Skip to main content

Rules of the Heart

Synopsis

'Entertaining historical fiction with Jane Austen vibes' – Good Housekeeping

Inspired by the true story of Countess Bessborough, Rules of the Heart is the sweeping novel from the bestselling author of The Other Bennet Sister, Janice Hadlow.

When I love at all, it is with my whole soul – my heart must be torn to pieces before it can forget . . .

England, 1794. Lady Harriet Bessborough seemingly has it all: wife to a lord and sister to a duchess, she is welcomed in the most fashionable circles. Yet she yearns for something her marriage has failed to offer: true love.

When she meets the captivating Lord Granville, twelve years her junior and a famous heartbreaker, she at first dismisses his advances as opportunistic flattery. But then she sees another side to him – a side she realizes she cannot resist.

As she plunges into an all-consuming affair, Harriet finds herself torn between her duty and her deepest desires. For, in a world where appearances are everything, each anxious but besotted step she takes leads her ever closer to scandal and ruin . . .

Praise for The Other Bennet Sister:

'Immersive and engaging' – The Guardian

'It's difficult not to race through those final pages' – Jo Baker, bestselling author of Longbourn

'A novel that will delight Pride and Prejudice fans' – Independent

Details

21 August 2025
304 pages
9781509842001
Imprint: Mantle

Reviews

Impeccably researched, this lifts Mary from obscurity, as she breaks out of her mother's world and follows her own pathDaily Mail on The Other Bennet Sister
Immersive and engagingThe Guardian on The Other Bennet Sister
Puts Mary front and centre stage exploring why she was so heartbreakingly sidelined by Mrs Bennet and gives humour and sensitivity to the most overlooked of the sistersStylist on The Other Bennet Sister
Within the first few pages I was captivated by Harriet's plight . . . this novel is compelling and absorbingStephanie Butland, author of Lost For Words