Miss Wilton’s Waltz

The jilted elder sister in Kilpack’s The Vicar’s Daughter becomes the heroine in this tender, satisfying Regency romance. After Lenora flees from her family home to Bath, she works hard to establish herself as someone other than the painfully shy and anxious musical daughter, always hiding behind the pianoforte. Determined to accept her lot as a single woman, Lenora finds employment as a music teacher in a school for young ladies, returning to her aunt’s for weekend social events. When Catherine, a particularly troublesome new student of Lenora’s, becomes her nemesis, Lenora falls into a conflicted relationship with the girl’s devoted uncle, Aiden, who will do anything to help his difficult niece—even blackmailing Lenora with his knowledge of her secret habit of taking late-night river walks while dressed in men’s clothing. Kilpack convincingly portrays the acting out of an angry, formerly neglected child, who causes such damage to Lenora’s psyche, reputation, and future hopes that she declares, “I hate that girl.” Lenora’s slow, arduous journey toward empathy, forgiveness, and love, with both niece and uncle, proves deeply rewarding. (May)