The Widow's Secret (The Goswell Quartet #4) by Kate Hewitt
Genre: Historical fiction, Dual timeline, Contemporary fiction, Georgian era
Read: 16th November 2022
Published: 17th November 2022
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
She looked down at the sweet little girl and knew she wouldn’t listen to what anyone else said. She had to do what was right. Even if it meant going against everything she was taught to believe and keeping a secret from the person closest to her…
England, 1766: Abigail is happily married to James, a tobacco trader turned sea captain, and is looking forward to starting a family and settling down in Whitehaven, deep in the Lake District. But after a series of devastating losses, she finds herself in turmoil, with her future suddenly seeming unknown…
When James announces that he will captain a ship to Africa and then the Americas for a year, it sparks a series of surprising and heartbreaking events – involving some of the darkest evils in humanity’s history, and a tiny, terrified slave girl who’s brought back to England. This helpless child forces Abigail to reconsider everything she thought she knew – and will change her life forever…
Now: When a shipwreck is discovered off the coast of Cumbria, local expert Rachel is brought in to investigate. Her first thought is that this will be a perfect distraction from her troubled marriage and the memories of her past that she is desperate not to think about. But then it becomes clear the wreck is a slaving ship from the 1700s – one that was recorded as sinking in the Caribbean – and Rachel begins to wonder if there’s more to this terrible mystery than meets the eye.
Faced with uncertainty about both the past and present, can Rachel learn from Abigail’s extraordinary story and take the first step towards a brighter future of her own?
The Widow’s Secret is a completely heart-wrenching and powerful story of courage, redemption, and compassion. Fans of Lucinda Riley, Barbara O’Neal and Fiona Valpy will be absolutely captivated by this unforgettable read.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Widow’s Secret by Katharine Swartz.
EXTRACT:
Georgiana let out a gay laugh and clapped her hands. "What can she do? Does she speak?"
"Of course she speaks," Abigail answered stiffly. "She has learned English remarkably well."
"How clever of her! In any case I am quite looking forward to having a page and dressing him in a frock coat and frills. How handsome he will look! Mr Fenton said he would find me a healthy, well turned out little lad for me. I am quite depending on him."
"I do not know know how he will find such a creature," Abigail said before she could think better of it, "when he will have endured the kind of voyage no human being ever should."
"Why, Abigail, you sound almost like one of those abolitionists," Georgiana answered with a laugh. "And with your husband in the trade."
She pressed her lips together. "Well I know it."
"Surely you are not getting such ideas? It would be most unsuitable. Besides, we cannot do without the trade. All of society rests on it." With a little laugh she gestured to the loaf of sugar that had been brought in with the tea tray. "There would be none of this without them, you know."
"Then perhaps we should go without sugar in our tea," Abigail said recklessly. "I daresay it would not be such a sacrifice."
"And what of the trade? The profit?" Georgiana replied with an irritable laugh. "Really Abigail, you are too much. I thought you would amuse me today, with your little lady's maid, but I am quite put out."
"I am so sorry to disappoint you," Abigail returned with acid in her voice.
"What does she do?" Georgiana asked petulantly. "Can you make her say something?"
"No, I cannot." Abigail found herself shaking with rage. "She is not a puppet, or a pet, or a plaything. She is a person."
MY THOUGHTS:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Kate Hewitt's delightful dual timeline tale THE WIDOW'S SECRET.
I really didn't think I would enjoy this final installment of the Goswell Quartet as the subject matter - shipwrecks and maritime whatnot - is not something I would normally have picked up to read. However, I have been proved pleasantly wrong. I enjoyed THE WIDOW'S SECRET far more than I ever thought I would and I am saddened to have to say goodbye to Goswell and Jane, who has been a stalwart throughout all four books.
As with each tale, this one delves even further back than the previous three as we venture into the 18th century and the world of merchant ships and the slave trade.
Whitehaven, 1762: After a a rather dubious entanglement in Harrogate, 19 year old Abigail Heywood is sure her prospects for a husband have all but disappeared within the whispers of society's gossips. And then she meets 33 year old James Fenton, a former sea captain and now maritime trader in tobacco. He has no interest in the gossips and thinks only on the lovely Abigail Heywood, despite her plain looks and yet he finds her attractive in an innocent and wholesome way. Within months he proposes and they marry, moving to the beautiful town house he has procured for them. But after more than a year, Abigail has been unable to bear him a son...or any child, for that matter.
But with every tobacco plant and every shipment bound for Glasgow, James must find another source in which to trade...and he soon finds that the slave trade is proving to be rather profitable. Procured in Africa, the ship then sails to the Caribbean where they trade the slaves for sugar, thus sailing back to Cumbria with a haul to pay off the investors as well as make a profit themselves. A profitable business, by all accounts.
One one such voyage, James returns with a surprise for Abigail. Her very own slave, her small hands manacled! Abigail is shocked. The creature before her couldn't be more than six years old, if that! She speaks not a word of English (just heathen gibberish) and her skin is as dark as anything she has ever seen. She takes the young girl home and orders her maid to fill a bath of hot water for the child as she bathes her emaciated and scarred body. Who would do this to a child? And yet, when her husband returns home, he argues that the child is to sleep on the dark warehouse floor and to remain manacled until she learns her place.
And then when James announces that he is to sail on the next voyage since his captain failed to procure enough slaves so he will see to it himself. He will be gone for more than a year by the time he has solicited enough slaves from the Africas and journeyed to the Caribbean to trade them for goods that he will bring back home.
During the time her husband has been gone, Abigail meets and listens to John Wesley and his teachings and thus begins to learn a lot more about herself and her husband...and the situation in which she now finds herself. She also comes to see Adelaide, as she now calls the child, as more than a slave...more than a servant even...but something akin to a daughter.
But society will never accept an African child...and neither would James, Abigail fears.
Present day: Maritime archaeologist Rachel Gardener is called up to look into the remains of a possible shipwreck off the Cumbrian coast. Leaving her husband behind in Bristol, she makes the five hour journey to Whitehaven and this exciting possible find. But Rachel is no stranger to the Lake District for she grew up about an hour away and where her mother still lives, though they barely talk having a somewhat prickly relationship.
During a dive to investigate the site, Rachel and her colleagues find a pocket watch with the engraving "JMF" and soon discovers an 18th century merchant trader with those initials whose ship was reportedly wrecked off the coast of Antigua in the Caribbean. So why was his pocket watch found within this wreck just a quarter of a mile out of Whitehaven? And so close to home?
Her investigations lead her to James and Abigail Fenton as she tries to unravel the mystery of who they were and what their roles were in the slave trade? She meets and befriends Jane Hatton (from the previous books) who is an ear for Rachel to offload her worries as well as her findings into the Fentons. For Jane, too, is understandably as intrigued.
Her enquiries are then paused when she receives a call about her mother who has had a fall and is in hospital. But it seems not everything is as it seems and Rachel must deal with an even further blow, wondering how she is going to handle everything from her mother to her marriage.
THE WIDOW'S SECRET is a little different from the first three in that it is not actually set in Goswell, though it does feature. I couldn't warm to Rachel who I found standoffish and aloof, and there are times I could have gladly knocked her and her mother's heads together. The heroine of this tale is most certainly Abigail. She was loyal, kind and somewhat forward thinking for the time. She knew in her heart that slavery was wrong and hated the very thought of treating Adelaide as nothing but a savage creature who behaved like a heathen, could speak nothing but gibberish and could very murder her in her sleep! She refused to see her that way and her relationship with Adelaide was a heartwarming one.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale far more than I expected to and I am saddened to leave the residents - past and present - of Goswell behind as this beautiful series comes to an end. I have enjoyed every minute of my time with everyone, getting to know them and seeing them blossom. And I loved the mysteries each of the characters were faced with. I am so glad I met them all. And I thank Kate Hewitt for the opportunity.
Overall, though not an entirely easy read in parts, THE WIDOW'S SECRET is perfect for fans of dual timelines.
I would like to thank #KateHewitt, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheWidowsSecret in exchange for an honest review.
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