Another book that's been highly touted online - I finally got around to this one when I was traveling (one of the few times I read ebooks).
Yorkshire by Lynne Connolly
(2002, Georgian) 7/7/05
Grade: 4
Rose and her family have just arrived at Hareton Abbey, to find the house in ruins and the Earl under the spell of a fundamentalist minister. She also meets Richard, Lord Strang, who is immediately drawn to her. Within days, the Earl is dead and Rose is deeply involved with Richard - but who was behind the Earl’s death, and can she trust this new love in her life?
At first, I found Yorkshire frustrating - there were so many characters, it was hard to tell who was who (especially difficult in an ebook where you can't easily flip back to check a name or reread a paragraph). I was also skeptical of the “instant” love and commitment between Richard and Rose - it didn’t seem based in anything except the requirements of the plot. But once I’d gotten past this, the book improved, and I found myself caught up in the detailed descriptions of the Georgian time period and the well-written characters. It’s hard to grade this - I was close to giving up on it after the first third (and I might have if I hadn't been on a bus with nothing else to read), but it did improve quite a bit in the second half, with many memorable scenes.
Although this didn't quite live up to the online hype, it was an enjoyable and unique book. The next books in the series seem to lean more toward mystery / suspense, unfortunately - not a type of book I usually enjoy. I'm not sure the next book is worth paying full price (too bad I can't skim through it at the library), but I'm glad I read this one.
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1 comment:
Thank you! Someone pointed me at this page, otherwise I wouldn't have found it!
"Yorkshire" was my first book, and dear to me for that reason. My aims in writing the series was to show a marriage with all its ups and downs. The mystery element is to provide a different story in each book, so they can be read separately, if wished.
"Yorkshire" is being reissued by Mundania later this year (2006) so I've had the opportunity to rewrite a little. The plethora of characters at the start has now gone (I left Southwood at home) and the story is more concentrated on the love story.
I wanted to show a man at a turning point of his life, and how he found his salvation in the least likely place!
I'm very glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
Lynne Connolly
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