Lily’s Ruination

About the Book

In early nineteenth century England, a woman’s worth was rarely appreciated, and among the aristocracy (the ton) that especially applied to an intelligent woman. Lady Lily Maxwell, daughter to the earl and countess of Townsend, fit this category all too well. In the first ball of her first season, Lily sought refuge from the inane talk of her counterparts and the gentlemen around her by stepping outside. Unfortunately for her, this would lead to her ruin among the ton and even in the eyes of her parents, yet she had done nothing wrong. While most women would have borne their ruination in silence, Lily resolved otherwise.

Angry at the ton’s unfair treatment, she left London for the countryside where she could begin constructing her revenge. With a convenient death in the family, and a chance meeting with others equally furious with the ton, she had all the tools she needed.

About the Author

Alex Sestak graduated from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria VA in 2019. She intended to major in Creative Writing in the Honors Program of George Mason University beginning in Fall 2020. She wrote this book when she was 17 and was in the final stages of its editing when she passed away in June 2020, at the age of 19, following three courageous battles fighting brain cancer. Alex loved reading, travelling (having visited countries on five continents), art in all its forms, and animals, especially her beloved dog, Belle. She is survived by her parents Susan Clark-Sestak and Joe Sestak, for whom Alex was the best daughter imaginable.