To go to England without needing British Airways, read this book. To go back in time without entering a strange machine, read this book! Bramdean is the village, and the strength of the story is Thomas's love of Lucy. Sedgwick has crafted a protagonist who works as well with his hands in his father's blacksmith shop as he does with his mind when his intelligence attracts the attention of a Squire who offers to pay for his formal education. But Thomas has a heart too, and his heart is what leads him full circle through a life that builds to a crescendo of both the pleasure and pain of first love. A very admirable work from a first time author who works as well with his words as he does with his storyteller's heart. By "Leerread" 25 May 2011
This 1700s English Romance, set in Hampshire, England, may be purchased in either e-book or printed paperback
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The parish church of Bramdean, a village nestled in the rolling, green countryside of Hampshire, England, was built in 1170 AD. Linger in this church and reflect on the lives shaped by congregations in its walls over the centuries; the baptisms, marriages and burial services. You may sense the spirits of those who have prayed for hope, guidance or forgiveness there. Sit on one of its ancient pews and feel the presence of those lives.
As this story opens, Thomas Greenwood is a ghost charged by the Archangel Michael to be watchman over the church and graveyard, a guardian against evil, as punishment for his sins. Thomas relates to graveyard visitors how, as the young son of the village blacksmith in Napoleonic times, he fell passionately in love with Lucy Davenport, an auburn-haired girl of great beauty, and received her enduring love in return.
We read that Lucy is the daughter of a wealthy and haughty family with ruthless plans for their daughter’s future and for their own ambitions in society. Class barriers make life very difficult for the young lovers but their mutual passion grows as they mature. Sir Spencer Hayward, the local squire and a major landowner, takes Thomas under his wing and has ideas for raising the boy’s social standing. Storm clouds lie ahead however.
This historical romance novel, set at the end of the 18th century, re-creates a society where marriage was often a business matter for the middle and upper classes. This way of life is quite alien to most members of a modern society and together with the Hampshire countryside setting, it may remind some readers of works by Jane Austen.
A page-turning - or should I say 'page-scrolling' tale. Set in a genuine part of Hampshire, this is an evocative description of late 18th century rural England. The divisions between the social classes are admirably drawn, as are the attempts to overcome them. The manner in which this story is brought to us, has an interesting twist. As the protaganist, Thomas, charts his journey from early childhood through to manhood, we are drawn into his changing world. The young people's first stirrings of love gradually develop into something more serious and the reader cannot help but wish them well, in spite of all that stands between them. The synopsis hints at a dramatic conclusion to this story and the reader is not disappointed.
by Lyn Deakin, England, 14 June 2011