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Wintercombe (Wintercombe Series Book 1)

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England's Civil War has reached Wintercombe Manor. Silence St. Barbe, raised by a remorselessly strict father, has escaped her troublesome childhood home through a marriage of convenience. Her (much older) husband has left to fight on the side of Parliament against King Charles. Silence is only twenty-eight years old, but she has been left with the responsibility of the manor estate along with several servants and her five children to care for and protect in her husband's absence. However Wintercombe is soon to be occupied by Royalist forces (and an attractive Royalist captain who more than once, will come to Silence's rescue, or to her children's). Thanks for reviewing this book. It is one of my favourite books of all time. It deserves to be re-discovered by readers who have been clamoring for a long-slow burn, more accurate history, amazing writing. Silence knows the risks, she understands the impossibility of her situation and the ramifications should she plunge into a deeper relationship that has no hope of any positive outcome. Yet Silence (in her frail humanity), chooses ultimately to rebel against everything common sense and discretion would tell her, all for a brief romantic interlude. Even worse, Silence justifies her choice not just to herself alone, but to her children and her cautiously disapproving maid, all of whom (conveniently) end up supporting her. And so Silence is able to 'have her cake and eat it too', without regret or reaping any apparent consequence. Married and a teacher of a class of six-year-olds, she wrote in longhand and, while publishers made encouraging noises, no one was prepared to risk publishing a large book by an unknown author. Eventually the agent Vivienne Schuster was wonderfully enthusiastic about it and found a publisher.

Pamela Belle Books | Page 1 | World of Books Pamela Belle Books | Page 1 | World of Books

This is the story of Silence St. Barbe, who has been left in charge of Wintercombe, near Bath in Somerset, while her husband and eldest son are fighting for Parliament. I hesitate to call this historical romance because that often seems to imply bodice-rippers or books that are more about sex/romance than about the story or historical setting, and that would be a disservice. So to set this straight: take the detailed eye of Anya Seton, strip out most of the graphic sex scenes, and set up a slow burn. (That's not a spoiler, it's in the description.) Yes, this is the book of yours I read a while ago and which sent me on a pre-digital search mission for your (at that point) out of print hardcover books. Since I never did complete that quest, I’m glad to see them being reissued for me and, hopefully soon more, people to discover. As the ugliness of war continues, Silence must learn to shed the submissive nature that life has forced her to assume and draw upon the inner strength that she has always possessed. Wintercombe, the home just outside of Bath England that is the setting in 1644. The descriptions of Wintercombe, the gardens that Silence loved and tended and gave her comfort, the rooms, the servants, the people even her beloved animals who lived in it made me feel that I was there and gave me a sense of why Silence wanted to protect it from the ravages of war.

Buying options for A Falling Star

Well written, detailed historial romance set in the days of the English Civil War. I enjoyed Belle's deft handling of day-to-day activities of life during each season of the year in which the plot unfolds. Condition: Acceptable. Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Silence St. Barbe is the Puritan wife of a man twice her age who has never loved her. He treats her with condescension, much like a child who needs his firm guidance. Her three stepchildren and three children love her to varying degrees but also take her for granted. She is the calm mistress of a household of servants who still see her as a London outsider and the daughter-in-law of a mean tempered, controlling old biddy who makes the lives of her family a misery – good Lord, Dame Ursula is enough to frighten a whole regimen of demon hellraisers into quivering jelly. Silence is also a woman of hidden passions and needs which no one has ever thought to inquire about much less fulfill. Usually I knew what was going to happen, but not exactly how, and I was eager to see how things turned out. Ending was NOT predictable.

Wintercombe Series Book 2) eBook : Belle Herald of Joy (Wintercombe Series Book 2) eBook : Belle

In all the doubt and trouble and fear and confusion of her present existence, the utter certainty of her garden was a delight and a consolation. The sun would rise, true, but could be hidden by clouds and rain. Nothing would hide that joyous celebration, that yellow trumpeting for spring, and even if by some dread mischance she were not at Wintercombe to see it, there would be other flowers, other gardens. Not all the king's soldiers, not even the king himself, could stand like Canute and deny the inexorable turning of the seasons and the renewal of the year. Jayne, thank you so much for the wonderful review! It’s been great knowing that my books are being reissued digitally for not only my previous fans, but hopefully new ones as well. I know some find them a bit slow to get going, but I like to set a scene, build up characters, and let the reader get to know and care for them, before getting bogged down in matters of plot. That way, hopefully, you’ll be desperate to know what happens! Set in 1644, during the English Civil War, Wintercombe is no longer just the St. Barbe family home and estate. Occupied by enemy soldiers, Lady St. Barbe (Silence) must keep the household together and protect her people and land from the callous Cavaliers while her husband is fighting for his King, but she is still considered an outsider, someone not born and bred in Somerset, and the staff don't fully trust her. It will take everything she has to keep her children safe, and in the meantime she herself is blossoming, as if until now she had lived only in a dim light. Wintercombe, once a tranquil bastion of family virtue, is transformed into an unruly, drunken, and licentious garrison.What I did not like about the story is that the bad guys are so bad that they were beyond belief. No one could be as purely evil, gross, ignorant, etc. as her bad guys. Other characters were more well-rounded. You will be safe," he said. "You would not be harmed by either side. If Wintercombe were besieged, you could be sent out to safety. The children can go to the village, if you yourself do not wish to leave. But it may not come to that. The garrison may be withdrawn to Bath or Bristol, if Fairfax comes too close - and then we will all be spared."

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