The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows: Feminine Pursuits

Where the first book in this series, A Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics, focused more on the upper crust, this book dealt with the middle class, focusing on two characters, Agatha and Penelope who are a printer and the wife of a Navy man respectively. Firstly, I loved this book. It was as terrific as the first, with different characters (though an original character or two does make an appearance), and just as filled with love and romance as the first. I probably finished the book in what ended up being less than 24 hours, but I wanted more. The author does such an amazing job of painting both bustling London and the sleepy English country town where most of the plot takes place that I wanted to live there forever, watching the main couple through their trials and tribulations, their elations and grief, and all the rollicking sex that they have as well. ;) Another thing I really loved about this book is that (contrary to the cover art), the two women in the book are not super young (about 42 and 45), not models, and definitely feel their age (this is set in the early 1800s). They talk about their joints and creaks, their gray hairs and otherwise act their age. There is hope for us older lesbians after all! 100% recommend this book to anyone who loved the first in this series, loves reading about two women falling in love, loves bees or beekeeping in general, or just wants to have a good time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . SPOILERS BELOW . . . . . . . .…

Agatha Griffin is a 45-year-old widow who took over her late husband’s printing shop with her son and her apprentice. When she goes to the other print shop in Meliton she finds one corner overrun by bees. Her mother-in-law introduces her to 43-year-old Penelope Flood who is well known for her skills with bees. Over the course of getting Agatha’s hive settled and bonding over the other hives in town, a romance gradually develops between the two women. I really enjoyed the discussions around divorce and women’s freedoms (or lack thereof) during the time. Queen Catherine is accused of adultery while the whole of England knows King George has also been adulterous, but because he’s a man it is her indiscretions which the law takes issue with. With that going on, riots and protests and seditious writings all crop up and add to the drama of the time. Another thing I enjoyed with this book was the various queer experiences. Penelope is married, but both she and her husband are queer, and in fact he is in a relationship with her brother. John and Henry are often out of the country on whaling trips, and Penelope is able to conduct her affairs as she pleases. There’s also other queer couples and discussions of how they have to hide and how sometimes their relationships are essentially well-known secrets. The romance between Penelope and Agatha has a slow burn quality to it as starts as a slow friendship over beekeeping, but as they spend more and more time in each other’s company…

This book is an absolute delight, warm and rich as honey. The main characters are so real I feel as if I’ve had tea with them, and the world they inhabit is just as vibrant. Olivia Waite’s descriptions are scrumptious, the words as gorgeous as the story itself. The romance centers on Agatha, and engraver overseeing her late husband’s printing business, and Penelope, a country beekeeper. It’s a proper slow burn, but one that felt achingly real as the two women go from awkwardly learning about each other to learning about themselves before coming together gloriously. I was hooked on every tiny bit of UST between them, while very much enjoying their evolving friendship. The events of the time play a prominent role in the story while feeding the ever-present question of the novel, which asks what a marriage really is. The bees in their hives are also a particularly important extended metaphor about community and power structures, and I very much enjoyed how Agatha and Penelope decided they fit in at the end of the novel. It’s all lovingly done with a deft touch, the prose often achingly beautiful and the symbolism lush. The love between Agatha and Penelope felt very real, and I adored Agatha’s unbending and Penelope finding that she could stand up and make a difference in her own way. As the parent of a teenager, Agatha’s struggles over her son and Eliza frequently made me laugh or sigh in resigned agreement. It rang very true, and I was very happy to how Agatha resolved…

The writing is beautiful, and the loving suportive friendship between the heroines is superior. The extremely gay town of Melliton seems like a bit of an outlier, but maybe not. I enjoyed the bee culture and the historical references.

I really enjoyed this book. Olivia Waite is without question one of my favorite writers in the genre. The level of detail in her story telling and world building is off the charts. And it really paints such a vivid picture of the place the characters inhabit. This book burns very slow…be patient, because when the spice comes it comes with intensity. It’s worth the wait! Just a beautiful story of women finding each other and giving each other just what they both need. It leaves you with a lovely feeling.