The Bridges over Time Series by Valerie Anand

[Misfit]

After giving up hope of ever purchasing this one, I went for an ILL and they've just told me there's one library (although with a $15 handling fee) so I'm going to go for it and get this series finished. Stay tuned.

[Michy]

I scanned your reviews and this sounds like a series that might interest me -- I much prefer stories of the "common people" over stories of royals. I'll have to take a look at my library system and see what's available.....

[Misfit]

[quote=""Michy""]I scanned your reviews and this sounds like a series that might interest me -- I much prefer stories of the "common people" over stories of royals. I'll have to take a look at my library system and see what's available.....[/quote]

The first three are the best, and you should have no problem ILL'ing them.

[fljustice]

[quote=""EC2""]Anand appears to have been a victim of the mid 90's slump in historical fiction when a lot of authors lost their publishing slots.[/quote]

I interviewed Ms. Anand extensively in 2000 shortly after her third historical mystery novel Queen's Ransom featuring Ursula Blanchard as an "agent" for Elizabeth I, was released in paperback in the US. She's written eight books in the Ursula Blanchard series -- all under the name of Fiona Buckley. Her publisher thought a pseudonym for her mystery novels would be better than her real name. I haven't seen anything new since The Siren Queen came out in 2004.

I didn't read the Bridge of Time series, but she talked a lot about it in the interview--Charlotte Whitmead, the main character in the last book is based on her great-aunt Clara. It was fun reading Misfit's reviews because I could almost hear Ms. Anand's voice as she spoke about the repression of women ("cherishing them too much") and "mixed" marriages (she married a North Indian man.) For those interested, I broke the interview up into three parts and posted them on my blog--check the interview category. All the material is also available in one place on my website -- the short cut to the interview is in the right-hand column.

Misfit, thanks for reminding me of these books. Ms. Anand was a delight to work with and I hope she hasn't retired.

[annis]

Valerie Anand appears to still be going strong- she has published a couple of novels recently in a new series known as the Exmoor Saga, set during the War of Roses period- The House of Lanyon and The House of Allerbrook, although opinion is divided on whether they are as good as her earlier work.

[EC2]

[quote=""annis""]Valerie Anand appears to still be going strong- she has published a couple of novels recently in a new series known as the Exmoor Saga, set during the War of Roses period- The House of Lanyon and The House of Allerbrook, although opinion is divided on whether they are as good as her earlier work.[/quote]

Glancing at her ouevre on Amazon, there seens to be a long gap between her straight historicals in the mid 90s until now. Mira, the current publishers are the mainstream arm of Mills & Boon as far as I recall.

[Misfit]

[quote=""annis""]Valerie Anand appears to still be going strong- she has published a couple of novels recently in a new series known as the Exmoor Saga, set during the War of Roses period- The House of Lanyon and The House of Allerbrook, although opinion is divided on whether they are as good as her earlier work.[/quote]

House of Lanyon was a real snoozer for me and I DNF Allerbrook. Nothing compared to these or better yet her Gildenford books. Those are excellent.

It's a shame these are OOP and rather pricey at that. I was lucky to get the first three of the Gildenford books before the prices went through the roof. I believe I checked Worldcat once and they are in libraries in the US so please don't forget ILL.

When I do finish off this last one I plan on a blog post on the entire series incorporating partials from these reviews. I wish Sourcebooks would pick these up. HINT HINT HINT.

[Misfit]

"...a family history reaching back like a bridge across time, supported here and there, as a bridge is supported by its piers, by contact with great events and great names: with pestilence and civil war, with a pretender to the throne and the ventures of the East India Company. All of it linking to a Norman knight, who had been made a slave in the North Country before the Conqueror came, and a boy fleeing through the hunger and the savage cold of a Yorkshire blizzard to escape the fire and the slaughter which had over taken his home, to three ladies taking tea on a Surrey lawn, in this August of 1960."

This sixth and final book in Anand's Bridges Over Time series begins in 1885. Charlotte and Victoria Whitmead's father gambled all and lost and then managed to get himself killed before he could recoup his losses. Faced with losing their independence by accepting the *protection* of his brother Edward (and being dowerless no hopes of marriage), their mother sends the sisters to be apprentices to a distant cousin and learn a trade. Charlotte and Vicky adapt well to the draper trade and eventually strike out on their own, much to the chagrin of their overprotective uncle and brother. Over time, the sisters become successful and it being too late for them to marry and bear children of their own they must content themselves with their growing family of cousins, nieces and nephews. As the Whitmead sisters grow old they see family members come and go through two world wars, personal triumphs and immeasurable loss and finally ends in 1969 as Charlotte approaches her 100th birthday in 1969. More than that, I'm not going to tell, but a surprising and somewhat abrupt ending that leaves you guessing.

"It was as though a ceremony had taken place, a transfer of something abstract but precious-Experience? Hope? Responsibility?-from the older generation to the new. Whatever torch had been passed on to her tonight, she must cherish and keep burning, as long as she lived. It had been given to her for that purpose."

I really enjoyed this, although the focusing on family relationships makes for a slower paced book at times and might not appeal to all readers. A nice ending to the series, and Anand did a good job of bringing back the past history of the forebears of the Whitmeads and tying it all up with a nice ribbon. This book is hard to find and a tad bit expensive used (understatement), but it can be had via ILL (interlibrary loan), but be warned. The one library in the US that did have it will ask for a $15 lending fee.

[fljustice]

Thanks for the on going reviews!

[Misfit]

[quote=""fljustice""]Thanks for the on going reviews![/quote]

Can't stand to let a series go unfinished. I just put up something on my blog about the entire series here.