3.77 AVERAGE

miamia1's profile picture

miamia1's review

4.0
dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Really interesting take on the case of Lord Lucan

emma_coleman's review

3.5
dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

After a traumatic time involving giving up two children and psychiatric care Mandy River is ready to move forward. She arrives in London to work as a nanny with little training but lots of experience and is taken on by Lady Morven to look after her two children. Mandy is supported by her friend Rosemary, a Norland Nanny, and she falls for Neville, a local man. Life in the Morven household is chaotic with fragile Lady Morven in the midst of a bitter battle with her estranged husband, the glamorous gambling Lord Morven. Eventually this has to end in tragedy.
Dawson says that she wanted to write about Lord Lucan but wanted some artistic licence and here she has imagined characters grounded in fact but embellished with fiction. Mandy is a rather tragic character, Lady Morven hard to like and Lord Morven may or may not be a killer. The period touches are immaculate - contraception and sex, racism and fashion are handled brilliantly - the life of society and poverty in 1970s London is juxtaposed. There is a certain degree of floweriness to the writing in places but the sadness of all comes through.

ainsleyiscariot's review

3.5
dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

emiliewin3's review

5.0
dark reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

toofondofbooks's review

4.0
dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
medium-paced

raquelftimponi's review

3.5
dark reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

georgew's review

2.0
dark sad tense
alisonp's profile picture

alisonp's review

4.0
dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes