Ironhead, or, Once a Young Lady

Eighteen-year-old Constance is not interested in marriage or in being a young lady. But for a young woman coming of age in the early 1800s, thats just about all thats available to her. When her parents arrange her a marriage with a man more than twice her age, shes powerless to resist. Stance couldnt possibly find her newfound husband less appealing, but what can she do? Heres what: Four months into the marriage, she can slip out of their bed in the middle of the night, and she can put on his clothes. She can look in the mirror and like what she sees. She can sneak out of the house before dawn and visit the bakers scrawny son, who has just been drafted into the army, and offer to take his place. Vive lEmpereur! Hot on Stances tail all the while is her younger brother Pieter, determined to bring Stance back home to Ghent where she belongs. (The battlefield is no place for a young lady, after all.) Ironhead, or, Once A Young Lady is the riotous and powerful story of a fierce renegade, and the silly men who try to bring her down.