Daughter. Sister. Artist. Fraud. London, 1854. Isabella Granger yearns to see her paintings hung in a gallery even more than she yearns for true love. When her father departs for the Crimean War, entrusting his gallery correspondence to her, she seizes the opportunity to present her own work as his - breaching their long-standing agreement that she must be married before she exhibits.Haunted by guilt - and the consequences of getting caught - Isabella resolves to find a husband before his return, and grows optimistic following a chance encounter with a naval officer. The only obstacle is his imperious, bitter captain, whose unsettling perception is rivalled only by the power he has to expose her, despite standing accused of far worse.Isabella's choice to stake her future on merit and legacy will force her hand - and her heart - in ways she never thought possible, and unearth the hidden, uncomfortable truths she can no longer afford to avoid.With lush prose, moral complexity, and a chronically ill yet fiercely passionate heroine, this slow-burn Victorian romance will appeal to readers of Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, and the Brontë sisters.Featuring nine interior illustrations by the author and a richly researched bibliography, Counterfeit Most Cruel is more than a novel - it's an homage to love and to literature.
