Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Charm School (Calhoun Chronicles, #1)

Charm School (Calhoun Chronicles, #1)
jjares avatar reviewed on + 3405 more book reviews


Isadora Peabody is a shy, awkward daughter in a wealthy, accomplished Boston family. When an opportunity comes up for Isadora to travel by ship to Rio, she uses her business acumen to talk the owner of the ship into allowing her act as translator and clerk aboard ship.

Ryan Calhoun comes from a plantation-owning Virginia family. However, he has rejected their wealth that was earned by slave labor. He has managed to become sea captain of the Silver Swan. Ryan does not want Isadora on board, especially when he finds out that she is reporting back to the owner of the ship.

The plot was obvious, by using excerpts from THE UGLY DUCKLING. One thing that seemed wrong was the fact that the seamen of the ship taught Isadora to dance and curtsy. In a wealthy Boston family, a tutor would have been employed to teach all the children how to dance and behave in society.

There's a subplot about the issue of slavery in America in the 1850's. It added a level of gravitas to an otherwise light story. 3.5 stars