Yeah, the cheerful ahistoricism in Milan's Victorian books doesn't jar me too much, but this book definitely felt much more grounded and believable to me -- which I guess in practice seems to have made it a story I was more involved in and cared about more, whereas with most of her books I'm in it for three hundred pages of fun escapism. (Though, don't get me wrong, I'm all about three hundred pages of fun escapism! AND FREDERICA MARSHALL IS GREAT.)