I listened to the first book of this series, "The Matrimonial Advertisement", narrated by Justine Eyre, and enjoyed it so much that I started the second book, A Modest Independence, right away. Unfortunately, the narrator had changed and the second book was narrated by Alex Wyndham. Although I tried, I couldn't warm up to his narration. His reading is so monotonous and he makes the characters sound as if they were fearful and anxious all the time. This angered me because from the first book I knew that they were not like that at all, so the narration characterized them in a different way than the actual words present them. The whole story seemed depressing now. Because of that, I switched to the ebook after listening for about two hours in total. I was much happier with that, although I must add that it was harder for me to tolerate the cheesier bits of the story when reading the written word. I was also more critical of the language, probably because I was actually concentrating on it now as opposed to just listening while doing housework.

I like the concept of this series, which is one of the reasons that made me want to continue. The orphans are four men who grew up in an orphanage in Devon as a tight knit group of friends. Each book of the series concentrates on a different man, while the others make appearances as well and there is a storyline running through all of the books (as far as I can judge after finishing half of the series).
The main characters of "A Modest Independence" are Tom Finchley, a London solicitor, and Jenny Holloway. Jenny appears in the first book because she was Lady Helena's companion. After Lady Helena married Justin Thornhill, she bequeathed a considerable sum to Jenny so that she does not have to work as a companion anymore. Although she is not terribly rich, she can afford to lead a better and independent life now. She decides to travel to India, both to have an adventure and find her own footing, and also to search for Lady Helena's brother who was pronounced dead after a gruesome battle. Because Tom was appointed to manage Jenny's financial affairs, she has to seek his council first.
I did enjoy this story because I loved the characters and Jenny is a character I can really identify with in her fight for emotional and financial independence. Like the first book of the series, this one was painstakingly researched. You can notice it throughout the book and there is an appendix vouching for it as well. I think the author succeeded in finding a balance between portraying colonial India without surrendering to racist terms and inappropriate imagery on the one hand and drawing a world that is too modern and too unrealistic on the other hand.
Unfortunately, the back and forth between Tom and Jenny became a bit too prolonged and was a little boring after some time. The story rambled on a bit because of that. I think the search for Helena's brother could have been developed in a more interesting way, too. The language appeared too modern in some instances, especially when it came to the dialogues.
Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it and look forward to continuing with the series and reading other works of this author, too. ( )

I listened to the first book of this series, "The Matrimonial Advertisement", narrated by Justine Eyre, and enjoyed it so much that I started the second book, A Modest Independence, right away. Unfortunately, the narrator had changed and the second book was narrated by Alex Wyndham. Although I tried, I couldn't warm up to his narration. His reading is so monotonous and he makes the characters sound as if they were fearful and anxious all the time. This angered me because from the first book I knew that they were not like that at all, so the narration characterized them in a different way than the actual words present them. The whole story seemed depressing now. Because of that, I switched to the ebook after listening for about two hours in total. I was much happier with that, although I must add that it was harder for me to tolerate the cheesier bits of the story when reading the written word. I was also more critical of the language, probably because I was actually concentrating on it now as opposed to just listening while doing housework.

I like the concept of this series, which is one of the reasons that made me want to continue. The orphans are four men who grew up in an orphanage in Devon as a tight knit group of friends. Each book of the series concentrates on a different man, while the others make appearances as well and there is a storyline running through all of the books (as far as I can judge after finishing half of the series).
The main characters of "A Modest Independence" are Tom Finchley, a London solicitor, and Jenny Holloway. Jenny appears in the first book because she was Lady Helena's companion. After Lady Helena married Justin Thornhill, she bequeathed a considerable sum to Jenny so that she does not have to work as a companion anymore. Although she is not terribly rich, she can afford to lead a better and independent life now. She decides to travel to India, both to have an adventure and find her own footing, and also to search for Lady Helena's brother who was pronounced dead after a gruesome battle. Because Tom was appointed to manage Jenny's financial affairs, she has to seek his council first.
I did enjoy this story because I loved the characters and Jenny is a character I can really identify with in her fight for emotional and financial independence. Like the first book of the series, this one was painstakingly researched. You can notice it throughout the book and there is an appendix vouching for it as well. I think the author succeeded in finding a balance between portraying colonial India without surrendering to racist terms and inappropriate imagery on the one hand and drawing a world that is too modern and too unrealistic on the other hand.
Unfortunately, the back and forth between Tom and Jenny became a bit too prolonged and was a little boring after some time. The story rambled on a bit because of that. I think the search for Helena's brother could have been developed in a more interesting way, too. The language appeared too modern in some instances, especially when it came to the dialogues.
Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it and look forward to continuing with the series and reading other works of this author, too. ( )

To date, "A Modest Independence" was my least favourite novel by this author. Despite spanning three countries, I found the plot slow and was expecting more adventure as Jenny and Tom searched for the lost Earl of Castletown. I did enjoy all the descriptions of India but, overall, I found this novel fairly dull. ( )

This was a good 'forced proximity' and 'road trip' romance, which spent considerable time in Egypt and India, which was fun. The main characters were perhaps a bit overly stubborn, but it was fine. And repeatedly the heroine thinks that the hero is a dangerous man (though not to her thankfully), but we never really see anything backing that up, so it felt kind of like false advertising or something. There would be nothing wrong with him *not* being dangerous, but then I don't want to keep hearing about how he seems otherwise. Their final hurdle didn't stir me much, but the scene where they decide to make a go of it was sweet. ( )

1860 London and Jenny Holloway with her modest inheritance from Lady Helena can now have the adventure that she needs. Not the constricting life of a wife and mother. So she decides to travel to India to locate the missing, presumed dead, brother of her friend Helena. That of Giles 6th Earl of Castleton. But what of solicitor Tom Finchley, what does he want and what is his role on this adventure.
Although these characters briefly appeared in Book One of the series, it can easily be read as a standalone story.
A slow paced, well-written enjoyable romance with a hint of adventure.
A NetGalley Book ( )