This one was great. A historical novel about the (fictional) "Humble Companion" (i.e. ordinary (not noble) girl engaged to be a friend to) of Princess Sofia, Daughter of George III (not fictional). The lives of the many, many members of George III's family are portrayed fairly accurately, as far as I can tell, including some of the more surprising parts, though of course all the encounters with Nellie, the companion, are made up. The book also explores Nellie's own life away from The Royalties, as she refers to them, as a woman of the era - a relatively well-off one, as these things go, but still very much a woman of the people. The history is very interesting and the characters brilliantly drawn (the family has so much colour, it's not really necessary to invent much - one of those cases where truth is as strange as or stranger than anything one could make up), with the humour and lightness of touch you'd expect from Laurie Graham, for whom this is a departure - more serious in some ways than things like The Unfortunates or Dog Days, Glenn Miller Nights.
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