I can't recall the number of books I returned Thursday. Somewhere in the neighborhood of five, I think. In any case, the winner was Rose Melikan's The Blackstone Key.
At the end of the 18th century, a young Englishwoman, Mary Finch, travels to Suffolk to reconcile with an unknown uncle. Her curiosity and tenacity (and a bit of bad luck) lead her to the center of a treasonous plot to sell secrets to the dreaded French. Mary's mixture of determination and naivete are endearing. The story has enough twists to hold the reader's interest, but does not boil any pots.
Still and all, Ms. Melikan wins the week's top spot for her period detail most of all. She exquisitely captured (what I imagine to be) the feel of the late 1700s and shabby-genteel country folk. I could almost picture an evening in Mrs. Tipton's drawing room.
1 comment:
You should list all the books, so we know the losers. You could even post all the books you get out of the library when you take them out, so that we have the nominees before we know the winner.
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