A Winter's Tale by Trisha Ashley
Sophy Winter is not your typical Lady of the Manor... When she unexpectedly inherits Winter's End - a crumbling mansion in the beautiful Lancashire countryside - it seems like all Sophy's prayers have been answered. She eagerly swaps life as an impoverished housekeeper in favour of her own team of staff.
But Sophy quickly realises the challenge on her hands - the house is decrepit and its eccentric inhabitants are a nightmare. And once it is discovered that Winter's End played host to a young Shakespeare, the entire village of Sticklepond becomes curious about Sophy's plans, especially charming Jack Lewis. But is he really smitten by Sophy or is it her newly-acquired cash that he likes? Meanwhile, Sophy’s gorgeous head gardener Seth is the strong and silent type. But does his passion bloom for anything beyond the horticultural?
As Sophy gets to grips with squabbling relatives, collapsing buildings and the ghostly presence of one of her ancestors, she wonders if Winter's End is not so much a gift from the gods as a mixed blessing…
But Sophy quickly realises the challenge on her hands - the house is decrepit and its eccentric inhabitants are a nightmare. And once it is discovered that Winter's End played host to a young Shakespeare, the entire village of Sticklepond becomes curious about Sophy's plans, especially charming Jack Lewis. But is he really smitten by Sophy or is it her newly-acquired cash that he likes? Meanwhile, Sophy’s gorgeous head gardener Seth is the strong and silent type. But does his passion bloom for anything beyond the horticultural?
As Sophy gets to grips with squabbling relatives, collapsing buildings and the ghostly presence of one of her ancestors, she wonders if Winter's End is not so much a gift from the gods as a mixed blessing…
After having read Jojo Moyes' Me before You and realizing I had a new-found deep craving for all things romance and sob-storiesI perused Goodreads for similar books trying to figure out what others have read. That search lead me to Trisha Ashley and boy did she not let me down. I ordered A Winter's Tale from the library and after completely losing myself in it I also bought it and many others by her from my favourite online bookstore.
What I really like about this book is that while there is a love story involved it's not overshadowing. The main focus point here is the restoration of the house and surrounding grounds and it was so well written. I'm in no way a cleaning-freak (but do prefer neatness) but reading about Sophy, I actually felt her enjoyment in cleaning, polishing and tidying up. Sophy is a very lovable character and so were all the supporting characters - every single one, but the villain who was so efficiently annoying and punchable.
All in all it was a brilliant read, really well written and very engaging. I'm already half-itching to reread it!
| A WINTER'S TALE by Trisha Ashley ISBN13: 9781847560148 405 pages / Published in 2008 |
|
Great review.Try Wishing on a star too
SvarSletThank you :) I think I've got that one already lined up on my bookshelves, will definitely be reading more of Ashley soon!
SletDet er ikke en bog jeg har hørt om før, men jeg var selv glad for Jojo Moyes, så det lyder til at jeg sagtens kan kaste mig over den her også :)
SvarSletJeg tror måske heller ikke Ashley er blevet oversat, men hun virker til at være ret stor på det engelske/amerikanske marked; jeg så i hvert fald en del af hendes bøger rundt omkring i boghandler, mens jeg var ude at rejse. Men den er mega fin, så den kan virkelig anbefales :)
Slet