Scan barcode
wildfaeriecaps's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't read the description of this book. Not before I bought it, nor after. So when I realized it was about Edward Cary I was *beyond* excited. And then the cameo at the end? I. Love. These. Books. If Susanna Craig publishes it, I will buy it.
pgchuis's review
2.0
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.
Charlotte's elderly husband has just died after a very brief marriage, leaving her fairly wealthy. Her stepson, who inherits a generous amount too, tells her he is going to contest her marriage and inheritance on the basis that his father was insane when he married her. Charlotte believes that she is being watched by a man employed by her stepson and arranges to trade places with her maid to escape this surveillance, but unfortunately trades bags too and is left penniless when her maid is driven off in her carriage. She is rescued by Edward, who is travelling to his father's estate to confront him after 20 years in Antigua. Finding his father absent and the place in ruins, Edward tells Charlotte (and the few estate tenants/ servants) that he is Mr Cary, the new steward.
The plot of this story has far too much going on in it, and I suspect this is partly because some of the characters appeared in previous instalments in this series. There was Tempest, whom Edward mused about a lot, but whom we never got to meet, the Fairfaxes, who popped up out of nowhere towards the end, and Mari the freed slave, whose storyline I actually quite enjoyed. Did we really need Charlotte's father to turn up at the end? Jack's appearance seemed as if it might move things along, but just ended in the recital of yet more parts of the extended family tree.
Then there were the puzzling actions and motivations: when was Edward planning to confront his father and tell everyone who he really was? Why did no one in the village recognize him, especially as he was using the family surname? What was Charlotte's long term (or even medium term) plan? Was Jack really a womanizer or only pretending to be? Why didn't Charlotte tell Edward who she really was? The storyline concerning Tessie was obvious from a mile off and too sentimental for me.
I did like the epilogue though.
Charlotte's elderly husband has just died after a very brief marriage, leaving her fairly wealthy. Her stepson, who inherits a generous amount too, tells her he is going to contest her marriage and inheritance on the basis that his father was insane when he married her. Charlotte believes that she is being watched by a man employed by her stepson and arranges to trade places with her maid to escape this surveillance, but unfortunately trades bags too and is left penniless when her maid is driven off in her carriage. She is rescued by Edward, who is travelling to his father's estate to confront him after 20 years in Antigua. Finding his father absent and the place in ruins, Edward tells Charlotte (and the few estate tenants/ servants) that he is Mr Cary, the new steward.
The plot of this story has far too much going on in it, and I suspect this is partly because some of the characters appeared in previous instalments in this series. There was Tempest, whom Edward mused about a lot, but whom we never got to meet, the Fairfaxes, who popped up out of nowhere towards the end, and Mari the freed slave, whose storyline I actually quite enjoyed. Did we really need Charlotte's father to turn up at the end? Jack's appearance seemed as if it might move things along, but just ended in the recital of yet more parts of the extended family tree.
Then there were the puzzling actions and motivations: when was Edward planning to confront his father and tell everyone who he really was? Why did no one in the village recognize him, especially as he was using the family surname? What was Charlotte's long term (or even medium term) plan? Was Jack really a womanizer or only pretending to be? Why didn't Charlotte tell Edward who she really was? The storyline concerning Tessie was obvious from a mile off and too sentimental for me.
I did like the epilogue though.
More...