Heather Toulson never thought she would have to return to England after fleeing to America years ago. But after the death of her father, she must return to the English cottage of her youth that sits on the property of Ladenbrooke Manor. Heather is thankful that at least her newly-married daughter is able to join her on the trip.
When it is discovered that the sorting of the things in the cottage will take longer than anticipated, Heather finds herself staying in England indefinitely. Along the way she has a run-in with her first love that leaves her more confused than ever about her life currently and her plans for the future.
But an even bigger shock awaits Heather in the little cottage in which she grew up. As she continues to sort through her parents’ belongings, long-held secrets about her family come to the surface. As Heather explores her past, she discovers what really happened at Ladenbrooke all those years ago and how her family is connected to this mysterious Manor.
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I am a sucker for
"past and present" stories these days. The book club I am in has read
many of these types of books over the years, and we seem to continue to pick
them every year. I think it's difficult to tell stories like this well without
getting the reader all mixed up, but Ms. Dobson was able to do so, at least as
far as the time period goes.
First off, the setting of this story was
very interesting and gave a little bit of new life to the usual English
countryside novels. I’ve read several novels that tell about someone who
must return to their childhood home to sort through their parents’ things, but
for some reason this one didn’t seem completely run-of-the-mill.
This novel was definitely
portrayed as one that would explore the secrets and mysteries of Ladenbrooke
Manor and of Heather’s past. (I mean, it’s in the title, right?!) While there were secrets that the
characters kept that were revealed throughout the novel, I never quite got an
overall feeling of mystery or suspense. I think the back of the book summary
gave way too much away, which is why I chose to write my own summary for this
review. I guessed every single secret way before it was exposed, which is
really odd to me considering that I haven’t been able to do that in Ms. Dobson’s
other novels.
I also have to
point out that one of the main secrets/plot points of the book was based on the
main characters having a Big Misunderstanding, which is definitely not my
favorite way to keep characters apart. Plus, it seemed as if each generation of
women in this novel kept making the same mistakes over and over. It got a bit
tiring towards the end.
The inclusion of a character with autism
in this novel was very interesting. It was fascinating to see how each parent
dealt with the child and to see how far we have come in relation to those on
the autism spectrum. That
being said, I thought the romantic storyline for the autistic character was quite
traumatic. It felt more like a story of a stalker and lack of consent than it
did a beautiful love story, and I’m still not sure which way the author was trying
to go with it.
Even though this
story had several hiccups along the way, the overall effect is still
interesting. The struggles the characters face are very real and very
emotional. While the spiritual aspect didn’t focus as much on Christ as I prefer
in Christian fiction, there is an overall feeling of forgiveness and redemption
in this novel that is expressed quite well.
I will give Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor ... 3 BookWorms.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Howard Books through Litfuse. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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