A Woman Scorned - The Hartford Manor Series 5
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Ages: 18+
The Fifth Book in the Hartford Manor Series
1885 North Devon, England
It is winter in the small Devon village of Brampford Speke, and a typhoid epidemic has claimed many victims. Millie, aged fifteen, is doing her best to nurse her mother and grandmother as well as look after Jonathan, her five-year-old brother. One morning, Millie is horrified to find that her mother, Rosemary, has passed away during the night and is terrified the same fate may befall her granny, Emily.
When Emily’s neighbours inform her that Sir Edgar Grantley has also perished from the deadly disease, the old woman is distraught, for the kindly gentleman has been their benefactor for many years, much to the disgust of his wife, Lilliana. Emily is well aware that Sir Edgar’s generosity has long been a bone of contention between him and his spouse, and she is certain Lady Grantley will evict them from their cottage at the first opportunity.
As she racks her brain for a solution, Emily remembers her father came from Hartford, a seaside village in North Devon and had relatives there. Desperate and too weak to travel, she insists Millie and Jonathan leave home and make their way to Hartford before the embittered woman can cause trouble for them. There, she tells them, they must throw themselves on the mercy of their family and hope they will offer them a home.
With Emily promising to follow them as soon as possible, the two youngsters reluctantly set off on their fifty-mile journey on foot and in the harshest of weather conditions. Emily warns them to be cautious, for she suspects Lady Grantley may well pursue them to seek revenge for a situation that has existed between the two families for many years.
Reviews
Brilliant! A Woman Scorned was such a fabulous read. Lilliana is consumed by bitterness due to her late husband's affair, his lack of love for her, and the embarrassment of people knowing about it. However, when she receives a letter from her late husband's solicitor asking for the whereabouts of his lover, she is not happy at all. The story had me gripped from page one. The characters are well-developed, and the story is well-executed. This series is so good, and I can't wait for the next book. I highly recommend it. Highly recommended! A Treat for Lovers of Historical Fiction and Family Sagas! This fifth book in the series continues the story of Millie and Jonathan, the youngsters forced to flee from the wrath of Lady Lilliana Grantley, the widow of the man who fathered them during his extra-marital affair. While they are apparently safely hidden with relatives, the Scorned Woman of the title continues her search, bent on revenge. This forms the main thread of the book and is full of excitement, tension and twists. But the book also continues the stories of Annie and Robert Fellwood, Betsey and Ned Carter and the myriad members of their extended families. Packed, as always, with carefully researched details of rural life in late Victorian England, it is a treat for lovers of historical fiction and family sagas. An Excellent Book in an Excellent Series A Woman Scorned, the fifth book in the Hartford Manor series, is a story of revenge when Lady Lilliana Grantly recovers from typhoid and sets out to find her late husband's two illegitimate children. Millie and her little brother, Jonny, have been taken in by Ned and Betsey, and they are safe, secure, and happy, though the threat still lingers over them. This is an excellent addition to the series. It has a gripping storyline that runs alongside the story of the lives of these characters I've grown to know and love. Highly recommended.
