Norman, Diana. A catch of consequence, a novel.

Berkley. 386p. c2002. 0-425-19015-3. $14.00. SA

Written in the style of the 18th century, this novel captures the tension between the colonies and England in the characters of Makepeace Burke and Lord Dapifer. Burke is an unconventional woman for her time period, a tavern keeper on the Boston waterfront in 1765. When she rescues a drowning British lord and takes him back to the tavern to nurse him, she runs afoul of the American revolutionaries. Out of gratitude that turns into love, Dapifer takes her to his ancestral home and she becomes the second Lady Dapifer on the trip to England. Unfortunately, the first Lady Dapifer does not recognize her divorce and causes great trouble. How that trouble is resolved and how Makepeace finds her place in the world comprise the pivotal emphasis of the novel. Personal, national and international conflicts abound in this historical fiction as do interesting characters of the time--some, like Sam Adams, well known and others not. The story is told with an air of authenticity, making this novel more than a history lesson, though there is history to be learned in its plot, and lessons to be learned in its history. Nola Theiss, Sanibel, FL