The Orphan in the Peacock Shawl
Genre: Historical fiction, General fiction, Victorian Era
Read: 26th January 2022
Published: 27th January 2022
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Yorkshire Dales 1850
As a terrible storm rages, Annabelle Wallis is shocked to find a distressed young woman at her cottage door, heavy with child. Moments later a baby girl is born. But by dawn, the mother has vanished, leaving behind the helpless child wrapped only in a silk peacock shawl.
When news spreads that Lady Eliza Hartley, sister to wealthy estate owner, John Hartley, has been found dead, Annabelle realises the terrible secret she has stumbled on. Terrified she’ll be blamed for Eliza’s death, Annabelle flees to the filthy slums of York, where she plans to raise the precious orphan as her own.
The cobbled streets of York’s slums are no place for a young woman like Annabelle or a Hartley babe and John Hartley is determined to bring them both home. But Annabelle proves impossible to find.
Annabelle can’t hide forever from the wealthy Hartley family, but can she ever give up the baby she loves?
MY REVIEW:
My first read by author AnneMarie Brear and what a delightful read it is! As soon as I began I was swept away back to the Victorian era of the windswept Yorkshire Dales to the foetid slums of York. The author's descriptions were vivid enough to picture them without being bogged down in overt detail whilst bringing a realism to the tale. Almost at once I felt like I was reading Catherine Cookson or Dilly Court, both of whom I adore. Needless to say, I read this book in one sitting one afternoon...I could not put it down until I finished.
Set in the Yorkshire Dales in 1850, Annabelle Wallis lives in a cottage on the edge of the estate of the wealthy Hartley family. She is an orphan whose mother entrusted her to her friend Amy Wallis, an herbalist known locally as Widow Wallis having lost her husband in a tragic accident fifty years before. Widow Wallis saved the life of the then Lady Hartley and, in a gesture of gratitude, was granted lifetime occupancy of the cottage in which she and Annabelle now live. Villagers come to her for tonics and herbal remedies for their ailments, swearing by her tinctures, as well as being entrusted as their unofficial midwife as the need arises.
Annabelle has always viewed her guardian as her mother, referring to her as Ma who has taught twenty two year Annabelle everything she knows about herbs and their uses. Together they frequent markets and fairs selling their tonics and remedies which are indeed sought after. But Ma is aging, though she has never revealed her true age, and when she dies suddenly Annabelle is bereft. Now everything she has ever known is about to change. The only home she has ever known, the cottage she has grown up in, will now revert back to the Hartley estate thus rendering her homeless.
But a chance encounter with John Hartley, brother of the owner of the estate, and a promise that she may remain sets Annabelle's heart aflutter. The moment she and John Hartley set eyes on each other, it is obvious to everyone but them that they are meant for each other...except for the slight technicality of the class divide. He is a wealthy landowner, she is working class...and never the twain shall meet. Except that it does. Neither Annabelle nor John can stop thinking of the other, although neither of them give their feelings a voice. Instead they pretend it isn't there whilst avoiding the other.
And then one night in the midst of an horrific thunderstorm, a knock at Annabelle's door reveals a young woman heavy with child and very obviously in the throes of labour. She pleads with Annabelle to help her deliver the child without the aid of a doctor. Moments later, a baby girl is born and the woman extracts a vehement promise from Annabelle to keep her secret. By the morning, the woman has vanished leaving behind a note reminding Annabelle of her a promise and her baby wrapped only in a silk peacock shawl.
The following day when news spreads throughout the village about the sudden death of Lady Eliza Hartley, Annabelle fears the promise she made was a foolish one. Especially when the family discovers the truth thus holding her to blame. Terrified, Annabelle flees the only home she has known with the child wrapped in the peacock shawl, intent on honouring the promise she made.
When John Hartley discovers the truth, he endeavours to find Annabelle and the child. But Annabelle proves hard to find...and yet, she cannot hide forever. Can she? But if she is found, will she be able to give up the child she has raised and loves as her own?
THE ORPHAN IN THE PEACOCK SHAWL is a delightfully easy read from beginning to end, reminiscent of the late great Catherine Cookson. The descriptions were vivid without being too much and the characters were well-developed enough to cheer them on. I loved the characters of Annabelle and John, as well as those of Ginny and Dickie, though he was persistently annoying at first. The fact that Annabelle draws her parallels to her own circumstances was incredibly noble in doing the same that her Ma did for her by taking in this child.
I found THE ORPHAN IN THE PEACOCK SHAWL incredibly easy to read and did so in one sitting, easily immersing the reader into the Victorian era with seamless and expert storytelling. Although predictable, it's the journey we are taken on that makes it so enjoyable. It's simple, it's sweet and an absolute pleasure to read. I was thoroughly absorbed from start to finish.
THE ORPHAN IN THE PEACOCK SHAWL is perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Catherine Cookson.
I would like to thank #AnneMarieBrear, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheOrphanInThePeacockShawl in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Living in England during the 1980s and more recently, AnneMarie developed a love of history from visiting grand old English houses and this grew into a fascination with what may have happened behind their walls over their long existence.
Her enjoyment of visiting old country estates and castles when travelling and, her interest in genealogy and researching her family tree, has been put to good use, providing backgrounds and names for her historical novels which are mainly set in Yorkshire or Australia between Victorian times and WWII.
A long and winding road to publication led to her first novel being published in 2006. She has now published over twenty-seven historical family saga novels, becoming an Amazon UK best seller and with her novel, The Slum Angel, winning a gold medal at the USA Reader's Favourite International Awards in 2019, and a silver medal for The Market Stall Girl in 2021. Two of her books have been nominated for the Romance Writer’s Australia Ruby Award and the In’dtale Magazine Rone award.
AnneMarie now lives in the Southern Highlands of N.S.W. Australia with her husband and her family.
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