Before we ever read the first word in the book, the title tells us what to expect. What the title doesn't reveal is how and why Selena loses her position in society.
This historical fiction is set in Hertfordshire, England in 1817 and paints a vivid picture of how easy it was for a young woman, or even a whole family, to have the ton (high society) shun them.
Imagine having everything you have ever known or expected your life to be,
stripped from you because someone else made a mistake. By no fault of your
own, you have to learn how to make a living for yourself while watching the
world you once knew carry on without you. Becoming an employee in a house
where you would previously have been received as a desired guest and ushered
into the drawing room for tea with the countess. Instead, you will now
be expected to use the servants entrance and consider yourself fortunate
that the countess has favored you enough to even allow you to be her
companion.
That is what happened to Selena Lockhart in "A Fall from Grace" by Jennie Goutet.
"A Fall from Grace" Plot Synopsis
A Fall from Grace
(Clavering Chronicles Book 1)Check Price
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As the lone female occupant of a broken down stagecoach, Selena needs shelter from the snow storm and other danger. She believes her salvation must lie within the walls of a nearby home which is lit well enough for her to see in the distance. Dispute her lack of warm clothing, she sets out for the house and has plenty of time to recount the events that put her in this frightening situation. Her father's extreme gambling problems followed by his subsequent death; her fiance's recindment of his offer of marriage; insufficient funds to sustain her mother & sisters; all combined to create this life she was so ill-prepared to live. She was equally unprepared to be greeted by the cynical landowner who did not readily welcome her in out of the cold.
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Following Selena's story of becoming a companion to a bitter and unhappy widowed countess, caused me to consider what a truly difficult situation this would have been for a young lady who was raised in a wealthy home with the expectations of a prosperous marriage and continued position in high society. It would require a strong and determined individual to make this unwanted transition in life status.
Since this is a Regency Romance novel, the reader can rest assured there will be a developing romantic relationship throughout the book. However, I was equally interested in watching the other relationships develop in this book.
I highly recommend this book, and series, to anyone who enjoys clean & wholesome romance novels.
At publishing time of this review, "A Fall from Grace" is available for free with a Kindle Unlimited Subscription. Or, you can purchase it with the link below.
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