter and investigator, leads to Daphne being given a new opportunity: help Captain Fletcher discover the truth behind a series of strange occurrences in the town of Madhyapatnam. Daphne is willing to do anything to restore her reputation, even something as small as Captain Fletcher’s investigation. As the days progress, her attachment to the members of the team grows deeper, as does her growing attraction to the captain.
But as Daphne and Captain Fletcher dig deeper into the mystery, the truth turns out to be much more sinister than anyone imagined. Dark currents run deep beneath the pleasant surface of Madhyapatnam, and the echoes of a twenty-year-old story threaten not only the Company’s rule over the town, but the safety and well-being of everyone in it. Soon only Daphne’s talent and courage stand between Madhyapatnam and the evil that threatens to overwhelm it.
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