A Widow's Hope (aka The Road to Berry Edge) by Elizabeth Gill
Genre: Historical fiction
Read: 21st May 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 6th February 2020)
★★★ 3 stars
Once again, readers are given a misleading description. The premise outlined for A WIDOW'S HOPE is not the sole focus of the story. In fact, it is only one part of a much bigger picture. It is really a pet peeve of mine that readers are misled because what we expect from a book upon starting is in fact something entirely different.
It should also be noted that A WIDOW'S HOPE is a re-release of "The Road the Berry Edge" originally published in 2017.
The story begins in 1903 with Faith Norman visiting the grave her intended, ruminating over what was, what might have been and what she had been robbed of. She lay the blame solely at the feet of his younger brother Rob Berkeley who, one night, got his brother drunk, argued with him afterwhich brother John fell in the river and drowned. No one in Berry Edge had forgiven him for the loss of their favourite son. Soon after, Rob packed his bags and left Berry Edge for good.
The Berkeleys were well known and, up to that point, well respected in Berry Edge. They owned the steelworks and half the mines in the area which supplied work to the men in the village. But since John's death a decade earlier, the Berkeleys had lost the will for just about anything. The steelworks had been run into the ground and was fast failing. The men were restless and wondering if they would still have a job. A year before, Josiah Berkeley had collapsed at work and was now bedridden at home where his wife cared for his every need. He did not seem to be improving and neither were the works. So Mrs Berkeley wrote to her estranged son Rob begging him to return.
In Notthingham, Rob Berkeley had received and ignored most of his mother's letters. But it had come to the point that something had to be done. The steelworks was in dire need of assistance if it were to succeed and make money again so Rob begrudgingly made the decision to return. Harry Shaw, his closest friend who was almost like a brother, chose to return with him. Rob had made his fortune alongside Harry and his father Vincent and they lived in an abbey of the grandest scale, with Harry's mother Ida, that they purchased together. The men were business together and Vince and Ida considered Rob as a second son, and not just because he had married their daughter Sarah who had tragically died Christmas Eve two years before.
Rob returned to Berry Edge with Harry in tow who, despite knowing that Durham was in the north country, thought that Scotland came after Yorkshire. Neither man was welcomed but they were needed.
Before Rob returned home, Mrs Berkeley had employed a local girl Nancy MacFadden to cook and clean in preparation of the men's return. Nancy was a young widow whose brutish husband had died at the works while drunk on duty. He was not missed by either workers or his family...least of all by Nancy. In fact, she felt nothing but relief when she heard the news. No more dreading the time Sean would return hom drunk from the pub to beat her or to have his way with her, to leave her with no money while he drank it away at the pub, nor to be on the receiving end of his jealousy and anger. Sean MacFadden never wanted a wife or children. He wanted a cook, a cleaner and a whore on demand. No, Nancy MacFadden didn't mourn her husband's passing - she rejoiced in it.
Since her fiance John's untimely death ten years before, Faith has lived a dull and chaste life, her only real outings were to his grave and to chapel. When she first set eyes on Rob Berkeley again she hated the sight of him, but over time she began to see that he was not the same man he once was. Time and guilt had changed him. But it had also changed her. She was now 30 and a spinster and considered too old for marriage. Her future seemed entirely bleak. Until Rob Berkeley and Harry Shaw came to Berry Edge.
There is so much more to the story than that of Faith Norman. I'm not even sure why it is called A WIDOW'S HOPE because Faith was never actually married. The only widow who had any real place in the story was Nancy. And yet there was still alot more to come.
The characters were a diverse bunch although when it came down it, none of them were all that different from the other. The only thing that separated them was money and class. Most were likable and the only ones who weren't were quickly disposed of. The development of the setting was engrossing as were those of the characters...but that is pretty much where it ended. I would have enjoyed a little more depth and a few twists thrown in to make it interesting. As it was, it was far too predictable - though that doesn't necessarily detract from my enjoyment of a book but this one was sadly lacking in something or other...I just can't figure out what.
I did enjoy A WIDOW'S HOPE, especially the ending, and a particular character who always made me laugh with his witty quips that were most inappropriate but amusing just the same. I just didn't enjoy it as much I have other historical fiction. It IS the first book I have read by this author so I do look forward to reading other works before I decide whether her style is for me or not.
A poignant tale, A WIDOW'S HOPE is an easy read that many fans of historical fiction will surely enjoy.
I would like to thank #ElizabethGill, #NetGalley and #Quercus for an ARC of #AWidowsHope in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment