The Secrets of Ironbridge (Ironbridge Saga #2)
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, General fiction
Read: 14th September 2020
Published: 30th April 2020
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
A dramatic and heartwarming Victorian saga, perfect for fans of Maggie Hope and Anne Bennett.
1850s Shropshire.
Returning to her mother's birthplace at the age of eighteen, Beatrice Ashford encounters a complex family she barely knows. Her great-grandmother Queenie adores her, but the privileged social position of Beatrice's family as masters of the local brickworks begins to make her uncomfortable.
And then she meets Owen Malone: handsome, different, refreshing - and from a class beneath her own. They fall for each other fast, but an old family feud and growing industrial unrest threatens to drive them apart.
Can they overcome their different backgrounds? And can Beatrice make amends for her family's past?
MY REVIEW:
The second book in the Ironbridge Saga, THE SECRETS OF IRONBRIDGE is even better than the first. Following on from "The Daughters of Ironbridge", we are introduced to the next generation of the same families set in the 1850s. Wonderfully told, this classic tale unfolds chapter after chapter with the breathtaking beauty of the setting as its backdrop.
1850: Twenty years after fleeing Ironbridge to elope with artist Jake Ashford, Margaret returns with her 18 year old daughter Beatrice after living in France. Queenie, the matriarch of the King family, has summoned her home with Margaret's father on his deathbed but alas, Ralph King passes two days before they arrive. Having always had a soft spot for Margaret, Queenie is thrilled to see her granddaughter again and is excited to meet her great-granddaughter Beatrice. It isn't long before the matriarch and the heir are getting along famously, playing endless hands of Old Maid and chatting together. Beatrice has never quite met anyone like her great-grandmother but the two adore each other, despite being so much alike.
Ironbridge is her mother's hometown but after growing up in France, Beatrice finds the little town a fascinating change from the cosmopolitan Montmarte to which she is accustomed. She is not used to English customs and sees no difference between the classes, except the money that separates them. It is clear that her mother came from money but their life in France was a far cry to that that awaited her here. After the death of her father, Beatrice and her mother were left penniless, and her mother took in students to teach English and the pianoforte to keep them clothed with food on the table. But upon returning to Ironbridge, her mother is determined to give Beatrice a better future. And as the heir to the King estate, Beatrice is expected to find a suitable husband of one of the local brickmasters and take over running the business Queenie has ruled with an iron fist for nigh on three decades.
But Beatrice has other ideas. Though she struggles to adjust to her new life in accordance with what is expected of her, she is also fascinated with the people of Ironbridge and its surrounds. She was appalled at the sight of children as young as six being forced to work in such dirty and harsh conditions, picking and carrying clay to be moulded into bricks. She is further astonished at the treatment of these children and of the workers under her family's hand. After seeing such conditions, Beatrice is determined that changes must be made and resolves to speak to Queenie about it. But she is not prepared for the staunch stance her great-grandmother takes when confronted with the running of the family business. Beatrice is not accustomed to the idea of "the haves and the have nots". Where she comes from, people from all classes and all walks of life mingle together. But here the distinction is clear...and the divide must not be crossed.
And then after another boring dance lesson, listening to "Madame" (who insists on the title despite not being French) drone on and on, Beatrice meets Owen Malone who works at her family's Brick and Tile Works. She does not care about his job, or class, only that he is the most charming and handsome man she has ever met. They fall into an easy friendship talking and laughing together, continuing to meet weekly in secret and inevitable fall in love. But the relationship is doomed...in more ways than one. For Owen's mother is Anny Woodwine who was Beatrice's mother's best friend from her childhood who Anny had felt betrayed her when leaving her languishing in prison and running off with Jake Ashford.
But neither Beatrice and Owen are privy to their mothers' pasts nor how deep the hate runs but it is clear that this is but one secret that will soon come to the surface. But how will it affect Beatrice and Owen? Will it change things between them? Or will it make them more determined to bridge the gap between the two classes?
Despite all Beatrice has tried to do for the workers, there has been a growing discord amongst some of them and plans are set in motion that could only spell disaster, as a group descend upon Southover in the dead of night when everyone was to be at a ball. The ghostly apparition of former maid Betsy Blaize that has been visiting Queenie for two decades promised that this house will fall...but is that just Queenie's guilt or is it a premonition of what's to come? However, nothing will prepare them for the tragedy that is about to befall the King family...changing everything forever.
THE SECRETS OF IRONBRIDGE is the second book in this series but it can easily be read as a standalone as enough backstory is given to suffice on its own. But I do thoroughly recommend reading the first book "The Daughters of Ironbridge" before delving into this one, simply for more of the story and to get a real feel for the two women - Anny and Margaret - prior to this generation. As well as the fact that it is a thoroughly enjoyable read, there is also the addition of the ghostly apparition that comes to Queenie on a regular basis that is born at the beginning of the first book.
Beautifully written, THE SECRETS OF IRONBRIDGE is a real character driven story that is both touching and poignant. Mollie Walton does a wonderful job bringing the industrial age to life and the bustling town of Ironbridge amidst the appalling working conditions, low wages and the back breaking work.
It was great to meet up with the characters again some twenty years later and meeting new ones. I found both Anny and Margaret very different from the young girls they had been in the first book, understandably with what both had been through. And I adored both Beatrice and Owen. Her idealism and forthrightness with his gentleness made them such a likable pair that you just wanted things to work out for them. But my favourite remains Queenie, the stoic matriarch of the King family who has an other worldliness about her at times you wonder if she is going mad. She often wonders if she is going mad! But she is such a tough yet likable old bird. I was thrilled to see Cyril take more of a backseat in this book though he still lingers on the fringes and throws his weight around at times, it is clear that Queenie rules the roost. I hope he doesn't return in the next book.
I was disappointed with the tragedy that befell the King family and the route it then took Beatrice. Without giving anything away, I had secretly hoped that things would turn out differently. Thus, the Epilogue was a nice touch but I was still left a little unsatisfied at the outcome.
I thoroughly enjoyed THE SECRETS OF IRONBRIDGE in which I was absorbed from beginning to end and completed in two sittings. If it weren't for real life getting in the way (as it so often does) I would have probably read it in one!
Despite my disappointment in the direction the story took, it is still by far a well earned 5 star read. I cannot wait for the third book "The Orphan of Ironbridge" to continue this captivating saga.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical sagas. For fans of Dilly Court, Catherine Cookson and Lindsey Hutchinson.
I would like to thank #MollieWalton, #NetGalley and #ZaffreBooks for an ARC of #TheSecretsOfIronbridge in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Mollie Walton is the saga pen-name for historical novelist Rebecca Mascull.
Rebecca Mascull is the author of three historical novels. She is currently hard at work on her next trilogy of historical fiction, with the first novel out in April 2019, published by Bonnier Zaffre as The Ironbridge Saga. These are published under the pen-name of Mollie Walton and the first book in the series is set in the dangerous world of the iron industry: THE DAUGHTERS OF IRONBRIDGE.
Her first novel THE VISITORS (2014) tells the story of Adeliza Golding, a deaf-blind child living on her father’s hop farm in Victorian Kent. Her second novel SONG OF THE SEA MAID (2015) is set in the C18th and concerns an orphan girl who becomes a scientist and makes a remarkable discovery. Her third novel, THE WILD AIR (2017) is about a shy Edwardian girl who learns to fly and becomes a celebrated aviatrix but the shadow of war is looming. All are published by Hodder & Stoughton.
She also completed the finishing chapters of her friend and fellow novelist Vanessa Lafaye’s final work, a novella called MISS MARLEY, a prequel to Dickens’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This novella was published in November 2018 by HarperCollins.
Rebecca has previously worked in education, has a Masters in Writing and lives by the sea in the east of England.
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