A story of Victorian England.
594443
Due to a cleric's questioning Church of England doctrine, he and his family move from the aristocratic south of England to the dynamic manufacturing north.

His young daughter has a very hard time adjusting to her new life, which leads to a rocky relationship with the owner of a cloth manufacturing plant. He finds her a spirited, attractive woman; she is torn between her admiration of some of this qualities, but has a very hard time time with his ambition.

I liked the part about the entrepreneurial lives of the manufacturers, where financial survival was just an error in judgment from failure.

This is the first of a series of novels about these two, who eventually marry in a sequel.
3467769
I like AnnePerry. I particularly like her characters Charlote , Thomas  and their aunt.  .  The Victorian eara in England is very appealing to me as I see many simialr attitudes in the USA today.  In the blame ing of victums, the rga[ between rich and poor ,  I see many of the rich blaming the poor for being poor instead of looking at ways to help the poor rise . Blaming women for prostitution when that was practically the only way for them to work and feed their families.  It iso easy to see the mistakes of others so seeing England suffering though this period of history makes me more aware of the injustice I see today in the US. Anne Perry writes a good story and makes her characters real.
4177523
History, mystery, sophistry--a beautifully written who-dunnit that takes you into Victorian times. The characters pop off the page and some are popped off. Teases and twists all along the way.
1333459
OMG This is a great book.  The author lived the life of a Victorian for a year.  Sures opens up my eyes that the Victorian times were not as romantic as I thought.  Victorians did not heat their houses and in the dead of winter they left the windows open because they thought the cold was healthy.  However, they should have gotten a clue that heat was better since the pubs at the time all had a roaring fire and it was crowded with folks wanting to get warm and have a beverage.  People went hungry all the time and the very poor was starving all the time.  The work houses were nothing but slave and abuse camps.  This book is well written with well researched and personally lived knowledge.  So good I read it twice.
3996578
A melodrama suitable to the 19th century genre full of mystery, letters, coincidences, and reeking with atmosphere not to mention quite a collection of interesting Victoriana especially London minutia. With short  "chapters" the plot moves along very nicely, thank you. Shifts in  narrative voice help hold the interest and the characters are memorable.  Some theoretical interest regarding "truth" and  "fiction". A pretty good read.
4691867
Ian Doyle has provided a true chameleon's tale in the vein of his namesake's writings in the Sherlock Holmes series of mystery novels. A good story written in first-person style in a setting allegorious to the Victorian era, this land is inhabited by a variety of characters with human features and non-human characteristics.  The focus is on a visitor to the Stark home in the form of a wooden boy fashioned after a child's toy, a toy who encapsulates the soul of a real boy, whose body was stolen while the boy, Simon, was at school.  Mina, the storyteller, works with her husband, James Stark, to attempt to identify the thief and allow Simon to be reunited with his real body.  Using carriages for transportation, and dressing in styles straight from Victorian times, the Starks use their experience in crime-solving matters, his skill in swordplay, and a variety of other-than-ordinary aptitudes, which become apparent as the story develops, Mina acts as Watson to Holmes in this fantastical tale of times gone by.

There are some grammatical concerns that could be addressed with a good editor, and while this is otherwise a well-written tale, there are some questionable actions, such as the lack of concern, almost seeming to be an overconfidence, in a confrontation of a new vampire at one point.  It is appreciated, though, that the author took care of the loose end that many authors would have missed in this particular instance.

A good story, Mina and her husband provide excellent characters for a series of stories that have the potential to fascinate much as Watson and Holmes have done throughout the years.
2066567
A great read, filled with wonderful details about daily life in Victorian London.  The chapters on transportation (especially by foot) and on food and eating were utterly fascinating.  It gradually sinks in that the Victorian world, despite it's surface similarity to modern times, was profoundly different.  We could not go back and just fit in; we wouldn't know how to do anything, not even buy shoes or get dinner.  The book is a bit long, but I didn't really mind.  I also highly recommend Flanders' equally wonderful book "Inside the Victorian Home".
1506431
A Victorian period romantic novel with the characters maturing and evolving while intertwined with high society and European Monarchs keeps the reader coming back for more!
1840198
I loved this period piece story. They show the people, places, and times of this period in history. This story was another view (as compared to the many Dickens stories) of the 19th century England. I will definitely be watching for season 2.
1241943
I enjoyed this book, set in Victorian England through to WW1.  This was an interesting and well researched portrayal of the changing role of females in early 20th Century England.  The character of the heroine was well drawn.  A generally good read.
2796298
A good read. The storyline and characters were great making this book a very interesting read. It all takes place in the heyday of aristocratic days of England which adds a distinct flavor to this book.
1564102
A train accident pairs Lady Elizabeth Fraser and railway surgeon Paul Wilcox. This is Great Britain in the 1870's and their lives would be so different that their lives would not ever cross. But Paul saves their lives and brings them together.

When too many similar accidents happen, Wilcox and his friend, journalist Tom Flynn, start investigating. They never imagined their best ally would be Lady Elizabeth. Here is a main character that knows what she wants and won't let class or gender stop her, even if the consequences can be devastating for her reputation.

This is a lovely well written book, and there is an impressive amount of research, not only about railroads, but about class and lifestyle in Victorian times. Characters and plot are well developed but, for me, there was just too much information about railroads.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
1035135
An absolutely wonderful story.  Excellent choice of characters.  I love the victorian era and Julian Fellowes has done a marvolous job bringing this story to life.
4025980
Although it is considered one of the finest examples of Victorian sensationalistic novels, the story is slow paced. A quarter of the way into the novel, most readers will have already guessed Lady Audley's Secret, nevertheless, the characters have to go through the process of discovering and proving the secret.

There are a few things that I thought were interesting, though some might think they were dated, such as the "denouncement" scene or the "attempted murder" scene or the "clean-up the mess" sequence of events. These scenes are classic sensational Victorian episodes that you don't see anymore in today's novels. On the other hand, there are some unexpected turns that will surprise the modern reader

When the story comes to its happy conclusion, I can't help but feel sorry for Lady Audley. Her fate just seemed a bit extreme for my taste. This is a great novel you can toss off in a couple of days
505556
enjoyed story.  Also enjoyed seeing how households back in the 1800s (?) were run.
2907582
An interesting look into English Victorian society and how people lived by strict rules of conduct, both inside and outside of the home.  The husband certainly ruled the household during that era, and propriety and class distinction must be observed at all times. (Charlotte and her younger sister flouted those rules, but deviously).  The actual mystery of who the Cater Street hangman might be seems somewhat obvious from clues the author dropped throughout the novel, but it was still a well written story with interesting character development.  Charlotte is something of a rebel, and the fact that she and detective Pitt developed a romance despite a difference in social standing puts her in the category of Plucky Heroine Who Solves Crimes.  Will have to read more books about Charlotte and Pitt.
4619530
Set mainly in a lunatic asylum in Cornwall in 1882, Harwood has written a Victorian tale of deceit, betrayal and madness. When a young woman wakes up in an asylum, victim of a seizure that leaves her without a memory of how she got there, she is approached by the chief medical officer of Tregannon House, Maynard Straker, and informed that every effort is being made to assure she is returned to a state of well-being. The problem at hand is simple: the patient claims that she is Georgina Ferrars of London. But all evidence point to her being Lucy Ashton, not Georgina. When the doctor agrees to send a telegram to her uncle in London, the girl awaits her release. Unfortunately, Straker announces that Miss Ferrars is at home in London. Without any way to prove her identity "Lucy" is at a loss how to solve her dilemma. Given the Victorian penchant for coddling females, Georgina is at the mercy of her captors, overwhelmed by her circumstances and without resources.

Georgina wracks her memory for the lost days before her arrival at Tregannon House, traveling though time and her childhood to piece together what little she knows of her family history, secrets naturally kept from a young girl of tender years who lives with a maiden aunt after her mother's tragic death, her father having succumbed years earlier. Clearly something in her past holds the key to the present situation, only the thought of recovering a precious heirloom pin and her diary stand between freedom and a future in the asylum. The stage is set for drama: an overbearing doctor, a handsome, if ineffective young man, Felix Mordaunt, whose family owns the estate, a sturdy nighttime nurse who Georgina plans to bribe in an escape attempt and the elusive figure in London claiming to be Georgina Ferrars. Part Two (thankfully) expounds on the family history, details that slowly evolve in a complicated twist of ill-fated romances, paternal outrage and a family trauma that has infected one generation after another.

Harwood's plot is predictably harrowing in the usual melodramatic Victorian manner, the damsel in distress facing harm at the hands of an evil man, the machinations of a someone who would steal her identity-and perhaps her future, all set against a madhouse with heavy, locked doors, footsteps in the night and fevered laudanum dreams. The author throws in one unexpected twist at the end, but it isn't sufficient to save this novel from its stereotypical characters, including a frail heroine who is more likely to faint than to act with any degree of courage. The only other male figure besides the imposing doctor is an insipid, soft-spoken young aristocrat, not a likely prince to spirit away the girl locked in her cell, salvation left rather to circumstance, clumsiness and an abject lack of spirit in the face of danger. Luan Gaines/2013.