Wintercombe (Wintercombe Series Book 1)

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A lovely warm tapestry of a book, weaving together suspense and drama with a bittersweet love story and a richly detailed account of life in an English Manor House during the Civil War. Pamela Belle’s best book so far” — Rosemary Sutcliff I would have appreciated the novel much more had this author used the events in Silence's life rather to display opportunity for growth in her character. How much more I would have enjoyed seeing Silence finding contentment and happiness within the constraints of her marriage vows, home, family and children (certainly her garden has brought her much joy, and poverty is not a problem for Silence, although she must find creative solutions to feed a household of servants, family and fifty-plus soldiers). I love to read novels that illustrate personality change and watch the characters mature through their life lessons and circumstances. Remaining steadfast within challenging, difficult or even insurmountable situations, while modelling qualities such as faithfulness and building stability within one's household, (especially in front of young, impressionable children), would have made for me, a much more enjoyable story. Her eventual marriage does not offer her the escape that she longs for and she craves some semblance of autonomy. 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. Meanwhile Louise, who has escaped scandal in France to come to England in search of a husband, knows she should stay away from her attractive, fascinating cousin, but she finds herself unable to resist his allure.

Wintercombe - Lume Books

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). 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.) The only son of the late Nathaniel St Barbe, he has spent the last several years in exile in Holland, living a dissolute and debauched life far from his well-respected family in England. As Jayne commented, I’m currently writing a modern novel (with 17th century interludes) as a blog, issued in instalments, and I also have three unpublished novels, one set in 18th century London, one in Elizabethan England, and the other at the time of Alfred the Great, which I hope will see the light of day sometime, even if I have to do it myself! 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.I really enjoyed this. Pamela Belle is one of my favorite authors in general, but hands down my favorite author of historical fiction. It's really a shame her books are out of print, and also that it seems they get marketed so often as romance novels. While there is a love story involved, they are definitely a lot more than romance novels. Her portrayal of the these fictional families that struggle through real-life historical events seems so true to the time period and so detailed that it makes me feel I'm looking through a portal into actual events. Thank you for the glimpse of the old covers. I do believe that the copy I read had the one featuring Silence. The main character Silence who had survived a controlling and abusive Puritan father and upbringing and was married at 19 to a widower, who was old enough to be her father, with three children. She was such a strong character who would not let her true self be broken and held her ground in the face of fear to protect the ones she loved. 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. Pamela Belle is 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.

Wintercombe by Pamela Belle | Goodreads Wintercombe by Pamela Belle | Goodreads

Over the next few years 'The Epic', as it became known, grew and grew. Belle drew up a huge family tree and a plan of the house very like Rushbrooke. One of my favorite historical novels, now sadly out of print. In 17th-century England, Silence St. Barbe, a young Puritan woman married to a much older nobleman, finds her difficult circumstances as stepmother to a brood of hostile stepchildren made immeasurably more difficult when civil war breaks out, her husband rides away to battle, and a troop of Cavalier soldiers promptly occupy the house. Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth During this time Silence – now Mistress of Wintercombe – has enjoyed a harmonious time with her children.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.

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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. 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. 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.

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! Wintercombe is the first in a series written about a beautiful home in Somerset and its inhabitants during the Civil Wars that ravaged England. It’s a story of a woman taken for granted by all who know her who discovers an inner strength that is honed to fine steel over the course of a year. And how she discovers love with a most unlikely man, the Cavalier captain of the troop of horse which comes to garrison it. I do have to say that even if I love the cover, it’s hardly anything I can see Puritan Silence wearing though to quote Silence’s lady’s maid Mally the woman she do look “tarblish fine.” Tortured by a cold, Puritan father, Silence has learned to conceal her passionate nature inside a prison like shell of passivity. Her eventual marriage does not offer her the escape that she longs for and she craves some semblance of autonomy. It is only the sweep of history that finally offers Silence the freedom she so desires.

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A young Puritan wife is left to hold her family and household together when her husband goes to war, and faces myriad difficulties: unruly step-children, Royalist soldiers billeted in her house, a sadistic colonel, and the possibility of adultery with a handsome enemy soldier. The story is excellent. It is everything I enjoy in historical fiction. A party of Cavaliers descend upon Puritan Wintercombe and turn it into their winter headquarters. Silence, Lady St. Barbe, works to keep her family in their home and the servants unmolested, with varying success. She is constantly scorned and humiliated, but she can't give up or give in. Meanwhile she develops a friendship and a behind the scenes supporter with one of the Cavalier officers. Meanwhile her obnoxious stepdaughter creates problems on top of problems. 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. Wintercombe, once a tranquil bastion of family virtue, is transformed into an unruly, drunken, and licentious garrison.I was a little nervous when I received this book from Interlibrary Loan. It looked like a bodice ripper, judging from the cover, the title, and the author's name (I don't know, the name sounded bodice-ripping to me). What I found instead was a thoughtful, carefully crafted tale, bringing me out of my world and into the time of the English Civil War.