Genre:
Historical/Contemporary
Historical/Contemporary
Shadows Of Ladenbrooke Manor
by Melanie Dobson
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-From the back cover-
Years ago, the body of Oliver Croft,
heir of Lord Croft of Ladenbrooke Manor, was found drowned in the River Coln. Authorities searched for answers, but no one was ever held responsible for Oliver's death . . .
Libby Doyle, a free spirit, who spends much of her time dancing with the butterflies in Ladenbrooke's garden, has captivated Oliver Croft's heart. But after Oliver drowns, Libby also vanishes, and her parents, Walter and Maggie Doyle, are left to wonder what really happened between their daughter and the boy who lived next door.
Forty-five years later, after Walter's death, Libby's sister Heather returns to her family's cottage in the English countryside, in the shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor, to sort through her parents' things. What she uncovers is a string of shocking secrets that lead her to wonder if anything Walter and Maggie told her about her childhood is true. As Heather sorts through the belongings left behind in the cottage, trying to separate truth from deceit, she has an uncomfortable reunion with her frist love. Together they unravel the mystery that will change everything she thought she knew about herself and her family. Award-winning author Melanie Dobson seamlessly weaves the past and present, fluidly unraveling the decades-old mystery to reveal just how the Doyle abs Croft families entwined. Set in a charming world of thatched cottages, lush English gardens, and lovely summer evenings, this romantic mystery brings light to secrets and heartaches that have divided two families for generations.
A poignant tale of love and sacrifice...
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This Book received a 5 Bark rating.
Melanie Dobson
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Shadows Of Ladenbrooke Manor is a poignant tale of choices, decisions that affect and haunt the lives of four generations of women, and the men closest to them. It is a story of heartbreak and tragedy but it is also ultimately a story of the many facets of love.
Melanie Dobson has woven a butterfly tapestry in story. Lives interconnected by the most tenuous of threads, some of the them dark and some bright. Secrets that can tear apart the lives of two families, will they pull together or will they ultimately crumble under the weight of the past mistakes?
Some of the things that really jumped out at me were: we ultimately make our own choices but the decisions of those around us can still affect us even if we don't know about them, fear and bitterness can cause us to push away and hurt those we love the most, and so often we don't love people for themselves but try to mold them into something other than what the Creator meant them to be.
When I first started reading Shadows Of Ladenbrooke Manor I would only finish a chapter or two at a time, mostly when I woke up and when I went to bed, but as the story drew me in I began to realize I HAD to know what came next, finally I kicked back on a hot summer afternoon and finished the last half in a matter of two or three hours. In many ways it isn't a book to rush through, more like one to slowly soak in, to ponder, and to savor.
Melanie Dobson takes on some tough subjects in this novel but she does so with a tenderness and delicacy that is to be admired. I would say more but that might spoil the story so all I'll say is that it is a truly beautiful story about the complexities and messiness of real life.
Shadows Of Ladenbrooke Manor was the first novel by Melanie Dobson that I have read, I am so glad I got the chance, and I know that it won't be the last.
Tell Tale Book Reviews gives Shadows Of Ladenbrooke Manor by Melanie Dobson a 5 Bark rating.
Melanie Dobson has woven a butterfly tapestry in story. Lives interconnected by the most tenuous of threads, some of the them dark and some bright. Secrets that can tear apart the lives of two families, will they pull together or will they ultimately crumble under the weight of the past mistakes?
Some of the things that really jumped out at me were: we ultimately make our own choices but the decisions of those around us can still affect us even if we don't know about them, fear and bitterness can cause us to push away and hurt those we love the most, and so often we don't love people for themselves but try to mold them into something other than what the Creator meant them to be.
When I first started reading Shadows Of Ladenbrooke Manor I would only finish a chapter or two at a time, mostly when I woke up and when I went to bed, but as the story drew me in I began to realize I HAD to know what came next, finally I kicked back on a hot summer afternoon and finished the last half in a matter of two or three hours. In many ways it isn't a book to rush through, more like one to slowly soak in, to ponder, and to savor.
Melanie Dobson takes on some tough subjects in this novel but she does so with a tenderness and delicacy that is to be admired. I would say more but that might spoil the story so all I'll say is that it is a truly beautiful story about the complexities and messiness of real life.
Shadows Of Ladenbrooke Manor was the first novel by Melanie Dobson that I have read, I am so glad I got the chance, and I know that it won't be the last.
Tell Tale Book Reviews gives Shadows Of Ladenbrooke Manor by Melanie Dobson a 5 Bark rating.
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Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Howard Books (June 16, 2015) ISBN-10: 1476746141 ISBN-13: 978-1476746142 |
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