Beautiful Innocence

by Beryl Matthews

London, 1900. Hester Stanmore watches in disbelief as the jury declares her attacker 'not guilty', and the courtroom erupts into chaos. The man in the dock is being congratulated as if he were a hero, but she has seen he madness in his eyes when he had attacked her and left her for dead.

It was only Hester's strength that allowed her to survive. Hester was determined to bring him to justice, but what would happen now? As she endeavours to pick up the pieces of her life, Hester meets the mysterious Daniel Hansen, and perhaps she will find the happy ending she justly deserves .

384 pages, Hardcover

Published June 22, 2023

Reviews

[Aisling]

I personally found this book to be quite frustrating as I wanted to like it but the execution didn't live up to the potential of the premise. It often felt disjointed and inconsistent, with characters resolving to do one thing, then going back on their word mere chapters later, making the characters hard to get to know and, by extension, like.
Some plot points were introduced, only to be resolved later in the chapter, and the stakes for the story as a whole felt very low despite the fact that the subject matter is quite delicate and raw.
Multiple chapters contained multiple points of view and this frequently felt jarring and as if the author didn't trust the readers to get the full picture from just the perspectives of a few characters.
All of this and more [e.g. the repetition of the somewhat confusing phrase "wall of silence", the telling instead of showing, the predictability of some aspects of the plot] made it difficult for me to fully immerse myself in the story but I'm happy for those who are able to enjoy this book.

[Mrs D A Wade]

Great Read love this author

I really enjoyed this book. It has been written in a way that really takes you into the story and wanting to keep turning the pages to find out what happens.

[Christine Smith]

Beryl Matthews never disappoints,have loved all of her books

[Itsourchapter]

Boring

[Carolina]

A new author for me. It is well written with a good plot - a real page turner.

[Jane Bowditch]

Just a lovely story...worth reading

[Gloria]

Throughly enjoyable read.

[Bethany Martin]

A gorgeous novel about love and the courage of finding happiness again. 😊📖

[Morgen Louise]

Idk… the plot weren’t plotting 🤔

[Devon May]

I really enjoyed this book, it was a very easy read and I quite liked Hester's personality and how she learnt to deal with her trauma.

[C.Bee]

2.9.24
Emotionless writing, a boring and awkwardly structured plot, and lackluster characters who don't converse at all like real people.