Fast and Fastidious by R. M. Caldwell
Fast and Fastidious is an absolutely smashing and highly entertaining genre-defying first novel by R.M. Caldwell, a pseudonym for New Zealand theater director and escape room puzzle designer. The author has described it as a “mash-up of Pride and Prejudice and Fast and the Furious.” Set in 1810 Regency England amid the Napoleonic Wars and rich with atmosphere and authentic period detail, it’s a unique blending of romance amid illicit carriage races and a grand story involving highwaymen, espionage, murder and the treasonous theft of national secrets.
An Unconventional Heroine
In 21st-century terms, heroine Lucy Elliot of Atherton Manor would be best represented as (again, per the author) “neurodivergent,” defined as “someone whose brain functions in one or more ways than is considered standard or typical.” Highly intelligent, kind-hearted, and mechanically minded as well as pretty and petite, Lucy is, by nature, an early 18th-century inventor and engineer—quite unsuitable interests for a young woman. At age 10, when gifted one Christmas with an intricate model coach, she dismayed her family by disassembling it before proceeding to astound them by reassembling it in better working order before tea time. The womanly arts of music, needlework, dancing and polite conversation were learned by necessity but, not being among her fortes or interests, weren’t mastered. She always strives to behave properly, maintaining a notebook to remind her of what is correct and logical as she finds it oddly difficult to pick up on social cues that are second nature to her one-year-older sister Margaret.
The two girls are doted upon by their harmoniously married parents, who are aware of their individual noteworthy extremes. Margaret is the dutiful daughter, cultured, able to converse and sing in both French and Italian and socially adept. Although a surprisingly fine dancer, she requires extra attention from dressmakers for her robust frame with broad shoulders and height exceeding six feet. Margaret not-so-secretly loves Oliver St. Martin, but sadly, being the second son of a wealthy landowner, he is only entitled to a mere pittance of an allowance while his elder brother George stands to inherit it all. Margaret’s family is rich in love but lacks sufficient funds to support a marriage between the pair.
Lucy is rigidly fastidious with a feverish brain that robs her of sleep, often taking long solitary walks on moonlit nights. Two summers ago, she noticed a number of household servants and people from nearby estates walking purposefully down a nearby lane. Upon inquiry, she learned of the long-standing but secret custom of Night Races: carriage races held in fair weather during the full moon. Spectators and participant racers represent a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, classes and ethnicities. There are 2-3 races on these evenings with teams consisting of fast horses with a driver and assistant called a “messenger” to look ahead for curves in the roads, hazards and the position of the opposing racer. Speed and danger are exhilarating, out of the normal routines, and quickly obsess Lucy.
Moonlit Races and Dangerous Secrets
The wealthy and strikingly handsome Captain James Dashwood, an army officer recently returned from Africa, along with his adjutant Jim, relocates to the long-empty Elsworth Manor, one of several estates owned by his elderly father, Lord Harrow. The neighbors are brimming with excitement and curiosity after he invites them to a ball, inciting rampant gossip. Food and drink are plentiful, the musicians are in tune, and the good captain appropriately dances with a female representative of each household in turn. Lucy is intrigued but finds finding his manner studied and not entirely at ease.
The moon is high, and the night races are on! Lucy is shocked and embarrassed to have her passion for speed revealed when Captain Dashwood appears. He later challenges Spaniard Dante Torres and his multinational crew to a race with rig ownership as stakes. Lucy can hardly contain her euphoria when she is drafted to be his messenger. Subsequently, she will become an able, innovative mechanic when James rebuilds a wrecked carriage and be then drawn into his secret intelligence gathering. R.M. Caldwell has triumphed with this absorbing debut, the densely layered, nuanced and unpredictable Fast and Fastidious.
About R. M. Caldwell:
