Stevie‘s review of The Weeping Ash (Paget Family Saga, Book 2) by Joan Aiken
Historical Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 04 Oct 16
Having read and enjoyed the first book in this reissued trilogy, I was greatly looking forward to the next instalment of the Paget family’s adventures. Fortunately, I didn’t have long to wait, and this time we got to meet a multitude of heroes and heroines, both at home in Sussex and abroad as far as India. There were almost enough adventures going on to form two books, but I’m glad the most obvious splits weren’t made, since the two main stories complement each other perfectly and their joining together at the end leads to a mostly satisfactory conclusion.
We meet our first heroine in England. Fanny, the youngest of eight sisters, with only a very small dowry, is betrothed to a much older widower, the cousin of the first book’s heroine. Having come into a great deal of wealth, that lady is keen to see that her various relatives are also provided for, and so offers her house for the use of Thomas Paget – Fanny’s new husband – while she herself is abroad with her own new husband. The main condition she makes is that, should her other missing cousins be found, they should be made welcome at the house, if they ever decide to visit Sussex.
From the very start, Fanny’s marriage is far from happy. Her new husband is a tyrant, her stepdaughters are spoiled and resentful, and she finds herself trapped a long way from home with few chances to make friends with any of her neighbours. Although the young gardener offers his support, and the inhabitants of Petworth House visit and invite Fanny to join in their activities, Thomas thwarts every attempt others make at relieving the burdens he places on Fanny. Much of Thomas’ outright cruelty and abuse, meanwhile, made for difficult reading. However relief came (mostly) in the form of the chapters dealing with the other members of the Paget family.
Scylla and Cal are twins, illegitimate children of an Englishman who settled in India with a local mixed-race woman. Following the deaths of both their parents, they have been cared for by an older brother and sister pair of missionaries, and have become regular visitors at the Maharajah’s palace. All this changes, however, when the old Maharaja dies and the British inhabitants of their town are forced to flee the ensuing unrest. The twins, accompanied by one of their guardians and an unlikely pair of rescuers, trek across Asia to Europe and onwards to England, where they have heard they have relatives able to welcome them.
After many adventures, Cal and Scylla reach Sussex, where Fanny’s situation has grown yet more dire than at the outset of her unhappy marriage. Things get still worse for all concerned before that mostly happy resolution I mentioned earlier. While not all loose ends are tied up in what modern readers would consider to be a satisfactory manner, I did appreciate the way in which our two main heroines are given opportunities to overcome their personal obstacles.
All in all, this was a welcome follow-up to the first story that stands well by itself also. I’m now waiting to find out which Pagets we get to meet in the third and final book.
Grade: B
Summary:
The Paget family is irrevocably changed in this Regency period romance reissue from legendary author Joan Aiken
New bride Fanny Paget experiences shame and torment in her loveless arranged marriage, finding solace only in her budding friendship with estate gardener Andrew Talgarth. He never seems too busy to listen and sympathize.
But Fanny is trapped, until her husband’s cousins arrive from India and a series of explosive events unfold that change the lives of all involved. Andrew is there through it all, strong and steadfast, awaiting Fanny’s greatest self-discovery-no matter how long it takes.
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
