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Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford

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Vanessa
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4378
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Post by Vanessa » Sat March 14th, 2015, 11:48 am

Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Two entwined families: the aristocratic Inghams and the Swanns who serve them. One stately home: Cavendon Hall, a grand imposing house nestled in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. And a society beauty: Lady Daphne Ingham is the most beautiful of the Earl’s daughters, a glittering marriage her destiny.

But in the summer of 1913, a devastating event changes her future forever, and puts the House of Ingham at risk. Life as the families of Cavendon Hall know it – Royal Ascot, supper dances, grouse season feasts – is about to alter beyond recognition as the storm clouds of war gather.



My Review

This is a gentle family saga which encapsulates World War I and is set in Yorkshire. The aristocratic Inghams, otherwise known as the Earl and the Countess of Mowbray, live at Cavendon Hall. Their retainers, for want of a better word, the Swanns of Little Skell village, have sworn an oath to protect them since forever.

It is a light-hearted, lively and easy read. I did find it a little repetitive and predictable at times. The reiterance over and over again of the Swann family's motto, "Loyalty binds us" and the restating of the special connection to the Ingrams, became somewhat irritating. It put me in mind of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers! I also thought the characters were quite one dimensional - the majority of them seemed too perfect. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining read, if a little bland. I read it for what it was - pure escapism!

Many thanks to Lovereading.co.uk for giving me the opportunity to read and review Cavendon Hall. The sequel, The Cavendon Women, will be published on 26 March.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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