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A review by english_lady03
Worthy of Legend by Roseanna M. White
4.0
Worthy of Legend was a beautiful and heartfelt conclusion to Roseanna M. White's fourth trilogy set in Georgian Britain. The Isles of Scilly, to be exact. Of course, I loved Bram. He’s a literature nerd with a secret obsession with the Arthurian Legends.
His best friend is an amateur archaeologist with a special interest in the history of the druids and the Arthurian Legends. He's a nerd like me, and he loves animals. He rescues puppies. Can this man get any more adorable? Sighhhs. Emily is great too, she’s a young woman rejected by her family who is trying to escape their reputation and the illegal actions of her brother. She struggles with her duty to love her family (and her sibling) and doing the right thing.
The title of the story is very clever. Legends are a huge part of the story, first there is the Legend of Lyonesse, a stretch of land which was supposed to extended out from Cornwall as far as the Isles of Scilly. Legend has it that Lyonesse was submerged by a giant wave in a single day as divine punishment for a terrible sin committed by the people, and all that remained were the tops of the mountains as the Islands. Yes, I looked it up. I knew nothing about the Legend of Lyonesse before reading this. Better still, one of King Arthur’s knights, Tristan was said to have hailed from the lost Kingdom. As in Tristan and Isolde.
Along with that though there is an underlying theme about the legacy of one’s family and the choices of the past. Legends are not just stories: the legacy of the past can impact the present, and what the artefact they are hunting represents can bring out the best – and worst- in people. In the end, the story is not just about the legends or the legendary artefact. This is best illustrated in a quote from the story:
“I want to believe some bit of the legends are true, and that we can aspire to that nobility. But on the other hand, . . . we’ve seen today what can happen to men thanks to greed and ambition and the lust for fame”
Emily and Bram prove themselves to be Worthy of Legend when they choose to follow the path of mercy, love, faith, and forgiveness even when greeted with hatred, tragedy, and rejection. Even when it is hard- sometimes impossible, to follow and they falter. Oh, and this series is worth it just for the presence of Mamwen, the eccentric grandmother like figure who seems to know everyone and have a certain knack for knowing what is going to happen. She’s not in this much, but any is better than none.
Recommended for all lovers of historical fiction, and those who might want something that’s different from the rest of the Georgian Downton Abbey style stories out there. This one has lost treasure, adventure, and mystery too. Also there are hardly any novels set on the small archipelago in the Celtic Sea known as the Isles of Scilly.
Thanks to Bethany House for providing an EPub of this title. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.
His best friend is an amateur archaeologist with a special interest in the history of the druids and the Arthurian Legends. He's a nerd like me, and he loves animals. He rescues puppies. Can this man get any more adorable? Sighhhs. Emily is great too, she’s a young woman rejected by her family who is trying to escape their reputation and the illegal actions of her brother. She struggles with her duty to love her family (and her sibling) and doing the right thing.
The title of the story is very clever. Legends are a huge part of the story, first there is the Legend of Lyonesse, a stretch of land which was supposed to extended out from Cornwall as far as the Isles of Scilly. Legend has it that Lyonesse was submerged by a giant wave in a single day as divine punishment for a terrible sin committed by the people, and all that remained were the tops of the mountains as the Islands. Yes, I looked it up. I knew nothing about the Legend of Lyonesse before reading this. Better still, one of King Arthur’s knights, Tristan was said to have hailed from the lost Kingdom. As in Tristan and Isolde.
Along with that though there is an underlying theme about the legacy of one’s family and the choices of the past. Legends are not just stories: the legacy of the past can impact the present, and what the artefact they are hunting represents can bring out the best – and worst- in people. In the end, the story is not just about the legends or the legendary artefact. This is best illustrated in a quote from the story:
“I want to believe some bit of the legends are true, and that we can aspire to that nobility. But on the other hand, . . . we’ve seen today what can happen to men thanks to greed and ambition and the lust for fame”
Emily and Bram prove themselves to be Worthy of Legend when they choose to follow the path of mercy, love, faith, and forgiveness even when greeted with hatred, tragedy, and rejection. Even when it is hard- sometimes impossible, to follow and they falter. Oh, and this series is worth it just for the presence of Mamwen, the eccentric grandmother like figure who seems to know everyone and have a certain knack for knowing what is going to happen. She’s not in this much, but any is better than none.
Recommended for all lovers of historical fiction, and those who might want something that’s different from the rest of the Georgian Downton Abbey style stories out there. This one has lost treasure, adventure, and mystery too. Also there are hardly any novels set on the small archipelago in the Celtic Sea known as the Isles of Scilly.
Thanks to Bethany House for providing an EPub of this title. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.