A Natural History of Dragons (A Memoir by Lady Trent #1)

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Title: A Natural History of Dragons
Series: A Memoir by Lady Trent
Author: Marie Brennan
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 335
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis: Spoilers

Isabella has always wanted to know more about dragons, ever since she was a young girl. But living in Victorian Times limits her options severely.
Thankfully, her parents are smart and marry her off to a man who is also interested in dragons. Before you know it, Isabella has wheedled her way into an expedition to study dragons. An expedition where she learns how rough the outside world is, where they uncover a scheme of great wealth and eventually where her husband dies.

All told from the perspective of Isabella, now Lady Trent, in her 80's as she looks back over her life.

My Thoughts:

The only other Marie Brennan book I've read was Doppleganger, and it was so bad that I DNF'd it back in '10. With that in the back of my mind, I went into this read with a bit of hesitation.

Thankfully, this was a grand read and it scratched that Victorian itch I get every couple of years [and which I usually fill with a Jane Austen]. I liked the Memoir style and the interjections by Lady Trent kept things from getting too intense. Watching Isabella go from a young girl who bribed her maid to let her read books from her father's library to a young widow who has to figure out how to get on with life, Isabella comes across as a real person, which for a fictionalized woman in an alternate world with dragons, is pretty good.

At times I wondered if I was reading the same author as Doppleganger but I guess the genre and memoir style were more to my liking and that always helps.
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