Set during the English Civil War, Ms St.John has presented her readers with a book that leaves a lasting impression in one's heart. The brutalities of war, the emotional trauma of watching as your family is torn apart by political ideas and beliefs means that this novel not only tugs at the reader's heartstrings, but also demands to be read in one sitting - a feat I achieved by staying up to the early hours of the morning to read it - but this book demands such tender devotion, for the story is enthralling and the characters unforgettable.
Lucy Apsley is a heroine who my heart really went out to. Thanks to King Charles and his reluctance to repay her late husband's generous loans, Lucy is on the brink of losing everything. Lucy sees only one option to her dilemma, and that is to marry. Oh, what a terrible situation to be in and although I have often read historical fiction where the woman is forced to marry to secure her financial position, the fact that Lucy is the author's ancestor made this very personal. It made Lucy's plight, all the more tragic. But I was encouraged by Lucy's strength of character, and she is a woman that I really came to admire as this story progressed.
This story is told through different points of view, so this is a very rounded account of the lead up to the civil war and the war itself. This approach I thought worked remarkable well, and I came away from this novel, having a more profound sense of what this time in history was like. Likewise, the historical backdrop of this novel is spectacular. Everything about this book screamed realism, and with that in mind, I would recommend having some tissues close to hand.
This book, these characters, really captured my heart. I will certainly be reading more books by this author.
Elizabeth St.John
Having spent a significant part of her life with her seventeenth-century family while writing The Lydiard Chronicles trilogy and Counterpoint series, Elizabeth St.John is now discovering new family stories with her fifteenth-century namesake Elysabeth St.John Scrope, and her half-sister, Margaret Beaufort. A new medieval short story featuring these women, Road to the Tower, is within the recently-published Historical Fiction anthology Betrayal.
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