|
Young
Anna Arbuthnot has taken up the position of governess at Ridley
to a young girl. Her soldier father has recently died in battle,
and the house is in mourning. Lord Charles Wilder is deeply
saddened by the loss of his elder son, but his wife is devastated
for she doted on him and regarded him as a saintly being.
Lyndon'’s younger brother Thomas is also at war, but
must return home to take up his position as heir. But nothing
is quite as it seems…
A fat Regency romance novel is a thing to be treasured, and
this one has much to recommend it. There is a lot more in
here than just romance to start with, and indeed the romantic
parts of the book are not very numerous and suffer by being
lukewarm at best. This book is better described as a historical
novel, and as such it truly does deliver the goods. If you
want a truly detailed description of life in a country house
during this period, hear about a soldier'’s lot at the
front and discover what people ate, talked about, passed the
time doing etc then this is a good place to find out about
it. Anna'’s letters home are a delight too, and give
more of aan insight into her character than the third person
narrative. There are not many characters but you do end up
getting under the skin of at least some of them throughout
what is quite an awesomely long novel. I didn'’t guess
what the surprise at the end was going to be which is all
to the good, and having found out about a sequel am eager
to discover what happens next, especially as it has this novel'’s
most interesting character as the protagonist. Not a romance,
not a mystery but an intriguing and informative historical
novel.
|
