The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics

Feminine Pursuits

By: Olivia Waite

Narrated by: Morag Sims

As Lucy Muchelney watches her ex-lover’s sham of a wedding, she wishes herself anywhere else. It isn’t until she finds a letter from the countess of Moth, looking for someone to translate a groundbreaking French astronomy text, that she knows where to go. Showing up at the countess’ London home, she hoped to find a challenge, not a woman who takes her breath away.

Catherine St Day looks forward to a quiet widowhood once her late husband’s scientific legacy is fulfilled. She expected to hand off the translation and wash her hands of the project - instead, she is intrigued by the young woman who turns up at her door, begging to be allowed to do the work, and she agrees to let Lucy stay. But as Catherine finds herself longing for Lucy, everything she believes about herself and her life is tested.

While Lucy spends her days interpreting the complicated French text, she spends her nights falling in love with the alluring Catherine. But sabotage and old wounds threaten to sever the threads that bind them. Can Lucy and Catherine find the strength to stay together, or are they doomed to be star-crossed lovers?

©2019 Olivia Waite (P)2020 HarperAudio

Be still my rapidly beating heart

This was a beautiful story of love and raw ambition in the face of adversity that prevailed as it always will! I love reading stories that bring light to the amazing work and triumphs of women, who, since the beginning have always been considered the weaker, meeker sex. This was empowering to read and I thoroughly enjoyed the love and bond that grew between Catherine and Lucy. Their love and support of one another despite what others -to include themselves- believed was an unstoppable force that continued to build momentum over the course of the story. I'm so glad to have stumbled upon this jewel in search of my next read. Great work Olivia Waite!

just what I wanted

A good LGBT historical fiction novel.
It is a pretty predictable story, but it is a good one. My only issue is there were many points throughout the book 'Where I wondered who's perspective are we are reading from?' It did flip-flop between the 2 main characters. But didnt make it obvious who's perspective we were reading from. Which made it awkward at times.

Wanted to start it all over again

I loved reading this book in print. Listening is even better. Perfect characters. I didn’t want it to end. And now I’m considering starting it again.

A Sapphic’s Review of The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics

To be frank, I would not say that this book is some grand and epic romance, but I would also say that it doesn’t need to be. Just as romance can be found in grand gestures as much as in the small moments that many forget, The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics carries a lovely weight and depth despite it’s perceived stature. Waite weaves a metaphor throughout the book for its subjects, often and poignantly returned to that gives more depth to the emotions and relationships evoked.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Sims’ narration is very pleasant and I appreciate the character and variety she gave to each character that spoke.

The only thing I can say that I disliked was that it ended. Unfortunately, all things do. But I shall certainly listen to this again.

Give this book a try.

Good Audiobook.
Give it a try, I did and enjoyed how easy it was to listen to the story. I liked the book.
There should be a Book 2 to continue with the story.

Amazing

Such a good book! Well written, romantic, exhaustively researched and delightfully smutty. Will listen again and again

Loved every minute of it!

As a book, it was engaging and well conceived but as sn audio book it was excellent. I have to read the entire saga.

The performance was outstanding!

A lovely work of fiction perfect for all us romantic queers with a penchant for the historical.

Bridging science art and love

Yall…. This book was AMAZING!!! And so was the performance! Every person had such a distinctive voice which was very nice as a listener. I also love how the story not only focuses on Lucy’s scientific adventures but also Katherine’s artistic ones as she comes into her own and gains confidence. The only negative thing I can think of is that with some of the voices like the Marquis a couple words were hard to understand as someone with a very American accent. The accents were beautiful though and I’m sure my struggle is partially due to myself not having much experience with other accents. This book and performance is wonderful. I would highly recommend.

struggled to finish

I love the idea of this story. What nags at me is the predictable main character conflict. I had to stop several times and wait for my eyes to stop rolling. But even at those points it was due to the realistic nature of the issue. made it feel a little less fantasy and too much like my reality.