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Her Heart for a Compass

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Her Heart for a Compass
AuthorSarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
LanguageEnglish
GenreRomance novel
PublisherMills & Boon
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Pages560
ISBN978-0-00-838360-2

Her Heart for a Compass is a 2021 romance novel by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. The novel is a semi-fictional story about the Duchess's great-great-aunt, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott.[1]

Plot

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Margaret's hair is frequently featured, it's variously a "rebellious red mop", a "sodden mass of rebellious curls", a "scarlet flag, wild curls whipping around her face", and "burnished autumn leaves".

Drawing on many parallels from the authors life for the historical tale, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott was pictured in a Victorian-style floor-length outfit, complete with high-necked blouse, jacket and gloves, sitting on a stone bench gazing at a compass she held out in front of her, the Lady – although her family, the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, were close friends with the Queen and the Prince Consort, the Duke's ex-wife and the Queen's former in-law – struggled to come to terms with the rigorous disciplines of royal life after marrying, and that their second daughter, Margaret, was a redhead with a birthday "within a few days" of her own.

The real details of Margaret's own life are scant; described in gossip rags as a "Titian-haired breath of fresh Scotch air", was "15 years in the making". Beginning when she discovered romance, her heroine's 'rebellious' red hair is much more of a feature, that depicts her as a woman who is initially the toast of London in the Duchess' historical novel, than sex. The Fleet Street papers initially loved her raunchy edge but eventually decided it was more vulgar than charming. "It was always that I was portrayed as the sinner," she says.

When one act of rebellion costs Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott her place in society, her life is swept onto a new course. One that will test her courage and resilience.

The Lady, who has previously written her roman à clef memoirs, holding passion for historical strong women. While initially submitting to the strictures of high society and the tribulations of the marriage market, she endures a pasting from the press before emerging triumphant, throwing off the weight of expectations to become her true self. Proud to bring her personal brand to the world, sweeps the reader from the drawing rooms of Victoria's court and the grand country houses of Scotland and Ireland, where she was cast out from the royals amid her scandal, and fell deeply into debt to the slums of London, and then the mercantile bustle of 1870s New York.

Margaret embarks on a journey of self-discovery where she will meet like-minded, and equally spirited, companions who shape her world.

It follows the Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott, "who desires to break the mould, follow her internal compass – her heart – and discover her raison d'être – falling in love along the way". She is a spirited, Titian-haired, freckled beauty, whose curls just won't quit. But as she navigates the challenges of forging her own path in life, will she find the greatest courage of all, to follow her heart against all odds…?

The novel veers around somewhat in tone, from archaic – Margaret's priest informs her that "you cannot have imagined I would have kissed you in such a manner unless my intentions were honourable" and one admirer opines: "She was very naive but, by heavens, she had real spirit, too, no one could doubt that."

Well-researched, and a glimpse into the strictures of life as a pampered, rich, upper-class woman. It wears its research lightly, with intriguing forays into topics such as Victorian bathing dresses, and the Queen's predilection to "pour her tea from one cup to another until it was adequately cooled". Margaret realising that she doesn't need to "conform to the rules set down by society", that a Buccleuch woman doesn't need a strategic marriage, and that her despairing cry, "no one seems to care that underneath I'm an actual person", isn't altogether true.

Characters

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Production

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The publishing rights were acquired by Mills & Boon.[2] The book is published by William Morrow and Company in the United States.[3] Ferguson worked with Scottish romance author Marguerite Kaye on the novel.[4]

Reception

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The novel placed 10th in the United Kingdom's hardback fiction bestsellers chart, after selling 1,079 copies in the week ending 14 August 2021.[5] In the novel's first week it sold 1,241 hardback copies.[5]

Critical reception of the novel was generally mixed.[6] The review aggregator website Book Marks collected 5 reviews on the book, 2 of which were classified as "rave", 1 was classified as "positive", 1 as "mixed", and 1 as "pan".[7] The Times's Sarah Ditum called the novel a "thinly veiled wish fulfilment fantasy" that "is more slog than seduction" and rated it two out of five stars.[8] The Daily Telegraph's Hannah Betts described the novel as "underwhelming" and also rated it two out of five stars.[9] The Guardian's Alison Flood praised the work as "chaste good fun".[10] The Independent's Roisin O'Connor rated the novel three out of five stars.[11] The Evening Standard's Melanie McDonagh recalled the novel as "amiable tosh" and "a perfect example of the genre".[12]

References

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  1. ^ Dibdin, Emma (27 July 2021). "Sarah Ferguson In Talks to Turn Her Debut Novel Into A Bridgerton-Style Series". Town & Country. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  2. ^ Chandler, Mark (13 January 2021). "Duchess of York's debut novel scooped by Mills & Boon". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  3. ^ Yossman, K. J. (26 July 2021). "Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson Enters Talks to Turn New Novel Into 'Bridgerton'-Style Period Drama". Variety. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  4. ^ Goldman, Andrew (26 July 2021). "Inside the Reinvention of Sarah Ferguson, the Ultimate Royal Rebel". Town & Country. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b Flood, Alison (17 August 2021). "Sarah Ferguson's Mills & Boon novel edges on to UK bestsellers chart". The Guardian. ISSN 1756-3224. OCLC 900948621. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  6. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (3 August 2021). "Sarah Ferguson book review round-up: What the critics are saying about Duchess of York's Mills & Boon novel". The Independent. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Her Heart for a Compass". Book Marks. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  8. ^ Ditum, Sarah (3 August 2021). "Her Heart for a Compass by Sarah Ferguson review — a rather sexless affair". The Times. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  9. ^ Betts, Hannah (3 August 2021). "Her Heart for a Compass: Sarah Ferguson's Mills & Boon book is an interminable door stopper". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  10. ^ Flood, Allison (3 August 2021). "Her Heart for a Compass by Sarah Ferguson review – Mills & Boon debut is chaste good fun". The Guardian. ISSN 1756-3224. OCLC 900948621. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  11. ^ O'Connor, Roisin (3 August 2021). "Her Heart for a Compass by Sarah Ferguson review: Duchess of York's Mills & Boon debut is endearing, but won't set pulses racing". The Independent. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  12. ^ McDonagh, Melanie (3 August 2021). "Her Heart for a Compass by Sarah Ferguson review: amiable tosh from Sarah, Duchess of York". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
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