In 1929, William is hired to produce forged copies of the paintings of gifted artist Eliza. Taking the job to help his desperate sister, he thinks it will be a ‘one off’. Little does he know it will change his life.
In modern day Charleston, Lucy Legare unexpectedly inherits a tumbledown historic property and its overgrown garden, along with a beautiful old ring. She meets the engaging Declan Pinckney, but Declan has been instructed by his formidable father to buy the house no matter the cost, and the likely cost is rising all the time.
I enjoyed this not just because the story (stories?) itself is so very well constructed, but because there are flashes of absolute joy in the phrasing of Ashley Clark’s writing. And not just in the notes and letters between William and Eliza, which are enchanting. (How much are we losing in these modern days with the loss of actual letter writing, I wonder?)
The elements of retaining history, and yet aligning it with progress, are well laid out and I loved the themes of inheritance, hope and beauty. Inheritance is shown to be about more than just the most obviously valuable, and hope shown as not always easily found. There are lots of layers, so you need to keep your focus while reading, but it is SO well worth it.
But I do wonder what happened about the bricks…
9780764237614, Bethany House, £10.99 pb, Jun21
No comments:
Post a Comment