WOMS: A Perfect Equation

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It’s time to review what I’ve read lately, and this week it’s the next book in Elizabeth Everett’s The Secret Scientists of London series, A Perfect Equation.

We catch up with our daring Victorian lady scientists at the Athena Retreat where we find Violet and Arthur from book one, A Lady’s Formula for Love, are taking a brief hiatus from London life to rest in the countryside, leaving Letty and Grey in charge.

Here’s where we get more tension and heat than in book one: Grey and Letty loathe each other.

A few years ago, Letty found herself wrapped up in a scandal, and unfortunately, Grey stood on the opposing side. Though they were little acquainted then, his past comments lodged their way into Letty’s heart, deepening her wounds. Still bearing those scars he inflicted, all this comes to a head when they are forced to interact with each other, to live in too close a proximity than either would like, for the next few months whilst Violet and Arthur are away.

Of course, this creates a perfect equation (roll credits!) for love to balance them out.

Now as fun and hilarious as Everett’s books are, this being equally entertaining as its predecessor, I want to get serious for a bit. Not long, but enough to discuss something close to my heart.

This installment was a teensy bit harder for me to read. Not because it was bad or I didn’t like it. Far from it! Rather, I had difficulty with Grey’s character because, as hinted in book one, we learn he suffered from epilepsy as a child, and still maintains a lifestyle to keep any episodes at bay. This precision and control of his character is merely a means to an end, but due to his growing love for Letty, it soon unravels until his finds himself fearing the worst: his seizures have returned.

Most of you know my husband is epileptic, so the struggle reading this came only from the pain those experiences brought me, of not wanting to relive them. Thankfully, Grey does not needlessly suffer, but the threat is ever present, looming in the back of his mind.

Some days, I think I’m more scared of the threat than anything else, but epilepsy is just all around terrible and I hate it.

There I said it. I hate epilepsy, and I hate that anyone in this world has to struggle with it.

I also hate the stigma it has caused so many. Once—and I may have shared this before—my husband and I visited a mental health museum in a converted psychiatric hospital from the 1800s. There was a section where it discussed various patients who were usually admitted to those institutions, historically, and one of those listed were epileptics. It broke my heart. I pointed it out to my husband, commenting, “If we had been born one hundred years ago, even less, who knows how you’d be treated.”

I share all this not only because the struggles Grey endured are ones my husband and I face on the daily, no matter how much stability he gains, and not only because Grey was ostracized as a child by his father for his bizarre “spells” no physician could diagnose nor cure just like the patients we learned about at the museum—no, I share this because not enough people are aware of the toll epilepsy takes on its prisoners.

I appreciated the sensitivity and exposure Everett wrote in her book. She could have chosen any ailment, any disability, and while I don’t need to know why she did, she chose epilepsy. If for no other reason, read her book to learn how it transforms your entire outlook on life and can debilitate a person so much so they lose all traces of themselves.

Oh, and if you’re a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope, then this is the romance for you!

As usual, Everett’s adventurous lady scientists had me laughing and crying, sometimes at the same time, so I cannot recommend her book enough. Can’t wait for book three, A Love by Design!

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Learn more about epilepsy and how you can help raise awareness here at the Epilepsy Foundation.