Recent Reads - She Walks in Beauty

She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell - I was first drawn to this book by the gorgeous cover, and the description drew me in as well. Clara Carter is a young society debutante in 1890s New York, and her aunt and father have made their expectations clear - she is to win a proposal of marriage from the  city's most eligible bachelor, the DeVries heir. They also make clear that the way to do that is to learn all the correct manners and social graces, and to achieve the look that is most fashionable and desirable. Clara struggles to learn dances and how to make conversation on only polite topics (none of which are of any interest to her); and is in constant discomfort because of the corset she is made to wear day and night (her aunt believes it's imperative that Clara achieve an eighteen-inch or smaller waist in order to win the desired proposal). Clara would far rather be reading poetry or studying sciences, but she feels she has no choice but to do as her family demands. To make matters worse, her best friend is also after the same man, and with the same pressure from her family to succeed. The gossip columns are cruel, and as Clara goes through the season she finds herself more drawn to the younger DeVries brother who might just like her for who she is rather than for the caricature of a woman that her aunt and society are making of her. When she finds out some of the secrets her family and friends have hidden from society, she needs to make a decision about whether she can follow her heart and conscience, no matter the consequences.

It turns out that eating disorders, unrealistic expectations on young woman to look like some impossible ideal, and relentless society gossip and media attention are nothing new. The wealthiest society families around the turn of the century were the celebrities of their day, and this story highlights some of the hardest aspects of that society life. I felt that the story had a very dark undertone - Clara had little freedom to be herself even before her aunt launched her into society. Her family life had been cold and lonely since her mother's death, and she received almost no affection from her aunt or father. She had few friends, and once her governess was sent away she really had no advocate either. It was difficult to read about a life with so little joy, and so little to look forward to, and under crushing pressure to look and act a certain way.  Clara's agonies over the restrictive corset she was made to wear were a sobering reminder of the sometimes terrible price women paid to have the "perfect figure". It's easy for us to romanticize a time period like this because we see pictures of the stunning dresses and the genteel society, but the damage women were required to do their bodies to fit into those dresses, and the shallowness and deceit of society are not often mentioned. I found myself silently urging Clara (and Harry, the younger brother of the man she was expected to marry) to flaunt the unrealistic expectations and restrictions of family and society that would clearly never bring them happiness and fulfillment.

A very good book, one I'd recommend, and it does have a happy ending - but not exactly a feel-good beach read!

(Book #44 in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge)

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