This book is the third book in a series, but I never got the impression that it was part of a series, it stands by itself. The time is the late 1700s to early 1800s and the setting is in Cornwall, England. The Wyndcliff Manor is on the coastline and is often the site of recovery for shipwrecks: cargo and lives.
William Twethewy is the owner of Wyndcliff Manor and makes an unexpected arrival while Evelyn is stuck in the mud of the moors and helps to pull her and her pony out of the mud. Evelyn's grandfather, Rupert, has been the caretaker of the Manor, and while Evelyn isn't officially a staff member, she does a lot of work to help out the household.
When a ship runs aground on the rocks by Wyndcliff, Evelyn, William, and all of the workers run to take care of the cargo and any survivors of the wreck. The two survivors found are a woman with a head injury and her four-year-old daughter, Mary. Evelyn becomes indispensable in the care of Mary and her mother. This shipwreck happens about one quarter of the way through the book and this is where the plot picked up enough to gain my interest.
I am not sure what I was looking for in reading this book, but it missed the mark with me. Sarah E Ladd's abilities as a writer are not in question. She writes with high standards as her goal in putting out a story. She does her research into the times, customs, and daily life events of the era she's putting on paper. She makes incredible word pictures for the reader's imagination to relish. This is definitely a four star book at the very least, it just wasn't what I was looking for, which is more my taste than any flaw in the book.
Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. The opinions expressed are solely my own.
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