The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

Narrated by Joel Leslie

I’m a big fan of Georgian-set romance – something about the wigs and powder and patch I think. The Queer Principles of Kit Webb is a queer Georgian romance which does feature a lord who likes to wear those things – but it also engages with the origins of the wealth of the aristocracy and is mainly set among “commoners”. It felt fresh and different. Given those wealth origins, I didn’t feel as bad as I probably should have for cheering on a highway robbery and not feeling moral qualms about a life of crime. *shrug*

While the story itself has many light-hearted moments, there are some serious things sitting behind it and for some listeners it may be too much. The eponymous Kit Webb is a former highwayman known during his (now former) career as “Gladhand Jack”. He turned to crime after his wife was transported and died, the death of his infant daughter and the deaths of his parents happened all as a result of decisions made by the Duke of Clare.

Edward, Lord Holland, is the son of said duke. Going by the name of Percy (his mother’s family name) he approaches Kit in his (mostly) respectable coffee shop and asks him to rob his father. Percy and his childhood friend Marion (who happens to be the current Duchess of Clare) are being blackmailed by an unknown person who has revealed a prior marriage of the duke, which renders Percy and his infant sister (Marion’s daughter, Eliza) both illegitimate. Percy does not seek to cover up the bigamy. Rather, he wishes to rob his father of a book he keeps close and which used to belong to his (Percy’s) mother. The plan is to extort sufficient funds from the duke before the prior marriage is public knowledge, that Percy, Marion and Eliza can live comfortably after being disinherited.

It was never made clear how Marion came to be married to the duke. It was clearly not a love match and I admit I had some concern about what exactly happened there. Unfortunately, I was left with more questions than answers – as well as others about Marion and the mysterious blackmailer too. But the heart of the story is Kit and Percy.

It is apparent early on that Kit is bisexual but I think (if I have the right of it) the more accurate label for him would be demisexual – he needs an emotional connection to be interested in sex and the gender of the person with whom that connection exists is neither here nor there. It’s not a shock or a cause of dismay for him that he finds himself attracted to Percy but he comes to like (and later, love) Percy so much the risks of a relationship are worth it to him.

Percy is gay gay gay. He makes little effort to hide it. He has always had the massive privilege of being the son of a duke and he definitely leans into “fop”. Being gay is a lot more risky for Percy if he’s not the heir to a dukedom anymore of course.

At first Kit rebuffs Percy but over time, they become friends. Kit was injured in his last robbery and now walks with the assistance of a cane. He does not have the mobility needed to successfully pull off a highway robbery anymore, but he does eventually offer to teach Percy how to do it himself and help in the planning.  This forces the pair together for weeks and as this happens, their liking grows into more and their attraction blooms further.

Percy is a rather delightful character – he feels things deeply but he likes to cover a lot it up with his love of fashion, the placement, just so, of a patch, the wearing of the right wig. Don’t get me wrong – these things are very important to Percy but he also uses them to hide behind too. Most of the humour of the book comes from Percy’s bon mots.

Kit is more sober. He’s had significant trauma in his past of course but more recently he’s lost his highwayman career and that has been another blow. It is only after he meets Percy that he finds himself smiling and enjoying life again.

I loved the found family of scoundrels and thieves in the story with their perhaps odd moral compasses. As I said earlier, I didn’t really feel too bad about what they needed to do to survive. They’re all portrayed as Robin Hood type characters who only prey on the obscenely wealthy and that certainly helped.

The plot was a little convoluted in terms of the why of the robbery the men planned and exactly what it was supposed to achieve and of course, things go terribly awry. There are also some remarkable coincidences, some of the end results of which I didn’t fully grasp.

I liked the depiction of people who were not members of the aristocracy leading their lives – it’s fairly rare for this in historical romance in my experience.

The narration is very good of course. Joel Leslie is extremely talented and very experienced. Kit is given a more workingman accent and Percy has the toffy upper crust voice one would expect. I admit that sometimes I think that fancy accent is just a little overdone from Mr. Leslie but in this case, it fit perfectly because Percy is, and likes to be, more than a little over the top. 

The pacing and tone were excellent, as were the voices given to the broader cast. The narration package was as I’ve come to expect from Mr. Leslie; very skilled and very entertaining.

Between the print or the audiobook, I’d certainly recommend listening to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, as the narration adds a wonderful extra layer to the experience.

Kaetrin

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