Gemma Doyle is not like other English girls. Impeccable manners, modesty, the ability to remain silent when not asked, awareness of her position in Victorian society are not for her. Alas, Gemma is a mystery to herself. After a tragedy befalls her family, young Miss Doyle enrolls in the prestigious Spence School in London. Lonely, tormented by guilt, haunted by visions of the near future, Gemma receives a more than cold reception at school. But it soon becomes clear that she is not alone in her oddities... “The Great and Terrible Beauty” is a fascinating story, full of mysteries and events, a living portrait of the Victorian era, when English girls had only one path - to marry successfully and give birth to heirs. Gemma Doyle chose a different path...For the first time in Russian!