The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite is the first book in the Feminine Pursuits series. It is a sapphic historical romance and centers on the relationship between Lucy Muchelney and Catherine St. Day.
Catherine is a widow looking to hire someone to translate a book on astronomy from French into English in order to continue and honor her late husband's scientific pursuits and legacy. She ends up hiring Lucy who is looking to get away from her old life after watching her ex-lover marry a man. And so, Lucy heads to London and moves into Catherine's home.
As Lucy spends her days with Catherine and translating the French text, the two women start to develop feelings for each other and fall in love.
I was so excited to start reading this romance - how often do you see a historical sapphic romance? - and it did not disappoint me.
The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics is a slow burn romance. There wasn't as much wild passion as you find in other romance books but there was defiantly chemistry and passion between the two characters throughout the story. Personally, I could have used a little more romance but this still ended up being a five star read in the end.
There is some conflict over Lucy's feelings for her ex-girlfriend as well as between Lucy and the men of the science club Catharine's late husband was a member of. Lucy has to deal with not only others translating the same text as her, but with some rather sexist comments from some of the men. Science is no place for a woman, after all. But Lucy is able to navigate and overcome any odds against her to get her translation of the groundbreaking text published. I don't think this is much of a spoiler since it seems obvious from the synopsis of the book.
Throughout all of this Lucy and Catherine fall in love. I enjoyed seeing Catherine come to terms with her own feelings for Lucy, another woman. She had been married to a man for years and while I don't believe their marriage was a love match, Catherine had never taken a lover before Lucy.
If you are looking for a solid, sapphic historical romance, I would suggest you pick up this book. I'm looking forward to reading more by Olivia Waite in the future.
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