{"id":23746,"date":"2024-07-05T08:47:08","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T12:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=23746"},"modified":"2026-03-22T09:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T13:04:29","slug":"the-benevolent-society-of-ill-mannered-ladies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23746","title":{"rendered":"The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies<\/a><\/em> (2023) Alison Goodman (The Ill-Mannered Ladies)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Set in England in 1812<\/p>\n

Content warnings: spousal abuse, homophobia, cancer, rape (off-page), child abuse & sexual assault (off-page), detailed description of medical procedure without anesthesia.<\/p>\n

Gus and Julia, middle-aged twins who have never married, become involved in nefarious activities by accident, in seeking to help a friend who stood by them after their father’s ignoble death.<\/p>\n

When we were children I had once cried because we were not identical. Our father had taken me aside and told me that he found such duplications unsettling and he was well satisfied with his two mismatched girls. He had been a good father and a better man. Yet in the eyes of society, his sordid death atop a rookery whore five years ago had become the sum of him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book sees the sisters involved in several mysteries: retrieving letters for a friend, helping an abused woman escape from her husband, helping girls escape from kidnapping and prostitution, and helping a woman escape from an asylum.<\/p>\n

It was also true that after I learned about coverture from my reading, I became less and less inclined to hand over my half of our inherited fortune and all my legal and property rights\u2014including the rights of my own body\u2014to a husband. It would have to be a grand love, indeed, for me to willingly merge so completely with a man that I was all but legally obliterated. Most women did not have the choice to say no, but I did.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Additionally, Julia has what we would now name familial breast cancer, both are poorly treated by their brother (the head of their family), and Gus is struggling with a lack of faith.<\/p>\n

What kind of god allowed such suffering\u2014the untimely demise of a beloved betrothed and father and now a breast canker\u2014to fall upon one of his most devoted worshippers? Certainly not one that I wished to exalt.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite those very heavy topics, it is not a depressing book, instead focusing on the positive things Gus does to help others, and her developing feelings for Lord Evan. I very much enjoyed the book and hope there will be another.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Augusta Colebrook, Julia Colebrook, Charlotte Lady Davenport, Caroline Thorne, Lord Evan Belford \/ Jonathan Hargate, Tully, William Weatherly, Duffy Lord Duffield, Sir Henry Woolcroft, Miss Harriet Woolcroft, Reginald Thorne, Bryden, Bertie Helden Lord Cholton, Mrs. Millicent Defray, Madame Frances d\u2019Arblay \/ Fanny Burney, Miss Finchley, George Brummell, Mrs. Ellis-Brant, Mrs. Cullers, Miss Elizabeth Grant, Lady Hester Belford<\/p>\n

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies (2023) Alison Goodman (The Ill-Mannered Ladies) Set in England in 1812 Content warnings: spousal abuse, homophobia, cancer, rape (off-page), child abuse & sexual assault (off-page), detailed description of medical procedure without anesthesia. Gus and Julia, middle-aged twins who have never married, become involved in nefarious activities by accident, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,189,30,292,204,33,207,8,148,934],"tags":[784,671,197,681,785,547,578],"class_list":["post-23746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-ace","category-british","category-ebook","category-good","category-historical","category-mental-health-rep","category-mystery","category-queer","category-trigger-warnings","tag-alison-goodman","tag-child-sexual-assault","tag-demi","tag-homophobia","tag-ill-mannered-ladies","tag-napoleonic-era","tag-sexual-assault"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-6b0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24626,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24626","url_meta":{"origin":23746,"position":0},"title":"The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin","author":"Michelle","date":"June 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin (2025) Alison Goodman (The Ill-Mannered Ladies #2) Set in England in 1812 This is set soon after the events of the previous book. Gus and Julia are hiding Lady Hester and Miss Ponsonby from Lord Deele while Gus tries to learn more about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/The-Ladies-Road-Guide-to-Utter-Ruin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/The-Ladies-Road-Guide-to-Utter-Ruin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/The-Ladies-Road-Guide-to-Utter-Ruin.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/The-Ladies-Road-Guide-to-Utter-Ruin.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/The-Ladies-Road-Guide-to-Utter-Ruin.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/The-Ladies-Road-Guide-to-Utter-Ruin.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12174,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12174","url_meta":{"origin":23746,"position":1},"title":"Alpha and Omega","author":"Michelle","date":"October 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Alpha and Omega (2008) Patricia Briggs Reading slump. Went through a lot of books before I decided this was what I would be good reading. This novella is the start of the Alpha & Omega series, with Charles (the Marrock's younger son) and Anna, an Omega werewolf who was changed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19412,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19412","url_meta":{"origin":23746,"position":2},"title":"Lore Olympus: Volume One","author":"Michelle","date":"December 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Lore Olympus: Volume One (2021) Rachel Smythe Hades & Persephone, but today. Hades is lonely. But he does have some awesome dogs. Well, mostly awesome. I am very glad this is a web comic, but I need to know what happens and can't wait until July to find out. Trigger\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cerebus-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22505,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22505","url_meta":{"origin":23746,"position":3},"title":"Wild Sign, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Wild Sign, Audio Book (2021) Patricia Briggs narrated by Holter Graham I was conflicted about this story the first time I read it, and so gave it plenty of time and decided to see if a second reading (and as an audio book) would change anything. 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Rory and Arthur are in Hyde Park where Rory is helping to authenticate some of Arthur's brother's supposedly antique compasses, and Arthur is visiting his family.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Starcrossed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Starcrossed.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25860,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25860","url_meta":{"origin":23746,"position":5},"title":"Fair Game","author":"Michelle","date":"February 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Fair Game (2012) Patricia Briggs (Alpha & Omega #3) Leslie learned two valuable things about the fae that day. They were powerful and charming\u2014and they ate children and puppies. Asil bowed his head to Bran\u2019s anger. \u201cThat\u2019s why you are the Alpha and I will do anything I can to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fair Game","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/fair-game-205x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23746\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}