Linda Newbery

When thirteen-year-old Polly befriends two suffragettes in the top floor flat at 6 Chelsea Walk, she finds herself questioning the views of those around her. The Votes for Women campaign strikes a chord with Polly and she becomes determined to join the suffragettes' protest march, even if it means clashing with her family...

A nice ending to 'The Shouting Wind' trilogy, tying up loose ends and throwing an optimistic hand out to the future. Kay is now an old lady, Abigail is finally starting to rekindle her faith in love and - the focus of this novel - her daughter Tamsin, the product of the naive teenage romance recounted in the previous book, is about to go away to university for the first time.

Whilst she is there she will undergo her own transformation, making new friends, starting a new course, meeting her show more wayward father for the first time, and finding love. Settling into student life, she joins a walking group and meets Jim, a slightly older student with all the right things in common with her. But their blossoming romance is marred by Tamsin's fear of heights, which gets her into trouble on one of their walks and leads to a difficult situation and a blazing row. But ultimately Tamsin realises that only by conquering her fears - of heights, of Kay dying, of her mother not coping without her, of her family's bad luck with men - can she move on into the future as her own woman, and be happy.

I definitely got more out of the novel this time around, thanks to having been away to university since last time - it added vibrance and meaning to the novel, and also made it more thought-provoking. What could I have done differently? Did I make the most of the opportunities on offer (no!)? This is a lighter, more humorous book than its predecessors, but nevertheless explores teenage issues and family loyalties as fairly as ever. A neat and hopeful end to the series. show less

It feels like a fanfic. I loved flambards - it was a craze in my teens when the TV show aired, and I had horsey friends who were drawn in by that element. And I expected to love this more. Linda Newbury is superb, flambards is iconic: this was going to be great.

However.

This is an authorised fanfic in that Newbury is working off Peyton's notes for what happened after the books. The modern day thread of the story, about Grace Russell in 2018, was both too much and too little - the 2018 story show more was not gripping. It involved disability dislocation ptsd and swags of genealogy research, but I didn't buy that a 14 year old was that obsessed by her great grandparents On the other hand, like Grace, I felt more interested in Christina than any of the other characters. Christina, by the way, seen through other people's eyes and written by a fan, has become a flawless fearless ravishing MarySue. I did want maximum Christina and I got it. Now I wonder what this book would be like if Newbery had a free-er hand to make stuff up. show less

Set in Stone by Linda Newbery is an atmospheric Victorian gothic novel with stirrings of family drama, love, passion, and hidden secrets. What a tantalizing novel this turned out to be! I was expecting a rather predictable light and easy turn of the century gothic romantic suspense story and was pleasantly surprised to be led down other paths I had not anticipated, which is always so much fun to encounter. This enchanting novel is about the lives of one widowed father gone mad, Ernest show more Farrow, two teenager daughters; Juliana and Marianne who are opposites in temperament, one somber and withdrawn, the other an untamed wild girl with a vivid imagination. They are cared for by a doting spinster governess named Charlotte who has her own secrets she covets, and an invited local painter, Samuel Godwin, that is brought into their magnificent mansion they call Fourwinds, to teach the girls the art of drawing and painting.

The story, taking place just outside of London in the English countryside, opens dramatically with the youngest daughter Marianne colliding with her new tutor as he opens the gates to their home in a cloud of mist and fog. Immediate mystery and mayhem draws the reader in as Samuel’s first impression of Marianne is that she is a madwoman recently escaped from an asylum. Nearly knocking him over in the street, she rambles on hysterically about needing him to help her find a certain lost Mr. Westwind, leaving Samuel to believe the girl deranged. Samuel listens to her incoherent hysteria, but thankfully is quickly rescued by Charlotte as she shepherds him and the crazed young woman into the house. Other proper introductions are immediately made to the other residents of the household. Samuel is soon swept up into what he believes is going to be a simple luxurious job of tutoring two young ladies. When the reader realizes that Samuel is basically of the same age as the two girls and even the governess, it is easy to assume that a romance with one of them is imminent. However, Samuel very quickly realizes he was manipulated into this household of mysterious occupants by Mr Farrow who dangled the carrot of advancing his art career, but had his own secret agenda for Samuel’s true purpose amongst them.

This is a riveting story that brews and bubbles slowly, giving you the initial impression of a Jane Austen novel touched by Victoria Holt or Phyllis Whitney, who were great authors of this gothic genre. Newbery creates a feel of sensual awareness between the players and soon evokes remarkable sensations and story attributes to make the reader wonder just what in the world is really going on behind closed doors and in the hallways of Fourwinds. All is not as it seems as shocking revelations are chiseled and carved into the pages offering glimpses into a family quite filled with corruption and deceit. Ample doses of horrible acts, family betrayals, and desperate actions that slowly unravel page after page, leave the reader gasping in shock and losing the ability to breathe, so absorbed they will be.

The author provides many impressions that fight for dominance in this story; love, family obligation, murder, mystery, sexually scandalous acts, and a nicely added dollop of art craftsmanship, all jockeying for position while arousing the reader for a compelling and curious read.

I have one complaint with Set in Stone. This story is marketed for young adults 9yrs old and up, and I honestly feel that due to the heavy content of this book involving sexual acts and violence, that this is more an adult novel and not for young teenagers. 14 yrs old and up would be fine, maybe, but I would certainly caution parents for younger children. There are no graphic descriptions per se, but the story details finely just what acts these characters are engaging in and leaves nothing to the imagination. Beyond that comment I loved this novel because it held so many surprises I had not anticipated, and I found Newbery’s writing skill to be of a very high quality. Wow on this one! show less