The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics: Feminine Pursuits (The Feminine Pursuits Novels, #1)

by Olivia Waite

As Lucy Muchelney watches her ex-lover’s sham of a wedding, she wishes herself anywhere else. It isn’t until she finds a letter from the Countess of Moth, looking for someone to translate a groundbreaking French astronomy text, that she knows where to go. Showing up at the Countess’ London home, she hoped to find a challenge, not a woman who takes her breath away.

Catherine St Day looks forward to a quiet widowhood once her late husband’s scientific legacy is fulfilled. She expected to hand off the translation and wash her hands of the project—instead, she is intrigued by the young woman who turns up at her door, begging to be allowed to do the work, and she agrees to let Lucy stay. But as Catherine finds herself longing for Lucy, everything she believes about herself and her life is tested.

While Lucy spends her days interpreting the complicated French text, she spends her nights falling in love with the alluring Catherine. But sabotage and old wounds threaten to sever the threads that bind them. Can Lucy and Catherine find the strength to stay together or are they doomed to be star-crossed lovers?

• ISBN10: 0062931792
• ISBN13: 9780062931795
• Publish Date: 23 July 2019 (first published 25 June 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

I'm really glad this book was selected for book club! As of late, I have not been a big historical reader, but this one was unique in that it's a lesbian romance AND it's centered on feminine careers in a man's world (even more so than today). My one disappointment? It's a series (trilogy so far) and I really need to read them all now (LOL - not really a bad thing!).

The characters are just super fantastic! Lucy is a scientist (astrologer) who worked with her father, doing most his calculations as he got older but was never credited. I loved the way she spoke - she knew how to be polite, but also strong and she knew how to use disguised verbal daggers. And then there's Catherine, the slightly older (~10 years) widow with money and freedom, but a painful history with M/F romance. She's never considered a F/F romance until Lucy shows up at her door, determined to translate a significant scientific work from French to English. Their romance is fantastic - there's an element of Lucy guiding Catherine, which is just perfectly done. And I loved the layers of jealousy, practicality, etc. that come into play.

Their career efforts are equally great. I loved watching them basically give the patriarchy a giant FU and blaze their own path. I loved the way the learned about themselves as artist and scientist - while also learning about others who have trodden their own, equally challenging paths. There were a couple unexpected and fabulous twists. And I'm very excited to see where these career efforts will lead in future books - as I *think* that's where the series will go.

I listened to The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics, narrated by Morag Sims. Her narration was really great - especially when she had to introduce different class and area accents. This is the first time in a long while I've listened at less than 2x... I listened at 1.75. So not a huge difference and not because her performance was in any way lacking. I just needed to slow down a tiny bit for the accents, I think. I will continue to listen for sure.

[laughingrachel]

"Women's ideas are treated as though they sprung from nowhere, to be claimed by the first man who comes along. Every generation had women stand up and ask to be counted - and every generation of brilliant, insightful, educated men has raised a hand and wiped those women's names from the greater historical record."

This historical romance is true to how difficult life was for certain people at the time, but it doesn't revel in the misery, like some historical books can do. The story shows how some are able to find pockets of happiness and goodness. It's a story of friendships and women supporting other women just as much as a romance, which is so important!

The main romance is strong and believable and at no point does the plot hinge on any huge misunderstanding that could easily be cleared up by a single conversation (a huge pet peeve of mine). There are still challenges and obstacles to the main pair, don't get me wrong! It's just so refreshing to see a couple struggle through things with clear love and respect for each other throughout.

The plot lines outside of the relationships are just as well thought out and fantastic. I highly highly recommend this book.

[Angie]

YES!
+F/F Historical Romance!
+Lucy and Catherine are scientists and artists! But not like society would acknowledge them as such anyway. Lucy's astronomy work was behind her father's name, while Catherine's scientific curiosity and artistry were stifled by her husband. Both men are now dead, so what are these women to do?
+Smash the patriarchy! Catherine pulls her funding from the Polite Science Society when they refuse to let Lucy work on a translation project simply because she's a woman and women can't do science despite Lucy basically doing all of the work for her father. She puts all of her money behind Lucy, naturally.
+Lucy is about a decade younger than Catherine, but she's the more experienced one! She's also the one to encourage Catherine to think of herself as an artist, even when society is dismissive of women's work.
+The inevitable fight was actually believable. Lucy is worried that she was just a whim for Catherine, and that she might move on to a new adventure sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Catherine thinks Lucy is going to be moving on with her life as an astronomer and won't need her anymore; maybe even going back to her ex. Neither wants to hold the other back, so they...let go. For just a moment, then happily ever after!

NO!
-Long chapters.