Bailey is clearly a well-read, enthusiastic historian, with interests in so many fascinating aspects of the past – An Appetite for Violets is part Gothic mystery melodrama, part romance, part social commentary, part history of cuisine. There are chapters on the horrors of slavery, elements of feminism, and the problems with late 18th century travel; there are jewels, ‘rogues’, deaths and Mission Impossible-style impersonations.

It’s fun. But the novel’s range is also, sadly, its downfall. While Biddy is an engaging heroine, her voice doesn’t always ring true, and occasionally her dialogue is a bit too reminiscent of a Carry On film. Her narration is interspersed with third-person sections from Loveday’s perspective, and Pars’ letters, which could have been a superb use of technique if Biddy was an unreliable narrator, but ultimately these sections add little. Bailey wanted to say something about servants being second-class citizens, so she has Biddy realise that “[servants] mattered…as little as a broken cup,” which probably would not have come as a shock to a domestic servant in 1773.

Loveday is an interesting character and adds a layer of socio-political history, but his background and personality are under-developed. Characters form strong opinions of each other far quicker than logic suggests they would, and the plot feels rushed. This means there’s insufficient tension or suspense, which makes the revelations less exciting than they really should be. It comes across as though Bailey had too many ideas, and put them all in rather than saving a few for her next book.