Fortune's Daughter (The Rockwood Chronicles #1) by Dilly Court
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, Victorian, Rockwood Chronicles
Read: 19th December 2023
Published: 10th June 2021
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Rockwood was home and she would do anything she could to stop it being stolen from them.
Abandoned by their parents and left to fight for themselves, headstrong Rosalind Carey has no choice but to take charge of her younger brothers and sister in Devonshire’s grand Rockwood Castle. But their once much-loved home is crumbling like the family that lives within it. Living hand to mouth and desperate to provide for the estate that depends on them, the Carey family are one debt away from ruin. Until the day comes when the dashing Piers Blanchard appears on their doorstep from Cornwall, claiming he is Rosalind’s distant cousin and that Rockwood Castle is his.
Piers says he wants to help pay off the family’s debts. But how can Rosalind be sure he isn’t out to take what is his and leave them all homeless? Only a closely-guarded secret will convince Rosalind she can trust Piers to protect her family – and her fragile heart.
Book One of The Rockwood Chronicles
MY THOUGHTS:
The first in a series of six, this book opens with 8 year old Rosalind Carey traipsing down to the beach to watch the smugglers bring their loot ashore. But the preventative men are quick to capture some of the smugglers whilst Rosie finds herself injured and in the debt of an unknown boy who rescued her and took her back home to Rockwood Castle. There she gave him a bed for the night but was gone before she arose the following morning. Rosie never knew his name and she never saw him again.
Twelve years later, Rosalind Carey has been the lady of the house for most of her siblings' lives whilst their father travelled in search of rare plants and their mother sought fame on the stage. But she never forgot the night she saw smugglers in the cove below Rockwood Castle and the boy who saved her life. He has haunted her memories and her dreams since.
But life has been hard for the Careys as they struggle to keep the roof over their heads and have racked up debts which they cannot pay. Rosalind pawns her grandmama's gold locket to pay for a third class train fare to London along with her younger sister 16 year old Patricia. It is her hope that their mother will take pity on them and grant them enough money to survive until their father returns from his travels. But Felicia Carey is a selfish woman, believing her voice is her God-given gift that she must share with the world and her home is no longer Rockwood but the stage. She has no money to give her children and tells them so.
Whilst in London, Rosalind is introduced to Piers Blanchard who informs them that he has a claim to Rockwood going back centuries in which Rockwood was the rightful home to the Blanchards. Rosalind doesn't know what to think but she believes that there is far more to Piers than meets the eye. And she isn't sure that she trusts him. But he says he can prove his claim and yet it is not his intention to evict them from the only home they have known. Instead, he goes some way to make restitution for their outstanding debts and give Rosalind a monthly allowance to keep Rockwood and her siblings. And yet she still doesn't trust him. Surely he has some ulterior motive to his generosity.
When Rosalind and Patricia travel to Cornwall to Piers' own sprawling estate in which his younger sister and his grandmother live, she is shocked to discover that someone has laid claim to the estate and the clay mine which Piers runs lest a scandalous secret about the family be revealed. Piers has no choice but to ascquiese leaving Rosalind offering them a place at Rockwood until the mess is sorted out. But living with Piers' grandmother, who brings with her all her maids and servants that she couldn't possibly live without thus creating havoc below the stairs with the Carey's lifelong loyal housekeeper and cook, Hester.
Wow! Well, life certainly isn't dull at Rockwood as the Careys and the Blanchards rub along reluctantly with Piers' grandmother constantly reminding the Careys that they are there only at the generous behest of Piers insinuating that he can take away his consent at any time. With mysteries and scandalous secrets dating back to smugglers, FORTUNE'S DAUGHTER is a delightful tale that swept me away to the Devonshire coast that I can't wait to step into the next installment to see where life takes them and all at Rockwood Castle.
I thoroughly enjoyed this sweeping tale which I think is probably Dilly's best yet. Now...onto the second book...
I would like to thank #DillyCourt, #Netgalley and #HarperCollins for an ARC of #FortunesDaughter in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Dilly Court grew up in North-east London and began her career in television, writing scripts for commercials. She is married with two grown-up children and four grandchildren, and now lives in Dorset on the beautiful Jurassic Coast with her husband. She is the author of eighteen novels and also writes under the name of Lily Baxter.
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