2005 "First Edition: April 2005" stated; Little, Brown and Company, New York; hardbound with red and mustard boards and red lettering on spine; light water stain on inside page but not distracting, otherwise very good condition; dust jacket very good.
 
Description -
Misfortune, is the 2005 debut novel by Wesley Stace. The "Victorian" novel revolves around a cross-dressing heir/heiress.[1] The book was one of the Washington Post's Books of the Year and chosen by Amazon.com as one of the Ten Best Novels of 2005. It was also nominated for the Guardian First Book Award, and shortlisted for both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. The author, better known as singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding, recorded the traditional ballads and folk songs in the book on The Love Hall Tryst's 2005 album Songs of Misfortune.
 
Plot -
On a moonlit night on the outskirts of London, Lord Geoffroy Loveall finds the answer to his prayers: an abondoned baby, somehow still alive amid the junk of a rubbish heap.  Rescuing the infant from certain death, Lord Geoffroy adopts her as his only child, heir to the fabulous Love Hall fortune...
 
But every house has a secret, and as Rose approaches adolescence, the secret of Love Hall becomes impossible to hide.  As much as Lord Geoffroy wanted a daughter, the baby he brought home is, in fact, a boy.  Lace petticoats and expensive frocks cannot disguise what blooms just beneath...