Still working on books 13 and 14 for Book Riot Read Harder. So another interlude, this time building on a short book review that I wrote a few months ago for an ARC I received from NetGalley. This review was originally posted in a much shorter format to both NetGalley and Goodreads.
Bellewether
Author: Susanna Kearsley
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada
Published: April 24, 2018
Page count: 414
Genres: romance, historical
Page count: 414
Genres: romance, historical
Date read: March 25, 2018
Number of times read: 1
Format: ebookSource: NetGalley
Summary
Some houses seem to want to hold their secrets.
It’s 1759 and the world is at war, pulling the North American colonies of Britain and France into the conflict. The times are complicated, as are the loyalties of many New York merchants who have secretly been trading with the French for years, defying Britain’s colonial laws in a game growing ever more treacherous.
When captured French officers are brought to Long Island to be billeted in private homes on their parole of honour, it upends the lives of the Wilde family—deeply involved in the treasonous trade and already divided by war.
Lydia Wilde, struggling to keep the peace in her fracturing family following her mother’s death, has little time or kindness to spare for her unwanted guests. French-Canadian lieutenant Jean-Philippe de Sabran has little desire to be there. But by the war’s end they’ll both learn love, honour, and duty can form tangled bonds that are not broken easily.
Their doomed romance becomes a local legend, told and re-told through the years until the present day, when conflict of a different kind brings Charley Van Hoek to Long Island to be the new curator of the Wilde House Museum.
Charley doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as she starts to delve into the history of Lydia and her French officer, it becomes clear that the Wilde House holds more than just secrets, and Charley discovers the legend might not have been telling the whole story...or the whole truth. -- via Goodreads
Some houses seem to want to hold their secrets.
It’s 1759 and the world is at war, pulling the North American colonies of Britain and France into the conflict. The times are complicated, as are the loyalties of many New York merchants who have secretly been trading with the French for years, defying Britain’s colonial laws in a game growing ever more treacherous.
When captured French officers are brought to Long Island to be billeted in private homes on their parole of honour, it upends the lives of the Wilde family—deeply involved in the treasonous trade and already divided by war.
Lydia Wilde, struggling to keep the peace in her fracturing family following her mother’s death, has little time or kindness to spare for her unwanted guests. French-Canadian lieutenant Jean-Philippe de Sabran has little desire to be there. But by the war’s end they’ll both learn love, honour, and duty can form tangled bonds that are not broken easily.
Their doomed romance becomes a local legend, told and re-told through the years until the present day, when conflict of a different kind brings Charley Van Hoek to Long Island to be the new curator of the Wilde House Museum.
Charley doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as she starts to delve into the history of Lydia and her French officer, it becomes clear that the Wilde House holds more than just secrets, and Charley discovers the legend might not have been telling the whole story...or the whole truth. -- via Goodreads
Review
This book is written by an author who lives pretty near to where I live actually, which made me find the book even more intriguing than I would have based purely on its premise. Kearsley is from Brantford, ON and I live in Waterloo which is less than an hour away in good traffic haha. What really made me request this book though was the premise. It's a multiple POV double romance novel that unfolds over two timelines. There's the present timeline which focuses on Charley the curator of a historic house museum. She really appeals to me as a character because something I've really been thinking about for the last few years (if I ever get my hands on the vast sums of money that would be needed to make it happen) is setting up a historic house museum in a couple of WWII era historic houses. The other thread in this novel is about Lydia, one of the occupants of the historic house that Charley is working at. Lydia's story takes place during the historic period of the Seven Years War.
Now, for those of you who didn't have to study the Seven Years War in school as children, please allow me to do a quick recap for you. It was the first global war in that it was the first war in which battles were fought in Europe, India, America, and at sea. Given that this happened in 1756 and lasted until 1763 it happened in the period before Canadian Confederation, and this is important to remember because before Confederation France was still in charge of Quebec, and Britain for the rest of what would become Canada. It's also important to note that several states were still British colonies at the time. This mainly matters because primarily this war was between Britain and their allies against France and their allies. The outcome of this war was the Treaty of Paris which was eventually the basis for Confederation.
I remember learning about the Seven Years War for years in elementary school and I remember hating it. I just remember it being delivered in a very dry fashion, but that could also be because that year I was in French immersion and we were studying history in French... Anyway, when I realised this was set partially in that era, I was a little bit wary. I shouldn't have been though. It's an amazingly well-written book and it tells a compelling, beautiful story. I gave me a new sense of appreciation and wonder for that era, and actually makes me want to go and learn about it now, and that to me is always the mark of good historical fiction. Kearsley clearly knows her subject matter well, it's thoroughly researched - which becomes less surprising, but no less awesome when you read her explanation of her research and inspiration in the post-text.
I love the way she seamlessly wove in both strands, the contemporary story of Charley, the curator at the Wilde house Musem, and the historical strands of Lydia Wilde and the French Prisoner her family took in. The book was like an onion in a very good way, exposing its layers as you got deeper into it. Lydia and Jean-Philippe's story is absolutely beautiful and charming, you really can't help but root for the two of them. It's a very strange situation initially. You have Jean-Philippe who is a French officer, being held, hostage with an English family in New York. Jean-Philippe doesn't speak any English, and he just wants to do what is necessary to ensure the safety of his men. He also doesn't want to be a burden on the family that is hosting him. It's a very strange arrangement to wrap your head around when all your previous context for prisoners of war is that they were treated wretchedly. That is definitely not the case here at all as Jean-Philippe manages to become a valued member of the Wilde household.
The juxtaposition between Lydia and Jean-Philippe's story in the past with Charley's story in the present is very interesting. We're watching her go about her life in a new place as she researches Lydia and Jean-Philippe's story while restoring the Wilde House to get the museum ready to open. Paranormal events occur leading you to spend most of the book wondering which spirit from the story we're following in the past could be helping Charley out in the present? Charley is a very interesting character she's moved to New York State to help take care of her niece after her brother passes away and she takes on the Wilde House museum and finds herself growing closer and closer to her lead contractor on the restoration. It's two very different stories but Kearsley really has woven them together so well.
It also ended in a magnificently satisfying way. I will be seeking out more of this authors work to read in the future.
What do you think of books that take place in multiple timelines simultaneously?
Now, for those of you who didn't have to study the Seven Years War in school as children, please allow me to do a quick recap for you. It was the first global war in that it was the first war in which battles were fought in Europe, India, America, and at sea. Given that this happened in 1756 and lasted until 1763 it happened in the period before Canadian Confederation, and this is important to remember because before Confederation France was still in charge of Quebec, and Britain for the rest of what would become Canada. It's also important to note that several states were still British colonies at the time. This mainly matters because primarily this war was between Britain and their allies against France and their allies. The outcome of this war was the Treaty of Paris which was eventually the basis for Confederation.
I remember learning about the Seven Years War for years in elementary school and I remember hating it. I just remember it being delivered in a very dry fashion, but that could also be because that year I was in French immersion and we were studying history in French... Anyway, when I realised this was set partially in that era, I was a little bit wary. I shouldn't have been though. It's an amazingly well-written book and it tells a compelling, beautiful story. I gave me a new sense of appreciation and wonder for that era, and actually makes me want to go and learn about it now, and that to me is always the mark of good historical fiction. Kearsley clearly knows her subject matter well, it's thoroughly researched - which becomes less surprising, but no less awesome when you read her explanation of her research and inspiration in the post-text.
I love the way she seamlessly wove in both strands, the contemporary story of Charley, the curator at the Wilde house Musem, and the historical strands of Lydia Wilde and the French Prisoner her family took in. The book was like an onion in a very good way, exposing its layers as you got deeper into it. Lydia and Jean-Philippe's story is absolutely beautiful and charming, you really can't help but root for the two of them. It's a very strange situation initially. You have Jean-Philippe who is a French officer, being held, hostage with an English family in New York. Jean-Philippe doesn't speak any English, and he just wants to do what is necessary to ensure the safety of his men. He also doesn't want to be a burden on the family that is hosting him. It's a very strange arrangement to wrap your head around when all your previous context for prisoners of war is that they were treated wretchedly. That is definitely not the case here at all as Jean-Philippe manages to become a valued member of the Wilde household.
The juxtaposition between Lydia and Jean-Philippe's story in the past with Charley's story in the present is very interesting. We're watching her go about her life in a new place as she researches Lydia and Jean-Philippe's story while restoring the Wilde House to get the museum ready to open. Paranormal events occur leading you to spend most of the book wondering which spirit from the story we're following in the past could be helping Charley out in the present? Charley is a very interesting character she's moved to New York State to help take care of her niece after her brother passes away and she takes on the Wilde House museum and finds herself growing closer and closer to her lead contractor on the restoration. It's two very different stories but Kearsley really has woven them together so well.
It also ended in a magnificently satisfying way. I will be seeking out more of this authors work to read in the future.
What do you think of books that take place in multiple timelines simultaneously?
Overall Rating
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| 5 bolts |
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