Unhappily married to an overbearing and insecure man, is it any wonder that Harriet, Lady Bessborough is in search of a passionate love affair, the like of which she has never known. Her reputation has narrowly survived a number of ill-advised dalliances before she becomes embroiled in a torrid love affair with Lord Granville, a man she truly cares for. Snatched rendezvous are all that they can hope for and the pages of the novel are filled with Harriet’s intensity of feeling - her all-consuming longing, severe angst and, at times when they are apart, abject melancholy. She lives for her next opportunity to be with Granville while doing her utmost to avoid besmirching her character and bringing scandal and ruin upon herself and her family.

In this work of historical fiction, Janice Hadlow has brought Lady Bessborough and her close circle to life. A circle which included her sister, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. This allowed parts of the narrative to unfold at Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall – settings which enhanced my enjoyment of the novel as they are places I’ve visited. Lady Bessborough’s support of the Whigs in opposition to Granville’s Tory leanings in the decades around the turn of the 19th century added an interesting political dimension to this romance novel as did the disquietude stemming from the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.

Rules of the Heart is an accomplished historical romance novel which deals with the realities faced by upper class women of the Regency period who had affairs and reflects upon the double standards that society applied to men versus women in these circumstances. Although I never felt that I connected with the portrayal of Lady Bessborough or indeed any of the historical figures represented, I thought that the novel’s pacing was perfect and found the historical context fascinating.

Thank you to Mantle and NetGalley for sharing this eARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

If you have watched the Keira Knightley film "The Duchess" and enjoyed it, then this book will be for you. This is not focussed on the infamous Duchess of Devonshire but her sister Harriet. Historical fiction fans will like that this is based on the true story of the love affair between Lady Bessborough and Lord Granville,

I obviously knew all about the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire but nothing about her sister. Its nice to have a book that is based around the not so famous sister. Being interwoven slightly with the life of Georgiana there are incidents that I knew about but reading them from another lens was interesting. Georgiana is a peripheral character for parts of the book and not the main focus. The main focus of the book is the longstanding affair Harriet has with Lord Granville, it is interesting to see the parallels between her and her sister's famous affair with Mr Grey.

Narrated by Harriet, the book clearly provides clarity on her motivations and feelings, This is not a criticism of the writing, and also I am most certainly looking at this with a 21st century viewpoint, but my lord I find her frustrating. Its clear that Harriet is a clever woman but her whole life is dominated by a man that clearly has faults. There were times within the book that I just wanted to shake her to gain more self respect; I honestly didn't understand the attraction to Granville, He's described as handsome but in terms of character he didn't seem to bring much to the table.

Sometimes it felt like the prose was very dense and could have been broken up slightly more. However, what I did appreciate with Hadlow's writing is that I was engaged reading the book despite not liking the main characters and compared to other books I've read there isn't much in terms of 'things that happen'. The book spans 17 years and most of it is describing Harriet's life and feelings, which I remained engaged with the entire book. For a lesser writer I think that this could have become a tedious story but Hadlow manages to keep the pace of the narration moving forward that prevents tedium to set in.

I tried very hard to get into this book but found it very difficult. There’s no pace to the early part of the book and the writing in first person did not bring me into the character.

A novel set in an era the 1700's, a period of masculine dominance in society, where women had to defer to their husband's wishes or be disgraced with divorce. A story about a lady, Harriet, who married not for love but for a safe comfortable life, however her husband was not so kind initially and she had numerous "affairs", giving her husband great distress and he felt emasculated, so he gave her the ultimatum of divorce of compliance. She chose compliance for her children's sake. However, she did begin a very passionate affair with a 22year old (she was 35) this lasted for many years, he wanted to marry her, but she knew that her age would come between them eventually, though Harriet was certain that this was true love for her and Granville certainly returned the sentiment. The affair ended when her lover, Granville, decided he wanted a family life and to settle down. All the heartache and deception is cleverly described by the author and I could understand the passion and heartache attached to such a liaison. During the 17yr affair Harriet had two illegitimate children with Granville, he eventually took the children into his family and care, and was distraught when he heard of Harriet's death, another sign of how deeply he had loved her.
Initially I thought this novel a little shallow, but as the pages turned one got caught up in the life of the times and how ladies had to conduct themselves at the time. An interesting look back in time and how times have changed!

such an honest and captivating read. i was drawn into this wold and Janice did a great job of transporting me to a time i cannot get to but had a good glimpse in to with her words.
i love that we got to delve into this real life character and by doing so in fiction it allowed more thinking time and what ifs or maybe about this time in her life. but having known a bit about the real woman it somehow still held strong to the characteristics id been charmed by of the woman in real life. of course her name is changed and it is fiction so we must always remember that. but even as a story on its own if it was related to the real world of this woman i could still love it just as much.
Harriet was trapped in a marriage without love. and this book tells the fictional tale of what she does about that. and that is an affair. this goes on for years. i was captivated by hearing the emotional stakes and the feelings this woman had around that time and what was happening. it felt so powerful and personal. i was so sad for her. and of course we all have our thoughts regarding affairs but somehow with this lady i just felt sad. mostly for woman of that time who seemingly this kind of thing was just the norm. i dont want to get on my soap box but grrrr time have changed but also somehow they haven't.
i have no moral grey areas when it comes to affairs. but this book i just read it for what it was and that was one woman's story of the time. she seemed to be bouncing from big feelings to the next. she felt constantly at risk in one way or another. her life with the awful husband was horrid but then how she escaped that never seemed stable either. i felt for her so much. i wanted to shake her and also hug her.
this book portrayed the emotions so well. i was engrossed and felt it all the way in my own stomach at times.
a brilliant book. a brilliant telling of one woman done entirely in Janice's own way which was great because it also allowed you that separation from the reality of it.

Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan & NetGalley for the e-arc!

3.25!


I wanted to shake Harriet so much while reading this.

It's truly a sad story, stepping away from my need to shake her and realise how sad her situation was , and many women back then, who were married to men who didn't feel anything back, just to secure a future, etc to give up their own desires, dreams, their feelings, but when Harriet would keep going on about wanting to be around/with Lord Granville, it got too much at one point. But again this is a Lady who is finally feeling that fleeting excitement and love in her life that was missing.

Written really well but just one P.O.V of her during this affair did get grating at times, it would have been interesting to see others.

A slice of Regency fiction that retells the lives of several of its nobility, Rules of the Heart centres around Harriet Ponsonby and her decades-long affair with a young rake. Bittersweet and tragic and deeply romantic, it's a far cry from Hadlow's first more uplifting romance, but is a well considered reconstruction of real-world passions.

This is a gorgeous, unforgettable work of historical fiction - my first time reading Janice Hadlow, and I was spellbound. Rules of the Heart tells the fascinating story of Lady Harriet Bessborough, sister to the Duchess of Devonshire, tracing her seventeen year love affair with the much younger Lord Granville. It is romantic and heartfelt, but also incredibly insightful, offering a captivating glimpse into women's lived experiences in Regency Britain. Just wonderful.

3.75

This is a heartbreaking piece of historical fiction about a torrid & scandalous love affair that both dominates & ruins the life of an aristocratic woman in 18th century England.

Based on the real person, Harriet Bessborough who was sister of the infamous Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire this story is a really raw and honest account of her affair with Lord Granville and the fallout of it. I felt the author really brought the regency period to life with extraordinary detail and I enjoyed the scandals, secret assignations, balls and parties. I also thought she conveyed the struggle for women in this period too-always longing for what they really want but always having to compromise on their desires & to behave within the parameters of societal expectations. And always at the behest of men. It made me quite angry in parts.

I struggled a bit with the 1 POV as…I didn’t love Harriet. I found her constant need for Lord Granville exasperating and the sheer amount of inner angst she went through was too much for me. They were both complete red flags but I appreciate the raw honesty of this style was needed to be truthful to what an affair can do to people.
Also, Harriet was close to some fascinating people and political intrigue-I would have loved to see more of that in there too.

3.75. A good regency story with scandal and angst.

This is a fictionalised life of Lady Henrietta (Harriet) Frances Spencer, wife of the 3rd Earl of Bessborough, written in the first person. It is a very different novel from the author’s first, ‘The Other Bennet Sister’, and not such an easy read. Harriet’s life exemplified many of the ways in which women were subdued and controlled in Regency times, and this was not pleasant. Her life was very different from that of most of the characters in Jane Austen’s novels, and the author successfully depicts English nobility’s excesses around the turn of the nineteenth century.
It was interesting to read about the better-known Georgiana’s younger sister.

Rules of the Heart is Janice Hadlow’s second novel, off the back of her 2020 Austen-inspired hit ‘The Other Bennett Sister’.

In her new novel, Hadlow turns her attention to another in-depth look at character, relationships and love, but this time based on a real-life personality from Georgian England, that of Henrietta (Harriet) Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough. She was the younger sister of the famed socialite and darling of the Ton, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (whose portrait I have hanging on my wall!).

As was well known for the time, marriages amongst the aristocracy were usually for pragmatic and financial reasons than for love, and both Harriet and Georgiana were not happily married. Harriet’s husband, ‘Lord B’ was especially physically abusive and scandalised society with his terrifying rages at her.

Harriet had several affairs throughout her marriage and this story centres around her most enduring and life-changing love affair with Lord Granville, 1st Earl Granville. The story is full of the conflicting emotions of passion and love, but also guilt and shame – not to mention anxiety, due to the extremely precarious situation Harriet consistently found herself, risking her financial security, her relationship with her children and even her life on several occasions.

Hadlow’s ability to flesh out the interiority of Harriet’s world is masterful – at one point I was so engrossed I wasn’t sure whether I was feeling my own feelings or Harriet’s. I was totally absorbed, and cried my eyes out at the end!

Thank you to @j_jadlow1950 and @panmacmillan for an advanced gifted copy for review. Rules of the Heart is out on the 21 August, preorder now!

I will post this review on my instagram @charlottereadshistory on 19 August

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy. I wanted to read this book because I love a historical novel based on the lives of individuals who lived in the past. Years ago, I read a biography about Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough, so I was familiar with the events of her life. Harriet was an intelligent, well-read woman, well liked because of her kind, gentle manner. She was the younger sister of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was the society darling of the Georgian age. Georgiana and Harriet had a close relationship and, in their youth, they were actively involved in politics. Harriet was trapped in an unhappy marriage, which resulted in her conducting a secret relationship with Granville Leveson-Gower. I found it fascinating to read a fictional account of her affair with Leveson-Gower. The story, written in the first person, made Henrietta (called Harriet), 'come alive' in my mind. The descriptions of Harriet's emotions and motives helped make sense of an affair that went on for seventeen years and produced two illegitimate children. During the reading of Rules of the Heart, I researched the people in Harriet's life because I wanted to see what they looked like and to find out more about their lives. I would highly recommend this novel by Janice Hadlow. The book is beautifully written and engaging.

Rules of the Heart is the fascinating life story of Lady Harriet Bessborough, sister to the Duchess of Devonshire.
Near the beginning of the book, Harriet decides to read through bundles of her letters stored in a cedar wood box, most of which are from her lover, Lord Granville. As she reminisces, we learn about her love affair - the joys, the partings, the sacrifices and the very darkest of times. The workings of a society so completely different from our own and the limited options for women and the constrained lives they were forced to lead are laid bare in great detail and it is hard not to feel Harriet's despair and frustration at her lack of freedom.
This is a thoughtful and subtle book, well worth the effort of reading, especially for those who enjoy emotional historical tales.

This book tells the story of Lady Harriet Bessborough and her seventeen year affair with the much younger Lord Granville.It’s all written in the first person so is very much from her point of view. I knew nothing of this story ,and was interested to learn that she had two children to him, while continuing to be married to Lord Bessborough ,who she maintained knew nothing about them.
His book was a lot less lighthearted than The Other Bennet Sister,and I must admit to getting tired of Harriet constantly going on about her feelings for Granville,as he treated her quite badly ,but maybe I was looking at the story with 21st century eyes. It certainly highlighted how difficult life could be for women in Regency England. I was interested in some of the side stories ,like Lady Hester Stanhope and her adventures ,or the fact that Harriet’s legitimate daughter was Lady Caroline Lamb ,which would definitely merit another book!
The notes at the end tell what happened to Harriet when her relationship with Granville ended, when she obviously came into her own.
I would recommend this to anyone interested in Regency Britain and the treatment of women at that time.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review which reflects my own opinion.

I really enjoyed The Other Bennet Sister and I am very much looking forward to seeing the TV adaptation that is on its way. I was excited to read Ruiles of the Heart, as I love a historical novel with a strong female lead. It was quite different to what I expected however and the novel reads more like a well reseached and factual biography. It provides a good understanding of how hard life was for women in the 18th Century, even those who had every priviledge and material wealth. The marriage market was brutal for women, with them having to accept a man they do not and have little hope of loving, add to that they had a child evrery year or so.
I felt I learned a lot about Lady Harriet Bessborough - a real person who was the sister of the infamous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. The book was informative and engaging, I didn't really engage with the characters however and it was not really what I expected.
A quick shout out for the cover - it is beautiful!

This is not a fast paced book but it is very thoughtfully written and develops into a fascinating and beautiful story. Henrietta was a complex character and that comes across well in the story and I felt myself really rooting for her. An enjoyable book to dive into when you've got some time over the summer!

This is t my usual genre but it seems so interesting to read and I’m so glad I did. Henrietta longs for a different live filled with love and enter Lord Granville everything kicks into high gear when they fall into a dangerous love affair. This novel kept me on the edge of my seat:

This was a good read! I got through it in one sitting, and definitely gave Jane Austen vibes. It’s well written, and really enjoyable. Would recommend.