Patience & Esther : : an Edwardian Romance

Locations
Call Number: Adult Graphic Novel / Searle, S.W., Adult Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Romance / Searle, S. W.
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Adult Graphic Novel / Searle, S.W.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Romance / Searle, S. W.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Romance / Searle, S. W.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Romance / Searle, S. W.	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Patience is a kindhearted country girl, eking out a living in Edwardian England as tremors of social change rock the world around her. When she starts her employment in formal service on the grounds of an opulent country manor, she has no idea that her own personal revolution is about to begin. Selfless, dutiful, and just a touch naive, she takes to both her place as a parlor maid and to her new roommate, the bookish and progressive lady's maid, Esther. In another time, the two women would have kept one another's company forever in their little attic bedroom, living out their days in the employ of a Lord. But it's now the dawn of a new age. The expanding empire has brought with it not only plundered wealth, but worldliness and new ideas. Suffragists agitate in the street, idle-rich bohemians challenge sexual mores, and Patience and Esther slowly come to realize the world is wider and full of more adventure and opportunity than they ever imagined ... so long as they find the will to seize it. Sensual, sweet, and beautifully illustrated, Patience & Esther is a steamy period romance and an inspirational erotic journey across the epic sweep of history, from the end of a gilded age to the start of an uncharted future.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Nice, But Lacks Depth submitted by Meginator on July 9, 2023, 8:18pm Content Note: This book includes some explicit sex scenes.

This graphic novel follows two young women whose paths cross in the Edwardian estate where they form part of the core household staff. The story is a fairly straightforward romance that follows the women’s relationship as it develops from initial attraction into something deeper as they make their ways first about the house and later in the wider world. Searle flirts with the great societal changes occurring in England at this time and the book is unquestionably feminist, but the story glosses over some serious obstacles and important plot developments to the point where the chapters feel disconnected from one another instead of flowing naturally from previous developments. The lack of conflict does make for an easy, reassuring read, but may also make it difficult for readers to become fully invested in the characters or their story. I enjoyed this book for the quick, light read that it is, but I can’t help but feel that there’s a deeper layer to the story that didn’t quite make it into the book.