It's Monday! What Are You reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

My greatest achievement last week was that I finished Through A Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen. The condition of the 30 year old book, some loose pages and a clump of pages re-stuck out of sequence, gave me a heart-stopping moment when I thought a crucial part of the story was missing, but it wasn't. I'm off to purchase a copy for my "keeper" shelf and can't wait to get my hands on the sequel, Face to Face.

I also finished Waratah House  by Ann Whitehead. If you like stories about servants in big houses, with an Australian setting, this is the book for you. Three strong female protagonists push the story along and there is lots of period detail to transport you back to the late 1800s.

This week I'm hoping to finish the final chapters of Dacre's War by Rosemary Goring. The Tailor's Girl by Fiona McIntosh is up next, followed by a book just added to my reading pile, The Right-Hand Man, by K.M. Peyton. Peyton writes for children/young adults and is the author of Flambards, a trilogy adapted for television which was screened in 1979.

What I Read Last Week

Waratah House by Ann Whitehead

Waratah House, a beautiful mansion in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, is the only home Marina has ever known. Orphaned at a young age, Marina finds a new family in the colourful characters that occupy the bustling servants' quarters of this stately house.
But not every resident of Waratah House has Marina's best interests at heart and she finds herself forced into exile. Years later, Marina's daughter Emily discovers the past has a way of repeating itself. She must fight for her chance at happiness – a chance that some will do anything to prevent . . .

Through A Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen

Karleen Koen's sweeping saga contains unforgettable characters consumed with passion: the extraordinarily beautiful fifteen-year-old noblewoman, Barbara Alderley; the man she adores, the wickedly handsome Roger MontGeoffry; her grandmother, the duchess, who rules the family with cunning and wit; and her mother, the ineffably cruel, self-centered and licentious Diana. Like no other work, Through a Glass Darkly is infused with intrigue, sweetened by romance and awash in the black ink of betrayal.

What I'm Reading Today

Dacre's War by Rosemary Goring

Dacre's War is a story of personal and political vengeance. Ten years after the battle of Flodden, Adam Crozier, head of his clan and of an increasingly powerful alliance of Borderers, learns for sure that it was Lord Thomas Dacre - now the most powerful man in the north of England - who ordered his father's murder. He determines to take his revenge. As a fighting man, Crozier would like nothing better than to bring Dacre down face to face but his wife Louise advises him that he must use more subtle methods. So he sets out to engineer Dacre's downfall by turning the machinery of the English court against him. A vivid and fast-moving tale of political intrigue and heartache, Dacre's War is set against the backdrop of the Scottish and English borders, a land where there is never any chance of peace.

What I Hope to Read Next

The Tailor's Girl by Fiona McIntosh

A humble soldier, known only as 'Jones', wakes in hospital with no recollection of his past. The few fleeting fragments of memory he glimpses are horrifying moments from the battlefield at Ypres. His very identity becomes a puzzle he must solve. Then Eden Valentine comes gliding into his world, a stunning tailoress who has a dream of her own business in high fashion but whose duty to her family may never permit her to fulfil. Her fiancé resents the intrusion of the disarming Jones who is in desperate need of her help to unravel his past. Surrounding the mystery is Alex Wynter, the influential heir to an industrial empire and country manor Larksfell Hall. With his aristocratic family still reeling from a recent tragedy, he brings news that will further rock the foundations of their privileged lives. When their three very different worlds collide, the pieces of the past finally fall into place and lead them into wildly unexpected futures. What they discover will bring shattering consequences that threaten to tear apart far more than just the heart of the tailor's girl.

The Right-hand Man by K.M. Peyton

It's 1818, and reckless Ned Rowlands is the fastest stagecoach driver for miles around. Ned attracts the attention of the young Lord Ironminster - determined to win a racing wager against his wealthy cousins, the Savilles, and desperate for Ned's help.

Ned is quickly drawn into a strange partnership with Ironminster; as his new friend's right hand man, Ned has an important role to play in helping him outwit the Savilles and preventing his title and estate from passing to them.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

Not much happened on the reading front over the past week and I can't even blame being outside getting our property bush fire ready. Although this is still ongoing, it didn't take up all of my time.  I did spend quite a few hours on a task that is yet to be completed i.e. sorting my bookshelves on Goodreads, and on Pinterest. Pinning can be very addictive.

The only book finished last week was Time's Echo by Pamela Hartshorne. While an enjoyable, quick read, I didn't think it was as good as her other time slip novels, Edge of Dark and The Memory of Midnight.

I'm halfway through Dacre's War  by Rosemary Goring and have read a few more chapters of Through a Glass Darkly  by Karleen Koen. The latter is borrowed from the library (inter-library loan) and is due back in a couple of weeks. With no renewals allowed, this book will be my main focus after I finish Dacre's War. I could still be reading it next week. For those not familiar with this novel, it is a big read of 775 pages. I'm also hoping to finish Waratah House by Ann Whitehead.

I'm still looking at Fiona McIntosh's The Tailor's Girl  for my next read or it could be The White Cross  by Richard Masefield which is currently being offered as a free download from Amazon. An offer I took advantage of as I'd not heard of this author before. It is set during the late 12th century around Richard I's crusade to Jerusalem.

What I Read Last Week

Time's Echo by Pamela Hartshorne

York , 1577: Hawise Aske smiles at a stranger in the market, and sets in train a story of obsession and sibling jealousy, of love and hate and warped desire. Drowned as a witch, Hawise pays a high price for that smile, but for a girl like her in Elizabethan York, there is nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. Four and a half centuries later, Grace Trewe, who has travelled the world, is trying to outrun the memories of being caught up in the Boxing Day tsunami. Her stay in York is meant to be a brief one. But in York Grace discovers that time can twist and turn in ways she never imagined. Drawn inexorably into Hawise's life, Grace finds that this time she cannot move on. Will she too be engulfed in the power of the past?

What I'm Reading Today

Waratah House by Ann Whitehead

Waratah House, a beautiful mansion in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, is the only home Marina has ever known. Orphaned at a young age, Marina finds a new family in the colourful characters that occupy the bustling servants' quarters of this stately house.
But not every resident of Waratah House has Marina's best interests at heart and she finds herself forced into exile. Years later, Marina's daughter Emily discovers the past has a way of repeating itself. She must fight for her chance at happiness – a chance that some will do anything to prevent . . .

Through A Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen

Karleen Koen's sweeping saga contains unforgettable characters consumed with passion: the extraordinarily beautiful fifteen-year-old noblewoman, Barbara Alderley; the man she adores, the wickedly handsome Roger MontGeoffry; her grandmother, the duchess, who rules the family with cunning and wit; and her mother, the ineffably cruel, self-centered and licentious Diana. Like no other work, Through a Glass Darkly is infused with intrigue, sweetened by romance and awash in the black ink of betrayal.

Dacre's War by Rosemary Goring

Dacre's War is a story of personal and political vengeance. Ten years after the battle of Flodden, Adam Crozier, head of his clan and of an increasingly powerful alliance of Borderers, learns for sure that it was Lord Thomas Dacre - now the most powerful man in the north of England - who ordered his father's murder. He determines to take his revenge. As a fighting man, Crozier would like nothing better than to bring Dacre down face to face but his wife Louise advises him that he must use more subtle methods. So he sets out to engineer Dacre's downfall by turning the machinery of the English court against him. A vivid and fast-moving tale of political intrigue and heartache, Dacre's War is set against the backdrop of the Scottish and English borders, a land where there is never any chance of peace.

What I Hope to Read Next

The Tailor's Girl by Fiona McIntosh

A humble soldier, known only as 'Jones', wakes in hospital with no recollection of his past. The few fleeting fragments of memory he glimpses are horrifying moments from the battlefield at Ypres. His very identity becomes a puzzle he must solve. Then Eden Valentine comes gliding into his world, a stunning tailoress who has a dream of her own business in high fashion but whose duty to her family may never permit her to fulfil. Her fiancé resents the intrusion of the disarming Jones who is in desperate need of her help to unravel his past. Surrounding the mystery is Alex Wynter, the influential heir to an industrial empire and country manor Larksfell Hall. With his aristocratic family still reeling from a recent tragedy, he brings news that will further rock the foundations of their privileged lives. When their three very different worlds collide, the pieces of the past finally fall into place and lead them into wildly unexpected futures. What they discover will bring shattering consequences that threaten to tear apart far more than just the heart of the tailor's girl.

The White Cross by Richard Masefield

The White Cross is a whole new reading experience; a book that brings something entirely original to historical fiction. Set in the late twelfth century at the time of King Richard I's crusade to win back Jerusalem from the Saracens, the story deals with timeless issues - with the moralities of warfare and fundamental religion, the abuse of power, the heights of martial fervour and the depths of disillusionment The writing blazes with colour (literally in the case of the printed edition, which makes groundbreaking use of colour throughout). It pulses with life, capturing the sights and sounds, the very smells of medieval life. At the novel's heart is the relationship between Garon and Elise - the story of an arranged marriage which rapidly develops into something deeper, to challenge a young husband's strongly held beliefs and set him on a long and painful journey to self-realisation, to break and finally restore a woman's spirit as she battles for recognition and for justice in a brutal man's world. And then there is the Berge dal becce; a character who is surely more than he appears? The only way to uncover all the secrets of The White Cross is to read it!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

I had more indoor time last week, which meant more reading time, and though I didn't finish all the books I'd started the previous week, I did manage to complete two, Noonday by Pat Barker and Nelly Dean by Alison Case. Noonday was good, but not as good as its prequel, Toby's Room, and Nelly Dean was not the page turner I expected it to be given its association with one of my favourite classics, Wuthering Heights.

In addition to reading,  I posted two book reviews. Not a great result when I look at all the reviews I have in draft form awaiting a final edit, but it's a start.

Of the four books I'm reading this week, Waratah House has fallen to the bottom of the pile, along with Through a Glass Darkly. The latter has been sitting on my bedside table crying out to be read, but apart from enjoying the first chapter, I've not been tempted to read the remaining 755 pages. Yes, it is chunky and heavy. The edition I have is a 1986 hardback with thick pages. If I fall asleep reading it, I fear I will be crushed under its weight and so it remains beside my bed - for now. 

Pamela Hartshorne's Time's Echo is my preferred book at the moment. I find her books gripping and quick to read. I'm also reading Dacre's War by Rosemary Goring, which has also grabbed my interest and looks like being a quick read too.

As to what I am looking to read next, I have my eye on Death Comes to the Village by Catherine Lloyd, the first in her Regency mystery series and The Tailor's Girl by Fiona McIntosh, which I've been meaning to read for a while.

What I Read Last Week

Nelly Dean by Alison Case

A gripping and heartbreaking novel that reimagines life at Wuthering Heights through the eyes of the Earnshaws' loyal servant, Nelly Dean. Young Nelly Dean has been Hindley's closest companion for as long as she can remember, living freely at the great house, Wuthering Heights. But when the benevolence of the master brings a wild child into the house, Nelly must follow in her mother's footsteps, be called servant and give herself to the family completely. But Nelly is not the only one who must serve. When a new heir is born, a reign of violence begins that will test Nelly's spirit as she finds out what it is to know true sacrifice. Nelly Dean is a wonderment of storytelling, a heartbreaking accompaniment to Emily Bronte's adored work. It is the story of a woman who is fated to bear the pain of a family she is unable to leave, and unable to save.

Noonday by Pat Barker

London, the Blitz, autumn 1940. As the bombs fall on the blacked-out city, ambulance driver Elinor Brooke races from bomb sites to hospitals trying to save the lives of injured survivors, working alongside former friend Kit Neville, while her husband Paul works as an air-raid warden. Once fellow students at the Slade School of Fine Art, before the First World War destroyed the hopes of their generation, they now find themselves caught in another war, this time at home. As the bombing intensifies, the constant risk of death makes all three of them reach out for quick consolation. Old loves and obsessions re-surface until Elinor is brought face to face with an almost impossible choice.

What I'm Reading Today

Waratah House by Ann Whitehead

Waratah House, a beautiful mansion in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, is the only home Marina has ever known. Orphaned at a young age, Marina finds a new family in the colourful characters that occupy the bustling servants' quarters of this stately house.
But not every resident of Waratah House has Marina's best interests at heart and she finds herself forced into exile. Years later, Marina's daughter Emily discovers the past has a way of repeating itself. She must fight for her chance at happiness – a chance that some will do anything to prevent . . .

Through A Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen

Karleen Koen's sweeping saga contains unforgettable characters consumed with passion: the extraordinarily beautiful fifteen-year-old noblewoman, Barbara Alderley; the man she adores, the wickedly handsome Roger MontGeoffry; her grandmother, the duchess, who rules the family with cunning and wit; and her mother, the ineffably cruel, self-centered and licentious Diana. Like no other work, Through a Glass Darkly is infused with intrigue, sweetened by romance and awash in the black ink of betrayal.

Time's Echo by Pamela Hartshorne

York , 1577: Hawise Aske smiles at a stranger in the market, and sets in train a story of obsession and sibling jealousy, of love and hate and warped desire. Drowned as a witch, Hawise pays a high price for that smile, but for a girl like her in Elizabethan York, there is nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. Four and a half centuries later, Grace Trewe, who has travelled the world, is trying to outrun the memories of being caught up in the Boxing Day tsunami. Her stay in York is meant to be a brief one. But in York Grace discovers that time can twist and turn in ways she never imagined. Drawn inexorably into Hawise's life, Grace finds that this time she cannot move on. Will she too be engulfed in the power of the past?

Dacre's War by Rosemary Goring

Dacre's War is a story of personal and political vengeance. Ten years after the battle of Flodden, Adam Crozier, head of his clan and of an increasingly powerful alliance of Borderers, learns for sure that it was Lord Thomas Dacre - now the most powerful man in the north of England - who ordered his father's murder. He determines to take his revenge. As a fighting man, Crozier would like nothing better than to bring Dacre down face to face but his wife Louise advises him that he must use more subtle methods. So he sets out to engineer Dacre's downfall by turning the machinery of the English court against him. A vivid and fast-moving tale of political intrigue and heartache, Dacre's War is set against the backdrop of the Scottish and English borders, a land where there is never any chance of peace.

What I Hope to Read Next

Death Comes to the Village by Catherine Lloyd

Major Robert Kurland has returned to the quiet vistas of his village home to recuperate from the horrors of Waterloo. However injured his body may be, his mind is as active as ever. Too active, perhaps. When he glimpses a shadowy figure from his bedroom window struggling with a heavy load, the tranquil facade of the village begins to loom sinister. Unable to forget the incident, Robert confides in his childhood friend, Miss Lucy Harrington. As the dutiful daughter of the widowed rector, following up on the major's suspicions offers a welcome diversion - but soon presents real danger. Someone is intent on stopping their investigation. And in a place where no one locks their doors, a series of thefts and the disappearance of two young serving girls demands explanation. As Robert grapples with his difficult recovery, he and Lucy try to unearth the dark truth lurking within the village shadows, and stop a killer waiting to strike again.

The Tailor's Girl by Fiona McIntosh

A humble soldier, known only as 'Jones', wakes in hospital with no recollection of his past. The few fleeting fragments of memory he glimpses are horrifying moments from the battlefield at Ypres. His very identity becomes a puzzle he must solve. Then Eden Valentine comes gliding into his world, a stunning tailoress who has a dream of her own business in high fashion but whose duty to her family may never permit her to fulfil. Her fiancé resents the intrusion of the disarming Jones who is in desperate need of her help to unravel his past. Surrounding the mystery is Alex Wynter, the influential heir to an industrial empire and country manor Larksfell Hall. With his aristocratic family still reeling from a recent tragedy, he brings news that will further rock the foundations of their privileged lives. When their three very different worlds collide, the pieces of the past finally fall into place and lead them into wildly unexpected futures. What they discover will bring shattering consequences that threaten to tear apart far more than just the heart of the tailor's girl.

Novels I'm Looking Forward to Reading #1

Here are a few novels I'm looking forward to reading over the course of the coming months. Some have already been released, others are yet to hit the library shelves and book stores.

Sweet Wattle Creek by Kaye Dobbie

Kaye Dobbie is one of my favourite Australian authors. I've followed her since she wrote as Lilly Sommers. Under this pseudonym she has written some straight historical novels and some dual time frame narratives with a touch of the supernatural, all with Australian settings. As Kaye Dobbie she continued this pattern with Colours of Gold, set in the present day and on the Australian goldfields of the mid 19th century. Sweet Wattle Creek was released by Harlequin Australia in September and is receiving excellent reviews.

The chance discovery of an antique wedding dress weaves together the fascinating stories of three women from different eras: Sophie, in hiding from a troubled past; Belle, who must lose everything to learn what really matters; and Martha, forced to give up those she loves in order to avoid exposure. It’s 1931 and Belle Bartholomew has arrived in rural Sweet Wattle Creek to claim her inheritance – a run-down grand hotel formerly owned by Martha Ambrose. Determined to solve the mystery of her birth and the reason why she was bequeathed the hotel Belle runs into difficulties with the townsfolk and their desire to keep their secrets safe. Sixty years later Sophie Matheson is on a quest to find Belle and her family after discovering the wedding dress. The Sweet Wattle Creek Centenary brings more challenges when her past catches up and she must fight for all that matters to her. Who were Belle and Martha and what links their lives together?

The Lake House by Kate Morton

Kate Morton is another favourite Australian author, with many fans world-wide. Her fifth novel, The Lake House, was released this month and, like Kaye Dobbie's Sweet Wattle Creek, the reviews are excellent. I love the three very different book covers.

A missing child...June 1933, and the Edevane family's country house, Loeanneth, is polished and gleaming, ready for the much-anticipated Midsummer Eve party. Alice Edevane, sixteen years old and a budding writer, is especially excited. Not only has she worked out the perfect twist for her novel, she's also fallen helplessly in love with someone she shouldn't. But by the time midnight strikes and fireworks light up the night skies, the Edevane family will have suffered a loss so great that they leave Loeanneth forever.


An abandoned house...Seventy years later, after a particularly troubling case, Sadie Sparrow is sent on an enforced break from her job with the Metropolitan Police. She retreats to her beloved grandfather's cottage in Cornwall but soon finds herself at a loose end. Until one day, Sadie stumbles upon an abandoned house surrounded by overgrown gardens and dense woods, and learns the story of a baby boy who disappeared without a trace. 

An unsolved mystery...Meanwhile, in the attic writing room of her elegant Hampstead home, the formidable Alice Edevane, now an old lady, leads a life as neatly plotted as the bestselling detective novels she writes. Until a young police detective starts asking questions about her family's past, seeking to resurrect the complex tangle of secrets Alice has spent her life trying to escape...

A Tattooed Heart by Deborah Challinor

From New Zealand author, Deborah Challinor, comes the fourth and final book in her Convict Girls series. I read the first three books (Behind the Sun, Girl of Shadows, The Silk Thief) last year and have eagerly awaited the conculsion to the girls' story. A Tattooed Heart is due for release in November from Harper Collins.

1832: Convict girls Friday Woolfe, Sarah Morgan and Harriet Clarke have been serving their sentences in Sydney Town for three years. For much of that time they have lived in fear of sinister and formidable Bella Jackson, who continues to blackmail them for a terrible crime. Each of them has begun to make a life for herself, but when Harrie's adopted child Charlotte is abducted and taken to Newcastle, the girls must risk their very freedom to save her. But is Friday up to the task? Will the desperate battle with her own vices drive her to fail not only herself, but those she loves and all who love her? In this final volume of a saga about four convict girls transported halfway around the world, friends and family reunite but cherished loved ones are lost, and an utterly shocking secret is revealed.

House of Shadows by Pamela Hartshorne

I discovered Pamela Hartshorne earlier this year when I picked up two of her three novels, The Edge of Dark and The Memory of Midnight. I am currently reading her third, Time's Echo. These dual time frame novels are set in the present and 16th century York, England. House of Shadows is due for release in December from Pan MacMillan UK.

When Kate Vavasour wakes in hospital, she can remember nothing about the family gathered around her bed, or of her life before the accident. The doctors diagnose post-traumatic amnesia and say the memories should start returning. Which they do ...but these memories are not her own. They belong to Isabel Vavasour, who lived and died at Askerby Hall over four hundred years earlier ...Returning to Askerby Hall to recuperate, Kate finds herself in a house full of shadows and suspicions. Unable to recognise her family, her friends or even her small son, she struggles to piece together the events that led to her terrible fall. Life at Askerby, it seems, is not as illustrious as the Vavasours would have the public believe. But before she can uncover the mysteries of the present, she must first discover the truth about the past ...Was Isabel's madness real, or was her mistake trusting the one person she thought would never betray her?

The High Flyer: An Aviation Mystery by Elizabeth Darrell

Also due for release in December, from Severn House UK, is a new mystery from Elizabeth Darrell and perhaps the start of a new series. She also writes historical novels, some previously under the name of Emma Drummond, set in the 19th century, World War I and World War II.

Twelve years after World War I, former Flight Sergeant Ben Norton must discover the truth behind his wartime colleague's death. 1930. The Lance family, major shareholders in Marshfield Aviation, watch in horror as their prototype fighter fails to pull out of a dive during a display before government and military VIPs. At the pilot's funeral, a man introduces himself to the widow as Ben Norton, a close friend of her husband during war service with the Royal Flying Corps. Ben becomes Marshfield's new Test Pilot, determined to refute worldwide press claims of a faulty aircraft design. Convinced that deliberate sabotage was behind the crash, the young flyer vows to uncover whoever was responsible. But who is Ben Norton? And why is it that the man he claims to have been his close wartime colleague had not once mentioned Ben to his wife during eight years of marriage?

Book Review: Homeland by Clare Francis

1946. Billy Greer, recently demobbed, reluctantly returns to Crick Farm on the Somerset Levels after an absence of seven years. He finds the farm neglected, his uncle aged and his aunt bed-ridden from a stroke. Despite his eagerness to take up a job offer in London, he decides to restore the farm to order. However, he soon realises that his uncle will be unable to cope when he leaves and on the recommendation of the village doctor, he hires a Pole from the Middlezoy refugee camp to help work the withy farm.

Wladyslaw Malinowski, a veteran of the Battle of Monte Cassino, was a student of history and literature before abandoning his studies to join the Polish army. Now a member of the Polish Resettlement Corps, he is one of many Poles faced with the decision of whether to return to his homeland or remain in England once he has served the mandatory two years. His sister writes from Poland that there is nothing to fear in returning, but Wladyslaw is not so sure that a Poland under Russian rule is the place for him and there are rumours of imprisonment or death for those who do return.

Befriended by the village doctor and Stella, the local school teacher, Wladyslaw is determined to improve his English as the first step to being assimilated into the country he is planning to make his new home. When offered the job at Crick Farm he eagerly accepts. At first, due to the language barrier and Billy's taciturn nature, he finds living on the farm and the work challenging, but eventually he adjusts to both.

My overall impression of Homeland is one of bleakness. Not because it is set during one of the harshest winters that England ever experienced, but images evoked of the landscape and the people are, like the cover of the book, grey and sombre. The flooded Somerset Levels are cold and wet. The unharvested withies are rotting. The people are dispirited and growing resentful as they continue to deal with housing, job, fuel and food shortages, exacerbated by returning servicemen.

The Poles in the refugee camp also have problems. They are mistrusted by the locals, who do not understand their ways or their reluctance to return to Poland now that the war is over. When a local war hero, a veteran of the Burma campaign, is found dead, suspicion falls on a Pole from the camp with tragic consequences.

The historical content and the unusual setting drew me to this novel. The formation of the Polish Resettlement Corps and the plight of Polish refugees in post war Britain is not often the subject of novels. Nor is the growing of withies on the Somerset Levels, but the two combine to make this a very memorable read.

Book Review: The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope

Twenty-five year old Clara Amedroz, following the death of her brother, Charles, the heir to the Belton Estate in Somerset, learns that her dowry has been squandered on her brother's debts and when her father dies she will be destitute and homeless, as the entail of the Belton estate will pass to a distant cousin, William (Will) Belton.

It is assumed that Clara will inherit from Mrs. Winterfield, a lady she calls aunt, but is in fact not a blood relation. However, when Mrs. Winterfield dies she leaves her entire estate to her nephew, Captain Frederic Aylmer, the man Clara believes herself in love with though she has received no encouragement from him in all the years of their acquaintance.

Will, a prosperous Norfolk farmer, has not been welcomed at Belton since a childhood disagreement with Charles saw him banished, but when advised of his cousin's death, he immediately comes to Belton Castle to offer his assistance to Clara and her father. He finds the estate mismanaged, but before he can instigate any changes he must overcome Mr. Amedroz' dislike of him.

Despite Clara's age and her impoverished circumstances, she is presented with two very eligible suitors in Will and Captain Aylmer. Both are successful in their chosen professions, but here the similarities end. Captain Aylmer, from a wealthy family, is a Member of Parliament and a gentleman. He is cool and unemotional, and only offers marriage to Clara due to a death-bed promise made to his aunt. Will, on the other hand, is impetuous, full of good humour and declares his feelings for Clara within a matter of days of his arrival at Belton Castle.

Another option other than marriage is available to Clara, but her pride will not allow her to accept charity from either of her suitors. She refuses £1,500 from Captain Aylmer, the amount he believed his aunt intended to settle on her, and Will's generosity in allowing her to remain at Belton indefinitely when her father dies.

As Captain Aylmer's nature and that of his family is revealed, the outcome of the story wasn't hard to deduce. When first introduced Captain Aylmer is likeable though a little reserved, but as the story progressed I gradually came to dislike him. His treatment of Clara was not of a man in love and deferring to his mother in dealing with Clara did not bode well for their future relationship. I found it strange that he didn't rush to Clara's side when her father died. The only member of the Aylmer family to offer Clara support was Lord Aylmer, the Captain's father, but even he wasn't brave enough to contradict his wife, who wasn't in favour of the marriage. One of the more entertaining scenes in the novel is the confrontation between Clara and the formidable Lady Aylmer over Clara's friendship with Mrs. Askerton, to whom some scandal is attached.

The only fault I could find with Will was I felt his offer of marriage was a little hasty. His feelings for Clara never wavered. He remained committed to the estate and the Amedroz family despite Clara's rejection of him.

With Clara my emotions see-sawed between admiration and exasperation. At times she is obtuse. Perhaps this was to instill some comedy into the novel as The Belton Estate is considered to be one of Anthony Trollope's comedic novels? I found this irritating. It made the conversations between Clara and Mrs. Askerton appear confrontational and not what one would expect between two friends who seemingly have affection for one another.

I did enjoy this novel until its ending. The story went beyond what I thought was the natural place for it to end and the manner of the ending was strange. I was puzzled as to why Anthony Trollope chose to end this novel in such a way. My pleasure in Clara having realised her mistake in choosing Captain Aylmer was spoiled by the childish dialogue with Will in the final scene. This was completely out of character and destroyed my overall satisfaction with the novel.

However, I am still interested in reading more of Anthony Trollope's novels. While not yet ready to commit to the Barchester or the Palliser series, his shorter, stand alone novels, which include Castle Richmond, Cousin Henry and Rachel Ray are on my reading wish list.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme, previously hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, is now hosted by 

Kathryn at The Book Date

Spring has arrived with a vengeance in the south east corner of Australia. We have just suffered through the coldest winter in years and were looking for some respite from the weather with the coming of spring, but this was not to be. Now we are in a heat wave. With the hottest start to October on record, it is not looking good for the summer months. The level of our dam has dropped alarmingly and the grass is beginning to turn brown.

My reading and blogging time has been interrupted by the need to be outdoors mowing grass and generally preparing our rural block for the oncoming bush fire season. However, I still managed to remove four novels from my TBR list, but I'm way behind on my book reviews. Lady of the Butterflies was such an enjoyable read that I'm adding two other novels by Fiona Mountain to my reading pile, Cavalier Queen, and her debut novel, Isabella. The Love of a Lifetime was a wonderful story from Mary Fitzgerald, as was Louise Walters' debut novel, Mrs. Sinclair's Suitcase.  The Last Embrace is only the second novel I've read by Pam Jenoff. While a good read, I didn't enjoy it as much as The Winter Guest.

This week I'm reading Noonday by Pat Barker, the sequel to Toby's Room. It is also the final novel of her Life Class Trilogy. I'm also reading Nelly Dean by Alison Case and a novel by an Australian author, Ann Whitehead, entitled Waratah House.

Up next will be one of the novels I've already mentioned by Fiona Mountain, Cavalier or Isabella. I'm also keen to read Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen after taking a peek at the first chapter.

What I Read Last Week

Lady of the Butterflies by Fiona Mountain

Born into a world seething with treachery and suspicion, Eleanor Goodricke grows up on the Somerset Levels just after the English Civil Wars, heiress to her late mother's estates and daughter of a Puritan soldier who fears for his brilliant daughter with her dangerous passion for natural history - and for butterflies in particular. Her reckless courage will take her to places where no woman of her day ever dared to go. Her fearless ambition will give her a place in history for all time. But it is her passionate heart which will lead her into a consuming love - and mortal peril.

The Last Embrace by Pam Jenoff

August 1940 and 16-year-old refugee Addie escapes Fascist Italy to live with her aunt and uncle in Atlantic City. As WW2 breaks, she finds acceptance and love with Charlie Connelly and his family. But war changes everything: secrets and passions abound, and when one brother's destructive choices lead to the tragic death of another, the Connelly family is decimated, and Addie along with them. Now 18, she flees, first to Washington and then to war-torn London where she is swept up with life as a correspondent. But when Charlie, now a paratrooper, re-appears, Addie discovers that the past is impossible to outrun. Now she must make one last desperate attempt to find within herself the answers that will lead the way home.

The Love of a Lifetime by Mary Fitzgerald

From the moment she arrives to live on his family's farm in Shropshire, Richard Wilde is in love with Elizabeth Nugent. And as they grow up, it seems like nothing can keep them apart. But as World War II rages, Richard goes to fight in the jungles of Burma, leaving Elizabeth to deal with a terrible secret that could destroy his family. Despite the distance between them, though, Richard and Elizabeth's love remains constant through war, tragedy and betrayal. But once the fighting is over, will the secrets and lies that Elizabeth has been hiding keep them apart for ever?

Mrs. Sinclair's Suitcase by Louise Walters

Roberta, a lonely thirty-four-year-old bibliophile, works at The Old and New Bookshop in England. When she finds a letter inside her centenarian grandmother's battered old suitcase that hints at a dark secret, her understanding of her family's history is completely upturned. Running alongside Roberta's narrative is that of her grandmother, Dorothy, as a forty-year-old childless woman desperate for motherhood during the early years of World War II. After a chance encounter with a Polish war pilot, Dorothy believes she's finally found happiness, but must instead make an unthinkable decision whose consequences forever change the framework of her family. The parallel stories of Roberta and Dorothy unravel over the course of eighty years as they both make their own ways through secrets, lies, sacrifices, and love ...

What I'm Reading Today

Nelly Dean by Alison Case

A gripping and heartbreaking novel that reimagines life at Wuthering Heights through the eyes of the Earnshaws' loyal servant, Nelly Dean. Young Nelly Dean has been Hindley's closest companion for as long as she can remember, living freely at the great house, Wuthering Heights. But when the benevolence of the master brings a wild child into the house, Nelly must follow in her mother's footsteps, be called servant and give herself to the family completely. But Nelly is not the only one who must serve. When a new heir is born, a reign of violence begins that will test Nelly's spirit as she finds out what it is to know true sacrifice. Nelly Dean is a wonderment of storytelling, a heartbreaking accompaniment to Emily Bronte's adored work. It is the story of a woman who is fated to bear the pain of a family she is unable to leave, and unable to save.

Waratah House by Ann Whitehead

Waratah House, a beautiful mansion in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, is the only home Marina has ever known. Orphaned at a young age, Marina finds a new family in the colourful characters that occupy the bustling servants' quarters of this stately house.
But not every resident of Waratah House has Marina's best interests at heart and she finds herself forced into exile. Years later, Marina's daughter Emily discovers the past has a way of repeating itself. She must fight for her chance at happiness – a chance that some will do anything to prevent . . .

Noonday by Pat Barker

London, the Blitz, autumn 1940. As the bombs fall on the blacked-out city, ambulance driver Elinor Brooke races from bomb sites to hospitals trying to save the lives of injured survivors, working alongside former friend Kit Neville, while her husband Paul works as an air-raid warden. Once fellow students at the Slade School of Fine Art, before the First World War destroyed the hopes of their generation, they now find themselves caught in another war, this time at home. As the bombing intensifies, the constant risk of death makes all three of them reach out for quick consolation. Old loves and obsessions re-surface until Elinor is brought face to face with an almost impossible choice.

What I Hope to Read Next

Cavalier Queen by Fiona Mountain

It was Charles I's love for his Queen Henrietta Maria which plummeted England into the darkness of the Civil Wars, but it was the love and loyalty of another man that sustained her through days of betrayal, destitution and death. Tall and brave, Harry Jermyn is captivated by the witty French princess, just fourteen years old when she sails with him to Dover, queen of a land she has never seen, of a people whose language she cannot speak, who despise her for her faith - and wife of a king she has never met. Charles grows to love her but rebellion and the threat of execution force her into exile and into the arms of Harry, who risks his life for her sake. Together they work for the royalist cause, pawning the crown jewels, securing men and arms and returning to England to lead an army south. As England is torn apart, Henrietta's heart is torn between the two men she loves, between duty and illicit passion. The subject of dangerous gossip and public scandal, she is powerless to calm the storm which will lead to tragedy.

Isabella by Fiona Mountain

Fletcher Christian and Isabella Curwen are first cousins who grow up together in the Lake District; kindred spirits who, like Heathcliff and Cathy, are bound to fall in love. But Isabella is promised to another cousin, John, and Fletcher, dashing though he is, comes from the poor side of the family. When Isabella, an only child and heir to the Curwen fortune, inherits and John becomes her guardian, he and her relations conspire to prevent her and Fletcher's union. Isabella marries John; Fletcher joins the Navy and later signs on for the Bounty voyage. And the rest, you might think, is history. In fact, it is only the first act in the drama of Fletcher and Isabella...

Through A Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen

Karleen Koen's sweeping saga contains unforgettable characters consumed with passion: the extraordinarily beautiful fifteen-year-old noblewoman, Barbara Alderley; the man she adores, the wickedly handsome Roger MontGeoffry; her grandmother, the duchess, who rules the family with cunning and wit; and her mother, the ineffably cruel, self-centered and licentious Diana. Like no other work, Through a Glass Darkly is infused with intrigue, sweetened by romance and awash in the black ink of betrayal.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Last week I picked up  The Lost Child by Caryl Phillips with mixed feelings. This book piqued my interest by the blurb's reference to the Wuthering Heights character, Heathcliffe. I hoped that the first chapter or two would entice me to keep reading, but sadly the vibe wasn't there. For the time being, I've set this one aside.

However, two other books in my reading pile that did grab my attention were The Misbegotten by Katherine Webb and Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey. Not intending to read them as I was engrossed in Lady of the Butterflies, I was drawn to their covers and couldn't resist a peek inside. Both were very quick reads and I enjoyed them though they were vastly different. 

Letters to the Lost  is a dual time frame narrative about a World War II romance and a young woman's determination, in the present day, to fulfill a dying man's wish. This was a very emotional read, but a lovely one. 

Katherine Webb's The Misbegotten is an unusual mystery. It is set in 1821 with flashbacks to the years leading up to the disappearance of Alice, betrothed to Jonathan and loved as a sister by Starling. Lots of twists in this one before what happened to Alice is revealed.

Last week I also read Rachel Ray by Anthony Trollope, The Silent Tide by Rachel Hore and a book of short stories by Elizabeth Gaskell, Curious, if True.

My aim this week is to finish Lady of the Butterflies and The Last Embrace before moving on to The Love of a Lifetime  by Mary Fitzgerald. At the moment I seem to be gravitating towards novels set during World War II. 

What I Read Last Week

Rachel Ray by Anthony Trollope

Luke Rowan has inherited a share of the Bengall and Tappitt Brewery in Baselhurst, Devon. He travels there from London and is welcomed into the home of the Tappitts. He meets Rachel Ray, a friend of the Tappitt daughters, and falls in love. Luke and Rachel become engaged, but the relationship causes controversy in the town. When Luke returns to London after a dispute with Mr. Tappitt over the brewery, rumours circulate that he has not behaved in a gentlemanly fashion and Rachel is advised to break off the engagement ...

The Silent Tide by Rachel Hore

When Emily Gordon, editor at a London publishing house, commissions an account of great English novelist Hugh Morton, she finds herself steering a tricky path between Morton's formidable widow, Jacqueline, who's determined to protect his secrets, and the biographer, charming and ambitious Joel Richards. But someone is sending Emily mysterious missives about Hugh Morton's past and she discovers a buried story that simply has to be told… One winter's day in 1948, nineteen year old Isabel Barber arrives at her Aunt Penelope's house in Earl's Court having run away from home to follow her star. A chance meeting with an East European refugee poet leads to a job with his publisher, McKinnon & Holt, and a fascinating career beckons. But when she develops a close editorial relationship with charismatic young debut novelist Hugh Morton and the professional becomes passionately personal, not only are all her plans put to flight, but she finds herself in a struggle for her very survival. Rachel Hore's intriguing and suspenseful new novel magnificently evokes the milieux of London publishing past and present and connects the very different worlds of two young women, Emily and Isabel, who through their individual quests for truth, love and happiness become inextricably linked.

The Misbegotten by Katherine Webb

Bath, England, 1821. Rachel Crofton escapes the binds of her unhappy employment as a governess by marrying a charming self-made businessman. She sees a chance to create the family and home she has so long been without, but her new life soon takes an unexpected turn. Through her new husband's connections, Rachel is invited to become the companion of the reclusive Jonathan Alleyn, a man tortured by memories of the Peninsula War, and tormented by the disappearance of his childhood sweetheart, Alice. Starling, foundling servant to the Alleyn family, is convinced that Alice, the woman she loved as a sister, was stolen from her. Did Alice run away? Or did something altogether more sinister occur? Starling is determined to uncover the truth. Others want only to forget, and will go to extreme lengths to do so. Rachel's arrival has an unsettling effect on the whole Alleyn household, and suddenly it seems that the dark deeds of the past will no longer stay contained.Shattering truths lurk behind Bath's immaculate facades, but the courage Rachel and Starling need to bring these truths to light will come at a very high price.

Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey

Late on a frozen February evening, a young woman is running through the streets of London. Having fled from her abusive boyfriend and with nowhere to go, Jess stumbles onto a forgotten lane where a small, clearly unlived in old house offers her best chance of shelter for the night. The next morning, a mysterious letter arrives and when she can't help but open it, she finds herself drawn inexorably into the story of two lovers from another time. In London 1942, Stella meets Dan, a US airman, quite by accident, but there is no denying the impossible, unstoppable attraction that draws them together. Dan is a B-17 pilot flying his bomber into Europe from a British airbase; his odds of survival are one in five. In the midst of such uncertainty, the one thing they hold onto is the letters they write to each other. Fate is unkind and they are separated by decades and continents. In the present, Jess becomes determined to find out what happened to them. Her hope--inspired by a love so powerful it spans a lifetime--will lead her to find a startling redemption in her own life in this powerfully moving novel.

What I'm Reading Today

Lady of the Butterflies by Fiona Mountain

Born into a world seething with treachery and suspicion, Eleanor Goodricke grows up on the Somerset Levels just after the English Civil Wars, heiress to her late mother's estates and daughter of a Puritan soldier who fears for his brilliant daughter with her dangerous passion for natural history - and for butterflies in particular. Her reckless courage will take her to places where no woman of her day ever dared to go. Her fearless ambition will give her a place in history for all time. But it is her passionate heart which will lead her into a consuming love - and mortal peril.

The Last Embrace by Pam Jenoff

August 1940 and 16-year-old refugee Addie escapes Fascist Italy to live with her aunt and uncle in Atlantic City. As WW2 breaks, she finds acceptance and love with Charlie Connelly and his family. But war changes everything: secrets and passions abound, and when one brother's destructive choices lead to the tragic death of another, the Connelly family is decimated, and Addie along with them. Now 18, she flees, first to Washington and then to war-torn London where she is swept up with life as a correspondent. But when Charlie, now a paratrooper, re-appears, Addie discovers that the past is impossible to outrun. Now she must make one last desperate attempt to find within herself the answers that will lead the way home.

What I Hope to Read Next

The Love of a Lifetime by Mary Fitzgerald

From the moment she arrives to live on his family's farm in Shropshire, Richard Wilde is in love with Elizabeth Nugent. And as they grow up, it seems like nothing can keep them apart. But as World War II rages, Richard goes to fight in the jungles of Burma, leaving Elizabeth to deal with a terrible secret that could destroy his family. Despite the distance between them, though, Richard and Elizabeth's love remains constant through war, tragedy and betrayal. But once the fighting is over, will the secrets and lies that Elizabeth has been hiding keep them apart for ever?