The Smart is a true drama of 18th–century life with a mercurial and mysterious heroine. Caroline, a young Irishwoman, runs off to marry a soldier, comes to London, and slides into a glamorous life as a high–class prostitute. A great risk–taker and a woman of mesmerizing appeal, Caroline becomes involved with the intriguing Perreau twins, identical in looks but opposite in character: one a sober merchant, the other a raffish gambler. The three begin forging bonds, living in ever–increasing luxury, until it all collapses like a house of cards—with forgery a capital offence. A brilliantly researched, marvelously evocative history, The Smart bridges the gap between the aristocracy and the underworld as18th–century English society is drawn into the most scandalous financial sting of the age.