Description
What has possessed the normally level-headed Isabelle to abandon her childhood friend among strangers and make a madcap dash across windswept moors in a frantic search for help?
Two months earlier – the summer of 1856 – and the two girls are eagerly anticipating a stay at the imposing Blakefields Mansion in the West Riding of Yorkshire. They dream of grand balls, dashing young men, and mysterious, elegant ladies. But the reality will prove very different.
Intrigue upon intrigue builds to an unexpected and dramatic climax.
As they come to know the various gentlemen – the Lord of Blakefields; his cheerful friend and confidant; the ambitious but seemingly honest guest; the enigmatic neighbour with a dark past – it becomes less and less clear who will turn out to be the champion of decency and integrity.
Blakefields Mansion and its soon-to-be-released sequel, Stonecrest, are both realistic historical romances set in a tempestuous period of England’s history. Queen Victoria is on the throne; social values are beginning to change – something that Isabelle will discover as she learns that true friends and true love are to be valued above either fame or fortune.
If you enjoy the likes of Austen, Thackeray or Dickens, then Blakefields Mansion is for you.
Karen’s Magic Review
First time I’ve read a historical novel for a long time and thoroughly enjoyed this one. Right from the start, the reader is aware something has made Isabel run from the house she was staying at leaving behind her best friend.
The story then starts at the beginning and from the getgo there is intrigue, something is going on and young naïve Isobel was slow to pick it up. The reader will get it immediately but has to keep reading to pick up the pieces of the jigsaw to fit them together.
A great story that deserves reading for lovers of this kind of fiction and why it hasn’t got more reviews, I don’t know. Read It!
Karen J. Mossman 