ISBN: 0-7515-1745-3
Book 18 of The Morland Dynasty
It seems a strange place to start at Book 18 I know, but actually this is a book that my Mother picked up on a library run during the snowy period in December .... and she just grabbed it and hurried back to the warmth of the log burner. In actual fact, she rejected it without reading it ...... I on the other hand, desperate for other authors to read, thought I would give it a go before it went back. I'm so glad I did actually - and proves a point that you should expand your horizons in the literary field.
It couldn't be described as a love story exactly, but there is love found and love betrayed within its pages.
I am now keen to go back and read the other 17 books. Don't worry though as it is perfectly possible to read it as an individual body of work.
Set in 1833 in the height of the industrial revolution it's the story of Morland Place in Yorkshire, the story of Nicholas the owner of Morland Place and his younger brother, Benedit.
Nicholas had banished Bendy for ever, but it seems that the railway fever sweeping the country has brought his brother back to York. Stuck in the past, and hating the railway equally as much as his brother, Nicky in a frenzy of panic (and a certain amount of cunning that goes wrong) marries the sister of a childhood friend to stop any hope that his brother might have of getting his hands on Morland Place.
Since his banishment Bendy has carved out a life, albeit a lonely one, as a Railway Engineer. He falls in love with the beautiful Rosalind Fleetham, but lack of fortune means that he cannot have her. Luckily for him then an old mistress leaves him a vast fortune and he returns to claim Miss Fleetham for his own and assist in the plans to bring the railway to York.
With conflict aplenty, mental illness, depravity fed by a sinister steward and a certain amount of cruelty it's a brilliantly crafted tale. I would highly recommend you give it a try.
A 4 **** Star read.
Kay
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