Observations on the Danger of Female Curiosity

Summary:

An heiress, an obligation and an unfortunate love for physics, fossils, dead fish and… ladies?

A tale to shine a light on the overlooked female pioneers of eighteenth-century science. Penned by Dr Suzanne Moss – expert in historical collection, plants and gardens – this refreshing story is inspired by real events and formidable women who broke the mould. Chemistry, physics, botany, cabinets of curiosity and collections of natural philosophy become the theatre for intrigue and a romance nobody was expecting. Within a tender and unconventional love story, the passion and ambition of these perpetually curious women comes to life in an exploration of Enlightenment scholarship and sexuality.

“At once the easiest truth to know, and the hardest to realise”

Thea Morell, Georgian heiress and eligible lady, is not normal. At least, that’s what she has come to believe. She loves nothing more than spending hours at the study of natural history, collecting fossils, insects, dead fish, bones and even the odd spider. Up to now, she has held off her mother’s entreaties to marry, but this year may be her last chance to make a good match and the pressure is mounting.

In her search for scientific truth, Thea also begins to acknowledge a truth about herself – a most inconvenient one which sparks at the lips of the ‘electrical venus’ and bursts into flame in the presence of the very proper Lady Eleanor Harrington. Despite her attempts to observe and understand, this particular truth defies all rationalisation. Has her obsession with the male-dominated world of natural history caused the unnatural tendencies she can’t seem to control? And more importantly, can she protect her family’s interests whilst reconciling the dual passions of her mind and her heart?