Historical fiction romance drama
And the sublime, the sublime is greater than beauty. It overwhelms the senses. It consumes us. It is the pure fury and power of nature. It must be felt to be known. An artist must feel in order to paint, and of that madam, you will never learn from reading Sir Joshua's dry Discourses.
—George Allenham
Well, reader, I simply could not fathom how I might respond to that. What might a girl who knows nothing of society, of worldly behavior, of nature or passion make of such a statement?
—Henrietta
Mistress of My Fate is a fictional memoir set in 18th century England. The story focuses on the romance between young, sheltered Henrietta Ingerton and her unlikely love interest, George Allenham. Henrietta was adopted by her uncle and aunt, the Earl and Countess of Stavourley. Her destiny turns out quite different than she had first thought when romance, tragedy, and her mysterious past unravel all at once in this novel.
Tropes Appearing in Mistress of My Fate:
- Alpha Bitch: Henrietta's cousin, later revealed to be her half sister, Lady Catherine
- Arranged Marriage: Lord Stavourley arranges a marriage between Henrietta and Mr. Pease, a churchman with a meager salary who Henrietta does not love
- Blue Blood: The majority of the main characters have a noble title
- Book Ends: The scene when Henrietta runs away from her home is compared to the scene where she runs away from her life as Quindell's mistress by the narrator, as a way of showing how she is no longer the naive ingenue she started out as.
- Break the Cutie: Happens to Henrietta
- Coming of Age Story: of Henrietta
- Dances and Balls: Many of these are held for the purpose of young nobles meeting marriage candidates
- Dance of Romance: How Henrietta and George fall in love
- Finagle's Law: The drama in the novel is often caused by this
- Good Is Dumb: Henrietta is usually portrayed as the only character without purposefully harmful ulterior motives, but her absurdly naive world view causes her to make some questionable decisions
- Heroic Bastard: Lord Stavourley reveals Henrietta to be this when he tells her she is actually his daughter by his former mistress, Kitty Kennedy
- Heroic BSoD: When Henrietta finds out she is pregnant with George Allenham's child
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: The women who help Henrietta through her My God, What Have I Done? episode and her Heroic BSoD moment
- Hopeless Suitor: Allenham: What am I to do? I have resolved to write these words to you in the hope that you will put me beyond my misery, that you will confirm to me your shared affection, or else deny me and send me into a life of desperate unhappiness. I am, madam, your most tormented servant.
- How We Got Here: The book starts with Henrietta running away from home, then explains all the events leading up to that, and then tells us the rest of the story. Well, we're actually sort of Left Hanging.
- The Ingenue: Henrietta ...at first.
- Left Hanging: Who is Lord Dennington? What caused Allenham to go to Paris? How will he react when Henrietta tells him how she's been living, and about their son? These will all hopefully be revealed in the sequel.
- Love Letter: Allenham confesses his love to Henrietta with one of these.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When Henrietta goes to London and cannot find Lord Allenham, she experiences this
- The Mistress: Henrietta's Mother, Kitty Kennedy to Lord Stavourley and many others, then later Henrietta herself to George Allenham, John St. John, and Philly Quindell, and almost all of Henriett's female friends after she goes to London
- Meaningful Rename: Henrietta changing her last name from Ingerton to Lightfoot
- Mysterious Parent: Henrietta's real mother, Kitty Kennedy
- Naïve Everygirl: Henrietta is this for the first half of the novel
- Regency England: The setting of the novel
- Rock Bottom: When Henrietta gives up on finding Lord Allenham, she starts to drink heavily and gets raped by Lord Barrymore, then has to drink medication to rid herself of a possible child
- Romance Novel: The entire book qualifies as this genre
- Rule of Symbolism: Mr. Fortune
- Runaway Fiancé: Henrietta, after she is told she is to be married to Mr. Pease
