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elib
April 19, 2026
A great continuation
The beginning dragged a little, but when it picked up this book held my attention to the end. It was great to have a continuation of the Duchess and Martha’s story.
Lesbian
Arguments Against the Cultivation of Female Curiosity (Curiosity Series Book 2)
Suzanne Moss 4.6 / 5.0
Published: 2026
Description
England, 1764. Thea Morrell lives the gilded life of an aristocrat, surrounded by wealth and the expectations of a high-society marriage. Yet, behind the closed doors of her manor, she is suffocating. While her peers content themselves with needlepoint and parlor games, Thea finds salvation in the illicit thrill of anatomy lectures and the sharp, dangerous pursuit of forbidden knowledge.
Five years have etched a long shadow over her heart since the departure of Martha, her former lover. As the letters from across the sea grow hauntingly sparse, Thea is left to grapple with the crushing silence of an abandoned romance and the constant, biting sabotage of her rival, Neville Knatchbull. Her life feels like an unruly garden that refuses to bloom under the rigid constraints of her status.
Everything shifts when she crosses paths with Frankie, a blunt, enigmatic gardener carrying burdens of her own. As their worlds collide, Thea is forced to confront the ultimate question: is her curiosity a flaw to be pruned, or the very mechanism of her liberation? This evocative tale challenges the boundaries of 18th-century female agency, tracing the fierce journey of a woman daring to grow toward the light of her own intellectual and romantic freedom.
Customer Reviews
Top 4 from Amazon B
betty
May 2, 2026
Wonderful!
I loved this book. It was well written. The female characters were delightful. It’s interesting to see how women were treated as property in the 18th century and to see how far we have come.
M
Miriyam
April 2, 2026
sapphic love, female solidarity and gardening
Arguments Against the Cultivation of Female Curiosity is a bubbling, effervescent novel about sapphic love, female solidarity and gardening. The plotting is lively and frequently unexpected; the characters make you want to cheer them on. Class and women's economic and legal vulnerabilities at the time drive the story--a woman choosing an oppressive marriage to keep her family afloat, and the realities of sex work and workhouses. And unusually for period romances, she introduces the theme of the trans Atlantic trade and those Britons who profit from it. I hope she'll continue these themes in the next installment. And through all this, the main characters are propelled by affection, excitement and a love of learning. It's a touching and a joyful book. The characters are complex and appealing, they make life changing decisions and I eagerly await the next installment to find out what they will do next. In full disclosure, I received a review copy of this book, but it was always on my list.
T
themis l mollman
March 21, 2026
SO worth the wait!
I was lucky enough to read an ARC copy of Arguments Against the Cultivation of Female Curiosity before it was released. It is a wonderful continuation of the story begun in Observations on the Danger of Female Curiosity. There are cameos of some of the characters from the first book, references to Martha’s Voyage (one of two short stories available free from Suzanne Moss’ website), perhaps some hope for Harriet (A Defense of Astronomical Curiosity for Ladies, the other free story).
As a student of women’s history, I know all too well the powerlessness of women in the 18th century, their almost total lack of legal protection, the very real threat of being involuntarily committed to an institution or of losing their children. These are the dangers Thea faced as a wife and mother. All was not doom and dread however! An unfortunate event with shades of the Orient Express had me laughing out loud.
Will Thea face another challenge like the Protea? Is there a future for Frankie and Joan? Will Martha feel the need to go traveling again? Can Emma hold to her resolution? I can’t wait for the next installment, however long it may be.
