#17: 1831-33; covers reform and the reign of William IV

This installment of the series focuses on the period just after the post-war depression, taking its reader into the reign of William IV and the Reform movement. Jasper Hobsbawm is a supporter of the movement in Manchester, but his involvement leads to danger, both for him and Sophie. At Morland Place, Heloise is still grieving over the death of James, while her eldest son Nicholas forces his brother Benedict to find a job with the railway pioneers.

This is another really great addition to the Morland Dynasty series, with some excellent character development. Nicholas is of course the villain of the piece, but he’s not a stock character; and Benedict, while technically the “good” guy, isn’t completely perfect, which I really like about him. I kept wanting Heloise to finally see the truth about Nicholas, though; and I wanted Benedict to grow a backbone and call Nicholas out. Maybe he’ll get his chance in future books in the series? But it’s that side of Nicholas’s character that he keeps hidden that keeps things interesting.

As with the other books in the series, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’s historical research is excellent. She really makes you root for the characters (seeing as how many of them appear in multiple books). I was a little disappointed, however, that rosamond took a backseat in this novel. I’m told that the next book in the series, The Abyss, deals primarily with Nicholas and Benedict’s story, so I’ll be fascinated to see how things turn out. ( )

This installment in Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’s Morland Dynasty series seemed particularly relevant as I was reading because the news stories here in the U.S. were dominated by legislation for health care reform. As I listened to news reports about the legislative wrangling involved, I was reading in about similar wrangling involved in the passing of the 1832 Reform Act in Britain. Although the movements, past and present, were about different types of reform, the debate touched on some familiar issues.

Besides the history, Harrod-Eagles offers up plenty of typical Morland drama, Births, deaths, marriages, affairs, and more are all on the menu here. I found this to actually be one of the darkest of the Morland books so far because so many of the main characters succumbed to depression and despair at some point in the story. And then there are the Gothic twists that culminate in one of the most chilling endings yet in a Morland book.

See my complete review at Shelf Love. ( )

Another great episode in the Morland dynasty- so many twists and turns! This won't disappoint. ( )