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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
I wanted to read this book because I enjoy historical fiction, including stories set in the post-Edwardian era. The Other Daughter hints at romantic entanglements, but I read it more as hybrid of drama and suspense. Imagine if a later season of Downton Abbey introduced a character who turned out to be Lady Mary's half-sister, born to Grantham's "first love." I read about 80% of the book in one night to see what would happen.
In sum, Rachel Woodley arrives from a governess appointment in Paris to find her mother has not only passed, but kept her father's true identity from her. Her desire for closure leads her to agree to a charade planned by a distant relative (with the aristocracy, seems they're all related in some way) to pass herself off as a woman of means and integrate into society. Get into the good graces of her half-sister and use her to get to her father and then...well, Rachel needs to figure out that part.
I enjoyed the entire story - the discovery, the transformation from Rachel into society girl "Vera", and how her feelings for various players in the game change over the short time. The book ends happily enough, perhaps not in the way you would expect, but it seemed to me it stayed true to certain attitudes among nobility.
ARC received from the publisher via NetGalley
In sum, Rachel Woodley arrives from a governess appointment in Paris to find her mother has not only passed, but kept her father's true identity from her. Her desire for closure leads her to agree to a charade planned by a distant relative (with the aristocracy, seems they're all related in some way) to pass herself off as a woman of means and integrate into society. Get into the good graces of her half-sister and use her to get to her father and then...well, Rachel needs to figure out that part.
I enjoyed the entire story - the discovery, the transformation from Rachel into society girl "Vera", and how her feelings for various players in the game change over the short time. The book ends happily enough, perhaps not in the way you would expect, but it seemed to me it stayed true to certain attitudes among nobility.
ARC received from the publisher via NetGalley
It is well documented that I love Lauren Willig, and this title did not disappoint. When Rachel gets news that her mother is sick, she rushes back from her post as a governess in France. But she's too late. Soon Rachel is left trying to make her way in the world without her beloved mother. And then she finds out that her life and identify as she knew it, might have been a complete lie. Teaming up with a member of the ton (and gossip columnist to boot), Rachel throws herself into the middle of the Bright Young Things of London society, hoping to find answers and herself.
While the plot tropes of novel don't feel unfamiliar, Willig has a way of making me care about her characters. I found myself getting teared up about Rachel's plight. I felt her frustration, her heartbreak, and her sense that she was drifting through life alone after losing her mother. I wasn't necessarily surprised by anything, but I was so invested in the characters it kept me going. All of the characters here were very well drawn, and I loved that Willig never really set Rachel, Olivia, or Cece up as competition to each other. They each got to be complex individuals with their strengths and weaknesses, but all endearing.
I did hope for a little more from the romance. I think all of the pieces were there and laid out perfectly in the beginning. They were just never fully developed. We rushed to an ending that didn't feel completely earned. I'm used to getting to go on a journey with my couples in Willig's novels. She's usually so good about fitting those pieces together. This time around it felt like there was maybe a link or two missing. I definitely wanted the characters together, but I needed a little bit more time spent with them first. Still, I appreciated her multi focus.
This is a strictly historical novel and it was completely enjoyable. I did find myself missing Willig's signature back and forth from historical to modern time periods, simply because she does it so well. Yet, I don't think the story lacks anything for want of it by any means. There were also some Evelyn Waugh cameos which I thoroughly appreciated. If this is the kind of novel Willig continues to produce after she wraps up the Pink Carnations series later this year, I will be perfectly content.
While the plot tropes of novel don't feel unfamiliar, Willig has a way of making me care about her characters. I found myself getting teared up about Rachel's plight. I felt her frustration, her heartbreak, and her sense that she was drifting through life alone after losing her mother. I wasn't necessarily surprised by anything, but I was so invested in the characters it kept me going. All of the characters here were very well drawn, and I loved that Willig never really set Rachel, Olivia, or Cece up as competition to each other. They each got to be complex individuals with their strengths and weaknesses, but all endearing.
I did hope for a little more from the romance. I think all of the pieces were there and laid out perfectly in the beginning. They were just never fully developed. We rushed to an ending that didn't feel completely earned. I'm used to getting to go on a journey with my couples in Willig's novels. She's usually so good about fitting those pieces together. This time around it felt like there was maybe a link or two missing. I definitely wanted the characters together, but I needed a little bit more time spent with them first. Still, I appreciated her multi focus.
This is a strictly historical novel and it was completely enjoyable. I did find myself missing Willig's signature back and forth from historical to modern time periods, simply because she does it so well. Yet, I don't think the story lacks anything for want of it by any means. There were also some Evelyn Waugh cameos which I thoroughly appreciated. If this is the kind of novel Willig continues to produce after she wraps up the Pink Carnations series later this year, I will be perfectly content.
Rachel is an English governess looking after the children of the wealthy in France. She is situated in an uncomfortable position in the household: betwixt and between, she is neither upstairs nor downstairs. One day she receives a telegram informing her her mother is very sick and urging her to return to England. When her employer refuses to give her time off she quits and leaves immediately, only to arrive home to find out her mother has died of influenza and already been buried. Rachel is heartbroken; her father died when she was a small child and her mother was the only family she had. Even worse, her mother's landlord is evicting her, leaving Rachel unemployed, homeless and with only four days to pack up the house and leave with the few mementos of her parents she has: her mother's piano and her father's chess set.
Exhausted from her travels and devastated by the news, Rachel curls up on her mother's bed, taking comfort from a ritual from her childhood where she would climb into bed with her mother for reassurance. While in bed, something crinkled beneath her fingers. It was a page torn from an expensive magazine, the type her mother never read. On the page, her father's face stared up at her, much older than she remembered, next to a young woman. The caption underneath the photo read "Lady Olivia Standish, escorted by her father, the Earl of Ardmore". Rachel's father was alive, and not who she thought he was.
Rachel dashes to Oxford, to see her only remaining relative, a distant cousin David. She confronts him with the article and he confesses that he and her mother have known the truth all along. Distraught, she flees David's office. David sends one of his former students, Simon Montford, to follow her. Simon, like Rachel's father, is part of the aristocracy, and he knows Rachel's father and his other family well. Between them, they hatch a plan: Rachel will pose as a distant cousin to Simon. Through his connections, she will gain entry into London society and, somehow and somewhere, meet her father again.
The Other Daughter is set in the 1920s in England. It was a time of great change for the country: the Bright Young Things were breaking down conventions and scandalising conservatives while England has a whole was dealing with the aftermath of the Great War and the devastating effect it had on all social classes. I loved the '20s moments, like the two Evelyns canoodling in the corner of a nightclub and the too laugh-provoking language. The tales of fun and champagne were interpersed with moments of genuine pathos and, underlying it all, the search for Rachel's history and truth about her past. I enjoyed this book from start to finish and would readily recommend it for anyone who wants a good historical romantic read. Four stars.
Exhausted from her travels and devastated by the news, Rachel curls up on her mother's bed, taking comfort from a ritual from her childhood where she would climb into bed with her mother for reassurance. While in bed, something crinkled beneath her fingers. It was a page torn from an expensive magazine, the type her mother never read. On the page, her father's face stared up at her, much older than she remembered, next to a young woman. The caption underneath the photo read "Lady Olivia Standish, escorted by her father, the Earl of Ardmore". Rachel's father was alive, and not who she thought he was.
Rachel dashes to Oxford, to see her only remaining relative, a distant cousin David. She confronts him with the article and he confesses that he and her mother have known the truth all along. Distraught, she flees David's office. David sends one of his former students, Simon Montford, to follow her. Simon, like Rachel's father, is part of the aristocracy, and he knows Rachel's father and his other family well. Between them, they hatch a plan: Rachel will pose as a distant cousin to Simon. Through his connections, she will gain entry into London society and, somehow and somewhere, meet her father again.
The Other Daughter is set in the 1920s in England. It was a time of great change for the country: the Bright Young Things were breaking down conventions and scandalising conservatives while England has a whole was dealing with the aftermath of the Great War and the devastating effect it had on all social classes. I loved the '20s moments, like the two Evelyns canoodling in the corner of a nightclub and the too laugh-provoking language. The tales of fun and champagne were interpersed with moments of genuine pathos and, underlying it all, the search for Rachel's history and truth about her past. I enjoyed this book from start to finish and would readily recommend it for anyone who wants a good historical romantic read. Four stars.