This book opens in 1885 and follows the Morlands almost to the end of the 19th century. Almost all the central characters were prominently featured in previous books, which makes this book an especially strong contribution to the series as far as the characters go. The current generation of Morlands is one that I especially like, so I was happy to spend time with them. And the fact that I love the Victorian era certainly doesn’t hurt!

Over the course of several generations, the different branches of the Morland family have diverged and ended up in different social classes. Thus, Harrod-Eagles is able to show us glimpses of life among the nobility and the royal courts, wealthy rural landowners, the growing middle classes, and even the working classes. I especially enjoyed watching members of one of the branches of the family set up a middle-class London home and navigate the social and educational scene.

As the novels have moved through the Victorian era, I’ve wondered whether some of the great Victorian writers might make a cameo. Finally in this novel we get to meet Oscar Wilde! I was very curious as to how Harrod-Eagles would handle some of the first open discussions of homosexuality in the series, and overall, I was impressed.

There were a few points when the book dragged a bit, mostly during the long discussions of the royal family. There were sometimes hard to follow if you aren’t familiar with late 19th-century royal family trees and how those family connections played out in the 20th century. Although I got frustrated while I was reading, on the whole, I’m glad that Harrod-Eagles doesn’t spoon-feed that information to her readers. I like for historical fiction to both teach me something I didn’t know and leave me wanting to know more. Harrod-Eagles does that, which makes this series a pleasure.

See my complete review at my blog. ( )

Another great chapter in this series. This books mainly follows Henrietta on her marriage and Venetia and her family. Some great conversations are had, linking to Jack the Ripper and Oscar Wilde. I really enjoyed this, but will sadly be taking a break from the Morlands as I have far too many other books to read! ( )