“I believed myself to be ready then; now, with the hindsight brought by greater age, I see myself for the naive and inexperienced young woman I was. We all begin in such a manner, though. There is no quick route to experience.”

Scholarly female main character? Check. Victorian-esq era? Check. Adventures around the world? Check. VICIOUS DRAGONS? Check.

How is it that I have not read The Memoirs of Lady Trent series by now? I have no answer for you but 2024 is the year I correct that dire mistake. 

The first book is A Natural History of Dragons and here is where we meet our famous Isabella Lady Trent before she became the Lady Trent, renowned scholar of natural science in the field of dragons. We begin with her childhood misadventures and the strict expectations her parents had of their only daughter, and the way Isabella didn’t quite conform to them. Through Isabella’s account we follow her through her coming of age and entering Society, searching for her husband and finally we travel with her on her first expedition to the far away mountains of Vystrana, where she sees her beloved wild dragons. We are able to witness Isabella through the years where her intellectual mind begins to bloom and enter an adventure full of peril but also excitement and wonder.

This is a book of two halves, the first being Isabella’s life before marriage and her life afterwards. For a bookish and inquisitive child such as Isabella it was not proper for a young lady to be so keen on learning sciences and of exploring nature, fearing these would not be attractive traits for respectable and wealthy future husbands, which at the time was all a young lady could aspire to achieve. Yet the seeds had already been planted, The Natural History of Dragons was a much beloved book that sealed Isabella’s dream of pursuing and wanting to study dragons, and so as a result Isabella would have to find rather sneaky ways to satisfy her curiosity, which of course often landed her in a lot of trouble. Yet seeing how her young self accomplished this was delightfully fun. It was instilled into Isabella that a woman had to pursue feminine arts to be respectable but actually it is Isabella’s strong passion for dragons that inevitably leads her to a husband who is rather attracted to her scholarly mind. Isabella is a portrait of a Victorian woman who dares to dream, who then against all odds dares to succeed, and I loved her for it. 

Brennan articulates Isabella’s voice with fantastic precision. Her memoir is filled with elegance and intellect, but it also reflects on Isabella’s emotions, her triumphs and a lot of her regrets. She is not a perfect character, her mistakes, her ignorance towards other cultures and her naivety is laid bare, yet what I absolutely loved is how she speaks of these mistakes evolving her and how she learns from them. At nineteen Isabella is married and is still as headstrong and determined to defy social conventions, to do the unthinkable, be unladylike, and study natural history. Her luck finally turns in a chance meeting with Lord Hilford which sees her on her way, with her husband Jacob Camherst, to Vystrana to study the declining population of its dragons. Isabella often comments on  the restraints upon her writing during her first expedition and how women were expected to conform to certain travel writing conventions, for example by not complaining about any of their trip. Yet Isabella disregards this and laments on how the trip was not what she had expected, the weather is far harsher and colder, there are far more dangers than she anticipated and she misses the comfort and safety of home far more than she thought she would. This is what I love about the prosaic style of memoirs, it allows for readers to gain a deeper understanding of the character, to fully flesh them out by gaining a tapestry of their life. 

“My childhood obsession, buried for years after the incident with the wolf-drake, had put up shoots during the tour of the menagerie, and now those shoots had burst into full flower.

I wanted both to see dragons, and to understand them. I wanted to stretch the wings of my mind and see how far I could fly.

I wanted, in short, the intellectual life of a gentleman—or as close to it as I could come.”

Our focus may be on our leading Lady Trent, but there are also an array of other characters who impact Isabella’s life. Living within a patriarchal society meant that Isabella had to traverse a world of men, but that does not mean they were inherently bad nor cruel towards her. In fact Brennan portrays several of her male characters in an amiable light. Jacob Camherst, although reluctantly at first, does grant his wife many freedoms which at the time would have been shocking and seen as improper. His love and support of Isabella made me warm to him immediately. He’s a protective and dutiful man, but he’s also one who doesn’t wish to oppress his wife. Whereas in contrast Thomas Wilker detests Isabella being a part of their expedition, for a woman can only be a hindrance and not an asset. Yet even here, Isabella does prove herself to Thomas and even if they do not form a firm friendship in this book, they do at least become allies. Mr Hilford was a true aristocrat gentleman in that his manner was rather brisk and authoritative when frustrated but also very lenient and kind towards Isabella by encouraging her to showcase her talents instead of stifling them. Though I wouldn’t place A Natural History of Dragons within the cosy fantasy sub-genre, as with life tragedies do occur, Brennan never dwells upon the dark. This memoir ultimately is filled with ‘feel-good’ moments and the people who helped make those moments come to fruition. 

Brennan’s worldbuilding was superbly displayed throughout. The contrast between Scirling, Isabella’s childhood home, which was a place of steam ships, horse and carriage, of scholars and engineering, compared to Vystrana, a place where myth and superstition outweighed science, was fascinating to explore. It is also important to note how the illustrations, beautifully drawn by Tod Lockwood, really punctuated each scene and helped to fully visualise Isabella’s adventures and of course the dragons in their terrifying glory. I adore illustrations in adult fantasy books and will always praise their inclusion because they really add to a reader’s experience. I have to also credit this book for portraying dragons in such a scientific, academic manner. Usually in fantasy we come across dragons being used for warfare or to harness their powers, yet in this book they are simply part of the natural world. They are a phenomenal fierce predator which beg to be studied but are rather hard to gain access to. Dragons were often hunted, and even Isabella unashamedly plays a part in this as the only way to get close enough to study a dragon safely is to kill one. Though I hated that such magnificent creatures were killed, I understood that the reality of capturing a dragon was near impossible and coming across a recently deceased one had its own practical problems. In Brennan’s world when a dragon dies their bone structure and anatomy changes, almost disintegrating instantly, which explains why their anatomy is so vaguely understood. Isabella does reflect upon this by apologising to the severed head of a dragon as she sketched it, which was a scene I very much enjoyed. So yes, as you may tell there are sprinkles of humour included too. 

Light academia has solidified as one of my favourite sub-genres in fantasy and A Natural History of Dragons is a superb early example of it. We may only dip our toes lightly into the pool of Lady Trent’s life here but what a solid start to what is sure to be a tantalisingly thrilling series. I’m so glad I have the rest of the books waiting on my shelf, just begging to be read.

“The fading light flamed across the tops of the ridges, sending the valleys into deep shadow, and the stark contrast was breathtaking.

And then the dragon came.

It flew in from the west, so that all I truly saw at first was a black silhouette against the fiery sky.”

A Natural History of Dragons is available now. You can pick up your copy on Bookshop.org