New Release Book Review: The Charleston Scandal by Pamela Hart.

I have several of Pamela Hart’s novels on my shelf waiting to be read and I’m looking forward to getting to them at some point.

Pamela Hart’s newest novel is set in the 1920s involving a young actress, Kit, who has come to London from Australia to follow her dream. Kit comes from a well-to-do family and through her upbringing has taken on the views of the aristocracy, where class is important and people below your class aren’t as good as you are. While I liked Kit, I didn’t love her, I could see she struggled to find who she was and where she belonged in this new world, but it took her a long time to fully realise that the class system was systemically wrong and to make a decision to follow her heart.

I did love Zeke, a young man from Canada who has, just as Kit has, come to London to be on stage, while at the same time running from his past and supporting his mother financially. Zeke was a lovely guy, who was down to earth and completely loyal to Kit and his friends. He struggled with his feelings, believing himself to be not of the right social class for Kit. I really felt for him in his struggle.

The Scandal that happens between Kit and the Prince, was so innocuous it was hard to fathom that the palace would make such a big thing of it, but I guess that’s royalty, or at least it was back then. I didn’t like the way kit was forced to pretend to be stepping out with Lord Henry, who I didn’t like much at all. Being pulled into this social scene even further only made Kit’s struggle with who she was and where she fit in harder to work out.

I enjoyed getting a behind the scenes look at the acting and dancing scene in the 1920s, it was also fun seeing the social scene that they got to be part of, Fred and Adele Astair and Noel Coward and the friendships they forged, I’d of loved to have been a part of that scene. The way the titled people behaved was not a surprise, but I would never want to be a part of that scene.

An enjoyable read full of decisions and dilemmas. I hoped all the way through that Kit would make the right decisions and see how wonderful Zeke was.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.