About this book:
“News of her brother's worrisome behavior spurs Miss Rebecca Lane to return home to her village. Upon her arrival, he begs her to go to nearby Swanford Abbey, a medieval monastery turned grand hotel rumored to be haunted. Feeling responsible for her brother's desperate state, she reluctantly agrees to stay at the abbey until she can deliver his manuscript to a fellow guest who might help him get published--an author who once betrayed them.
Soon, Rebecca starts seeing strange things, including a figure in a hooded black gown gliding silently through the abbey's cloisters at night. For all its renovations and veneer of luxury, the ancient foundations seem to echo with whispers of the past--including her own. For there she encounters Sir Frederick--baronet, magistrate, and former neighbor--who long ago broke her heart. Now a handsome widower of thirty-five, he is trying to overcome a past betrayal of his own.
When the famous author is found dead, Sir Frederick makes inquiries and quickly discovers that several people held grudges against the author, including Miss Lane and her brother. As Sir Frederick searches for answers, he is torn between his growing feelings for Rebecca and his pursuit of the truth. For Miss Lane is clearly hiding something. . . .”
Series: No, a stand-alone novel.
Spiritual Content- 2 Timothy 1:7 at the beginning; Scriptures are remembered, quoted, & prayed; Prayers & Thanking God; Rebecca stays at an old abbey-turned-hotel; After she has lied, Rebecca feels troubled and prays for forgiveness for her sin (which she feels like her prayers are unheard and unanswered); Going to Churches & Chapels; Talks about God; 'H's are capital when referring to God & Jesus; Many mentions of the abbey, nuns, & religious persecution; Mentions of God & forgiveness; Mentions of prayers, praying, & Thanking God; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of a painting of Christ on The Cross & thinking about it; Mentions of churches, chapels, church going, vicars, services, & sermons; A few mentions of Bibles; A few mentions of stained glass depicting The Cross; A few mentions of Easter; A few mentions of hymn books & prayer books; A couple mentions of a crucifix; A couple mentions of monks; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of wishing someone Godspeed; A mention of an asylum/hospital trying to help the patients restore mental, emotional, and spiritual health (the staff and doctors there encourage to battle their fears with “prayer…and a reliance on God’s strength”); A mention of a difference in religion being a reason why some people were put into an asylum;
*Note: The phrase “devilishly” or a form of it is used a handful of times as an adjective (‘devilishly angry’, ‘devilishly vain’, ‘devilish smile’, etc.); Rebecca knows there are no ghosts besides the Holy Ghost, but there are sightings of a “ghost” around the abbey (*Spoiler* It is not actually a ghost, but two real-life people *End of Spoiler*); Many mentions of Swanford Abbey being haunted by the spirits of nuns (including the abbess being called evil by someone once), ghosts, & children being scared and dared to go in there; A mention of someone being called a “devil”; A mention of most people being somewhere in between pure and evil; A mention of statues of Greek gods; A mention of rabbits being a symbol of the resurrection in Christian art & fertility in secular art (the latter which is in turn based off of a pagan god).
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘balderdash’, a ‘blasted’, a ‘drat’, a ‘pah!’, a ‘what the deuce’, a ‘what the devil’, two forms of ‘stupid’, three ‘bah!’s, three ‘dash it’s, three forms of ‘idiot’, four ‘dashed’s, and four ‘thunder and turf’s; A bit of eye rolling; A bit of pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Rebecca is concerned that someone very close to her is the murderer; Rebecca lies to protect her brother (which she prays for forgiveness for, but feels like God isn’t hearing her now, and later confesses her lies to Frederick, who says he knows she had compelling reasons); Rebecca’s brother hasn’t been the same since a childhood head injury & has “deep depression of spirits” (there are also a few mentions of the possibility of him threatening to and possibly harm himself or others); Frederick feels guilt about how his late wife died (*Spoiler* She fell down a flight of stairs *End of Spoiler*, it is recalled, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Many mentions of a murder, how it happened, & the murderer (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of poisons, drugs, a plan to poison someone, & someone possibly being poisoned (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of stealing, stolen items, thefts, thieves, robberies, & a possible break-in; Mentions of gambling; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & bars; Mentions of opium; Mentions of rumors & gossip; A few mentions of a war & deaths; A few mentions of prison & arrests; A few mentions of those at an asylum who have pose a threat to themselves or others; A few mentions of those at an asylum being forced to endure barbaric practices; A few mentions of a child falling out of a tree & his injury (Rebecca recalls it, barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of tobacco & cigars; A few mentions of hatred (including someone hating himself); A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of criminals being hung; A couple mentions of bullies; A couple mentions of nightmares; A mention of suicide; A mention of a threat against someone; A mention of a drunken brawl; A mention of hunting;
*Note: Mentions of books & authors.
Sexual Content- A hand/fingers kiss, a cheek kiss, an almost (semi-detailed) kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a semi-detailed kiss, and a semi-detailed // detailed kiss; Recalling an almost kiss (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Rebecca has had a crush on Frederick since she was young (he’s about ten years older than her); At one point, Rebecca has to stay the night in Frederick’s room (he sleeps elsewhere) and she gets a giddy feeling of sleeping in his bed (thinking that her childhood imagination always wanted to be his bride and kiss him, though those thoughts had never ventured to the bedroom); Many mentions of a man liking any woman (not having a type), him “bothering” other women (including when they’re unwilling), & him trying to suggest Rebecca to be with him (which she will not do); Mentions of a man taking advantage of a young woman (16-years-old) & her becoming with child (out-of-wedlock); Mentions of lovers, affairs, & unfaithful wives (including a fictional one and *Spoiler* Frederick’s late wife *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of flirting & flirts (including a married woman flirting with her husband’s brother); Mentions of touches & a couple embracing (with the woman not wanting it); Mentions of reputations & chaperones; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of elopements, young couples running away together, & a young man leaving multiple women (one with a child); A couple mentions of kisses; A couple mentions of a man helping teach a woman to bowl while touching her waist; A couple mentions of guests of a hotel bothering the maids; A mention of a young man trying to kiss a young Rebecca (she pushed him away); A mention of a brothel; A mention of a man possibly arranging to meet a woman alone at a hotel; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Mentions of a wife not wanting to be a mother (because she doesn’t want to lose her figure and says she has no maternal instincts) & her possibly taking “measures to destroy the child” (and whether by her hand or God’s, the pregnancy ends in a miscarriage, *Spoiler* Frederick’s late wife, who after seeing his tears, tells him that the baby wasn’t his *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of women’s figures & tight clothing (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of mothers and children dying in childbirth (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of a woman who’s name was ironically “Modesty” (implying later that she has a large chest); A mention of the assumption that most actresses are “a light-skirt” (a prostitute); A mention of an actress saying that she would “get little else done” if she tried to kill every man who tried to take advantage of her; A mention of an actress saying men have tried to sneak into her room; A mention of an actress implying that Rebecca (a vicar’s daughter) might want to move away from her [due to her profession]; A mention of seducing someone; A mention of a man wanting to have an “illicit liaison” with a woman, but she is a lady and won’t do that; A mention of a couple remaining childless “despite [their] best efforts”; A mention of a man calling another a “poor fool” for getting married; A mention of rabbits representing fertility (which causes Rebecca to blush at that word).
-Rebecca Lane
-Frederick Wilford, age 35 (?)
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1820
410 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
One thing I’ve noticed with reading some of Julie Klassen’ answer books is that it feels like a journey. Not necessarily because of a plot involving travel (lack thereof would be a better example) or because the book is set over a long period of time, but perhaps because of the length of the novel and the writing style. Not a bad thing, but I typically always end up dwelling on the story for a while after reading it.
I found this plot very fascinating with the murder (that didn’t happen till over 150+ in, mind you), the location, the historical jury details, and the descriptions of different regency elements. I can’t say that I ever connected with Rebecca or Frederick, though, especially after Rebecca lied (to protect her brother, but I still wasn’t a fan of how she handled it, personally). They were both fine, but I wasn’t enthralled with them or became a big fan of these main characters. There are a few flashbacks sprinkled in at different points that added background about certain characters or events. They were short and not super frequent, so those parts didn’t bother me.
I did really enjoy the writing style and how events were described and played out within this book, which is why my attention was easily kept throughout these 400-pages.
For my recent reads by this author, I would put this one above “The Bridge to Belle Island” and just below “A Castaway of Cornwall”.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
No comments:
Post a Comment