The House in the Hollow - Talbot 1
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Large print
Ages: 16-18, 18+
The Talbots are wealthy. But their wealth is from ‘trade’. With neither ancient lineage nor title, they struggle for entrance into elite Regency society. Finally, aided by an impecunious viscount, they gain access to the drawing rooms of England’s most illustrious houses.
Mrs Talbot intends her daughter Jocelyn to marry well, to eliminate the stain of the family’s ignoble beginnings. But the young men Jocelyn meets are vacuous, seeing Jocelyn as merely a substantial dowry. Only Lieutenant Barnaby Willow sees the real Jocelyn, but he is deployed to war.
The hypocrisy of fashionable society repulses Jocelyn—beneath the courtly manners she finds deceit, dissipation and vice. She stumbles upon and then is embroiled in a sordid scandal which threatens utter disgrace for the Talbot family. Humiliated and dishonoured, she is sent to a remote house hidden in a hollow of the Yorkshire moors, irrevocably separated from family, friends and any hope of hearing about the lieutenant’s fate.
Reviews
Allie Cresswell’s The House in the Hollow is a fantastic book. Cresswell is to be applauded for plot creation. The reader is able to visualize each and every character, the dark dreariness of the House in the Hollow, as well as being able to feel the emotional tangle that Jocelyn finds herself caught in. Her anger toward her mother, Lord Petrel, and Carolyn feeds her isolation and loneliness. Caught in the tangled web created by Mrs. Talbot and Lord Petrel leaves Jocelyn feeling the sting of her love for Barnaby Willow, a love that will be put aside because of war and situations forced upon Jocelyn and her household. Allie Cresswell has created a story that will hold the reader’s interest until the very end…and leaves the reader wanting more of this great story. This book is a tangled web of lies, deceit, social positioning, all at the cost of Jocelyn and her life. I absolutely enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading more from this author.
