Curtsies and
Conspiracies is the second book in Gail Carriger’s young adult series about
Sophronia Temminnick, a young Victorian woman who attends Mademoiselle
Geraldine’s Finishing Academy (a finishing school where young women learn the
art of espionage). The finishing school also happens to be airborne, taking the
form of a floating dirigible that hovers over the moors. And the setting is
Victorian steampunk, an England with a large paranormal presence. Vampires and
werewolves are a natural part of high society, and two paranormal beings also
teach at the finishing school: the werewolf Captain Niall and the vampire
Professor Braithwope.
The book begins with Sophronia’s six-month review at
Mademoiselle Geraldine’s. She engages in a series of tests that involve her
identifying poisoned cakes at tea service; sending a message by code; and
choosing the “correct” two items out of “a letter opener, a pair of ornate
lady’s sewing scissors, a large fan, a crumpet, two handkerchiefs, and some
white kid gloves.” When her examiner asks her why she did not choose the
crumpet, Sophronia responds, “Oh, no, I’m not worthy.” Carriger immerses readers
in a truly different world, one whose Victorian customs and culture are
identifiable through social norms, etiquette, romance, and dress, but altered
by a paranormal and steampunk influence.
When Sophronia receives the highest marks on the exam, she
is ostracized and alienated by the rest of the girls in her class, and must
embark on her studies and her espionage alone and without help from best friend
Dimity. Her studies on the dirigible are complicated by the fact that the
school has taken on a small group of boys from Bunson and Lacroix’s Boys’
Polytechnique, a school for budding evil geniuses (which Dimity’s younger
brother attends). This includes the high-ranking Felix Mersey, Lord
Dingleproops, and Dimity’s brother Pillover. Meanwhile, Sophronia continues her
nightly visits to the boiler room to meet with her friends Soap and Vieve. Sophronia
finds herself in the middle of a mystery, as the flying school travels to
London to witness a dirigible experiment that could change the dynamics between
paranormal and non-paranormal beings.
I love Carriger’s books. After I read Etiquette and Espionage, the first book in Carriger’s young adult
series, I quickly found her five-book adult series (and adapted manga series) The Parasol Protectorate. This adult
series is set in the same world, but revolves around older characters including
the protagonist Alexia Tarabotti. Characters from both series crossover, and
the rules that govern this Victorian steampunk world are consistent in each.
