From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: Fiercombe Manor by Kate Riordan

Author: Kate Riordan

Publisher: Harper

Date of publication: February 2015

In 1933, naive twenty-two-year-old Alice is pregnant, unmarried, and disgraced. She can no longer share her parents’ London home, so her desperate mother concocts a cover story and begs her old friend, Mrs. Jelphs, for help. The housekeeper at rural Fiercombe Manor, Mrs. Jelphs is moved by Alice’s “plight” as a new widow and agrees to watch over her in the secluded English countryside until the baby is born and given up for adoption. Because the manor house’s owners, Lord and Lady Stanton, no longer live there, Alice’s only company will be Mrs. Jelphs and her skeleton staff.

Thirty years before Alice’s arrival, Lady Elizabeth Stanton awaits the birth of her second child, fervently hoping he will be the boy her husband desires. But as her time nears, she is increasingly tormented by memories of what happened with her first baby and terrified that history will repeat itself . . . with devastating consequences.

At first, Fiercombe Manor offers Alice a welcome relief from her mother’s disapproving gaze. But she begins to sense that all is not well in the picturesque Gloucestershire valley. After a chance encounter with Tom, the young scion of the Stanton family, Alice discovers that Fiercombe’s beauty is haunted by the clan’s tragic past. She is determined to exorcise the ghosts of the idyllic, isolated house.

Nothing can prepare Alice for what she uncovers. Can she escape the tragic fate of the other women who have lived in the Fiercombe valley?

Fiercombe Manor is a book written in dual timelines. The first being Alice's story in the 1930s and the second Elizabeth's in the late 1890s. Alice comes to Fiercombe as a pregnant unwed mother to have her baby and then give it up for adoption. As she is there, tries to find the truth about Elizabeth and her daughter Isabel.

This is going to be another instance where I find myself in the minority. I had a hard time getting through the book. It was slow to start and just never got off the ground for me. I felt like it was longer than it needed to be and had too many overly descriptive passages. I ended up skipping to the end to see what happened to everyone. But, just because I didn't like it much doesn't mean you won't, so I do urge you to give it a try.

One interesting note, this book was originally published in England with the title The Girl in the Photograph. Can anyone tell me why they do that? I have never been able to figure out why the title changes depending on the country.

About the author:

Kate Riordan is a British writer and journalist who worked for the Guardian and Time Out London. She is also the author of Birdcage Walk and is already at work on her third novel. Born in London, she now lives in the Gloucestershire countryside.

Find out more about Kate at her website and connect with her on Twitter.

Kate’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, March 17th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, March 18th: Bibliophilia, Please

Thursday, March 19th: For the Love of Words

Monday, March 23rd: Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Monday, March 23rd: A Bookworm’s World

Tuesday, March 24th: A Bookish Way of Life

Wednesday, March 25th: Dwell in Possibility

Thursday, March 26th: Doing Dewey

Tuesday, March 31st: Always With a Book