HOUSE OF SHADOWS is a standalone multi-time frame saga from
historical fiction and historical romance author Nicola
Cornick. I want to call this a time slip novel, buts it's
not, really. The underpinning of the three couples across
the three different time periods are the divination tools of
a crystal mirror and the Sistrin Pearl, which is used by the
Order of the Rosy Cross (more familiar to me and perhaps to
others as the Rosicrucian Oder), who believe in the rebirth
of the spirit. The three couples' stories are set at
Ashdown House, a National Trust Estate in the UK where
author Nicola Cornick volunteers as a guide and is a local
historian.
First, there is Elizabeth Stuart, wife of Frederick of
Bohemia. She's the sister of King Charles of England and
was known as The Winter Queen. Frederick was a weak and
militarily incompetent king who spent his life fighting to
regain the lands he reigned over for only 1 year before
being dispossessed by the Holy Roman Empire. Elizabeth was a
faithful wife but secretly yearns for her devoted knight,
William Craven. After the noble death of her husband the
(landless) king, Elizabeth weds her gallant champion,
William Craven. But of course, the path of star-crossed and
socially unequal lovers in 17th century times never runs
smoothly.
Lavinia Flyte is a Regency courtesan in the early 19th
century who comes to Ashdown Park with her protector, the
Park's owner, the deplorable Lord Evershot. Evershot is a
right beast, and Lavinia, who is determined to be sensible
about her life, comes to fall in love with Evershot's
architect, despite the fact that it flies in the face of all
practicality. Lavinia wrote a diary, which Holly (our modern
day heroine) finds, tying these two women's threads tightly
together.
Finally, we have modern day Holly Ansell, a temperamental
artist who engraves beautiful glass pieces. She comes to
Oxfordshire to search for her missing beloved brother Ben,
who has gone mysteriously absent one night from Ashdown.
Holly finds herself falling reluctantly in love with Mark
Warner, who is renovating the Ashdown Park property. All
three women are wonderful products of their time, and while
I don't necessarily like them always, I do always empathize
with their choices.
There's a beautiful and ethereal feel to the story, and I
found myself with chill bumps reading late at night
wondering what ghost was going to leap out of the woodwork
to scare me next. Delightfully atmospheric, HOUSE OF SHADOWS
is masterfully spun out, weaving the lives of three women
and three men over the ages, in their star-crossed attempt s
at love. The interweaving of the three periods is deftly
performed. This is definitely much more of a historical
mystery rather than a romance. Fans of Susanna
KearsleyKearsley will enjoy this book.
The wooded hills of Oxfordshire conceal the remains of
the aptly named Ashdown House—a wasted pile of cinders
and regret. Once home to the daughter of a king, Ashdown
and its secrets will unite three women across four
centuries in a tangle of romance, deceit and destiny…
In the winter of 1662, Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter
Queen, is on her deathbed. She entrusts an ancient pearl,
rumored to have magic power, to her faithful cavalier
William Craven for safekeeping. In his grief, William
orders the construction of Ashdown Estate in her memory
and places the pearl at its center.
One hundred and fifty years later, notorious courtesan
Lavinia Flyte hears the maids at Ashdown House whisper of
a hidden treasure, and bears witness as her protector
Lord Evershot—desperate to find it—burns the building to
the ground.
Now, a battered mirror and the diary of a Regency
courtesan are the only clues Holly Ansell has to finding
her brother, who has gone missing researching the mystery
of Elizabeth Stuart and her alleged affair with Lord
Craven. As she retraces his footsteps, Holly’s quest will
soon reveal the truth about Lavinia and compel her to
confront the stunning revelation about the legacy of the
Winter Queen.
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