The Ugly Duchess is one of those books which doesn't deserve the low rating it has on Goodreads. 
 When the awesome lady, Nadia, rated it 5 stars in her review, my interest was highly piqued( read her review here.) 
 Theo can never be defined as a classical beauty. She's got the figure of a lanky boy, lacks in the bosom department, has a strong facial bone structure yet she's not the character who could ever be pitied. Like everybody else, she does fervently wish at times for more "woman-like" body but she embraces her body and loves to flaunt it anyway. She's an enterprising woman (too enterprising for her times I suppose, but hey... who doesn't like a strong, capable heroine?) and she's unapologetic about herself. I loved her. Even at the end, she isn't shown to miraculously develop bigger breasts and a more voluptuous figure. Thank God for that or this book would have got the lowest rating possible from my side. 
 As for James? He's an utter fool at the beginning but he grows on you towards the end. 
 My issue with this book was that the end was to hurried. The whole issue of their separation was too quickly resolved. I would've wished for it to have been dragged out more.