The Girl from Summerhayes (Summerhayes #1) by Merryn Allingham
Genre: Historical fiction
Read: 7th January 2023
Published: 11th January 2023
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
1914, England. Will her decision unite her family or tear them apart?
Surrounded by beautiful gardens in the glorious Sussex countryside, Summerhayes House seems like a true hidden paradise, but behind its polished floors and perfect green lawns is a family divided. The Summer family’s beloved home is under threat, and nineteen-year-old Elizabeth Summer finds herself caught in the heart of the crisis.
Elizabeth’s father believes his daughter marrying well will save Summerhayes. But Elizabeth is distraught at the stifling future ahead of her. A chance meeting with green-eyed Aiden Kellaway, the handsome architect’s apprentice working on the estate’s prized gardens, changes everything. For the first time, Elizabeth pictures an entirely different life, and – despite her father’s wishes – she is determined to take hold of it.
But war is brewing in Europe, and when its long shadow touches Summerhayes, Elizabeth realises her rebellion will come at a price. Desperately torn between family loyalty, society’s expectations and the bright chance at happiness she glimpsed in Aiden’s arms, she is forced to make an impossible choice.
As Elizabeth’s future – and her family’s – hangs in the balance, she must ask herself, is the price worth paying? And can she live with the consequences?
An unforgettable, totally gripping and heart-wrenching historical family saga. Fans of Tracy Rees, Kate Morton and Elizabeth Jane Howard will be utterly swept away by The Girl from Summerhayes.
Previously published as The Buttonmaker’s Daughter.
MY THOUGHTS:
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed/ing Merryn Allingham's cosy series featuring Flora Steele and Jack Carrington, I was interested to delve into her historical fiction when the chance came up to read and review THE GIRL FROM SUMMERHAYES, set at the outset to the Great War in 1914. But don't let that backdrop influence your decision to read this absorbing tale because it barely features except in passing as dinner table conversation. This is not wartime fiction with saddened families waving tearful goodbyes to their loved ones going off to war. This is an historical contemporary story of primarily a forbidden romance...amongst other things.
Just the name Summerhayes conjures up delightful imaginings of a beautiful sprawling estate to aristocracy nestled in the Sussex countryside. And this tale of the last halcyon days of summer in 1914 before war is declared in Europe has a war raging somewhat closer to home and its own battles to fight.
Nineteen year old Elizabeth Summer was expected to have been betrothed (if not married) already, having been present at court during the London season. However the two suitors who had taken a shine to her and proposed she had then refused, infuriating her father Joshua Summer. But, strongly influenced by the ideals of the Pankhurst women and the suffragettes, Elizabeth wants more for her life than being tied to a man for the rest of it. Instead she desires to follow her own path and pursue her dreams, indulging in her passion for painting perhaps.
Her father Joshua was not born into money but rather built his way to the top as a buttonmaker. His dream to create beautiful gardens withing a beautiful estate began when he married Alice Fitzroy, thus saving her own family from ruin. Since then Summerhayes has been the thorn in the neighbouring (and now crumbling) Amberley's side, that being the estate of Alice's family which is now run by her spiteful and malicious brother Henry. Alice has not set foot in her old family home since her marriage as her brother and her husband do not get on. Their marriage of convenience produced Elizabeth and her brother William, now 14, but nothing more.
Fearing for the future of Summerhayes, Joshua insists on Elizabeth making a good marriage...that being someone with wealth, distinction and everything that their class requires...so that when the time comes Elizabeth and her husband be on hand to take over the running of the Summerhayes estate. But a chance meeting with Aiden Kellaway, and architect's assistant, working on the temple and gardens on the Summerhayes estate sees Elizabeth envisioning a different future for herself than the one her parents have in mind. But Aiden is Irish (at a time when the Irish were rising up in their quest for independence), a man of trade who works with his hands, and this is not an acceptable match in their eyes.
So they approach Henry Fitzroy and ask for his help in finding a suitable husband for Elizabeth. Little did they know the havoc they unleashed in doing so...
THE GIRL FROM SUMMERHAYES is a delightful tale during a time of change for both women and the aristocracy against the backdrop of unrest in Europe. While it features little and doesn't appear to have much effect on those at Summerhayes, its presence is soon felt once war is declared and with it the promise of change. Women, especially those in aristotic circles, were bound by rules and expectations for their kind particularly when it came to marriage and the uniting of families as though it were a business deal. Elizabeth decreed she would only marry for love, nothing less. But her father scoffs at the idea whilst her mother can only support her husband's decisions, whether she agrees with them or not. In those days, wives submitted to their husbands and the decisions he made were law. We may find that a ludicrous notion today but that's just how things were then. But Elizabeth had different ideas and she pushed against the boundaries that constrained her to duty and loyalty.
The story started off slow but that was soon forgotten as I became immersed within Summerhayes and all its intricacies. The feud that divided the Summers and the Fitzroys which was soon set aside when the families united to find a suitable husband for the wayward Elizabeth, who they believed needed to be brought in to heel; the boyhood friendship between William and Oliver that whispered something more; the problems arising on the estate that alluded to something more nefarious taking place; the sense of duty versus what the heart desires...and more. There was an air of "Downton Abbey" to it without as much focus on the servants as in the former, but the story was comparable to it nonetheless.
The characters are a mixed bunch. Some likeable, some...not so likeable. Hateful even. But they were all well developed in light of the parts they played. The relationships between most were fraught with as much dissension as there was an acceptance to duty. They were indeed a complicated bunch with many complexities which is only natural given the era. Elizabeth pushed against those boundaries in more ways than one, identifying with the suffragette movement giving a voice to the women who have been downtrodden for too long.
There is so much more to THE GIRL FROM SUMMERHAYES that you really need to experience it for yourself. It is a delightful read in another time that sweeps you up in the story and has you completely absorbed. Many hoped the sequel would give them the answers to the questions they felt lingered at the end of the book but I felt it sufficed nicely. It gave an essence of promise, a sense of possibility.
I look forward to reading the sequel "The Secret of Summerhayes" next which takes place some three decades later...and reading about what's become of the family.
I would like to thank #MerrynAllingham, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheGirlFromSummerhayes in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Merryn lives in a beautiful old town in Sussex with her husband. When she’s not writing, she tries to keep fit with adult ballet classes and plenty of walking.
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