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TIME'S TYRANNY: The Wyngrave Women Book 2
The new novel from the author of Kindle bestsellers, THE MEMORY TREE and HOUSE OF SILENCE - a captivating sequel to TIME'S PRISONER, The Wyngrave Women Book 1.
1934
Hidden under the bed in her father’s studio, five-year-old Emerald Heskett watches as the picture gradually disappears, obliterated by white paint. The child doesn’t understand what she’s witnessed, but gives the new painting a The Snowstorm.
2020
The first lockdown is over and the women of Wyngrave Hall are coming to terms with their new lives. Retired actress, Sylvia Marlow, now blind, cannot see or even touch her granddaughter, Ros, a nurse living in isolation in a cottage in the grounds. Her partner, Bridget, begs Ros to quit before she, too, becomes a Covid statistic. Jane Summers, owner of Wyngrave and author of historical whodunnits, hasn’t seen Jesper Olsen, art conservator, since he locked down with his frail mother.
At Howthwaite Castle in Cumbria, Bella Heskett and her brother, Nick care for elderly Cousin Em as they struggle to transform the roofless ruin of their family home and its abandoned gardens into a tourist attraction. When Nick asks his old friend Jesper to visit and assess some damaged paintings, he persuades Jane to go with him to Howthwaite where they encounter the enigma of The Snowstorm and Em’s curious attachment to it. But despite their passionate reunion, when Jane learns the truth about Jesper’s past, she questions their future together.
Nick gathered up the incriminating letters, replaced them in his father’s desk and locked it, though he wasn’t sure who needed to be protected from the contents. Cousin Em would never know and Bella wouldn’t care. Nick had never asked himself why his mother drank, or why his late brother took drugs. Hesketts didn’t ask questions. The family motto was “Perfer et obdura”. Persist and endure.
But would Howthwaite endure…?
~
Praise for TIME'S TYRANNY (Book 2 of The Wyngrave Women)
A compelling art mystery, a community of women friends living through difficult times, a hidden family history and a love story that proves to have unforeseen obstacles - all delivered with the strong characterisation and engaging storytelling that has made the author such a personal favourite. Time’s Tyranny is a deliciously convoluted mystery with unexpected twists and turns and a final resolution I found both ingenious and fascinating.
ANNE WILLIAMS Being Anne book blog
Love is always at the heart of Linda Gillard’s books and houses are always "characters". In TIME'S TYRANNY we witness the deepening friendship of a close circle of women and follow the romantic love between Jane, an easy character to empathise with, and Jesper, a flawed yet lovable hero. The twist at the end brought the novel to a perfect conclusion. I thoroughly recommend it.
SARA DOWNING, author of I Let You Fall, winner of the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel Award.
1934
Hidden under the bed in her father’s studio, five-year-old Emerald Heskett watches as the picture gradually disappears, obliterated by white paint. The child doesn’t understand what she’s witnessed, but gives the new painting a The Snowstorm.
2020
The first lockdown is over and the women of Wyngrave Hall are coming to terms with their new lives. Retired actress, Sylvia Marlow, now blind, cannot see or even touch her granddaughter, Ros, a nurse living in isolation in a cottage in the grounds. Her partner, Bridget, begs Ros to quit before she, too, becomes a Covid statistic. Jane Summers, owner of Wyngrave and author of historical whodunnits, hasn’t seen Jesper Olsen, art conservator, since he locked down with his frail mother.
At Howthwaite Castle in Cumbria, Bella Heskett and her brother, Nick care for elderly Cousin Em as they struggle to transform the roofless ruin of their family home and its abandoned gardens into a tourist attraction. When Nick asks his old friend Jesper to visit and assess some damaged paintings, he persuades Jane to go with him to Howthwaite where they encounter the enigma of The Snowstorm and Em’s curious attachment to it. But despite their passionate reunion, when Jane learns the truth about Jesper’s past, she questions their future together.
Nick gathered up the incriminating letters, replaced them in his father’s desk and locked it, though he wasn’t sure who needed to be protected from the contents. Cousin Em would never know and Bella wouldn’t care. Nick had never asked himself why his mother drank, or why his late brother took drugs. Hesketts didn’t ask questions. The family motto was “Perfer et obdura”. Persist and endure.
But would Howthwaite endure…?
~
Praise for TIME'S TYRANNY (Book 2 of The Wyngrave Women)
A compelling art mystery, a community of women friends living through difficult times, a hidden family history and a love story that proves to have unforeseen obstacles - all delivered with the strong characterisation and engaging storytelling that has made the author such a personal favourite. Time’s Tyranny is a deliciously convoluted mystery with unexpected twists and turns and a final resolution I found both ingenious and fascinating.
ANNE WILLIAMS Being Anne book blog
Love is always at the heart of Linda Gillard’s books and houses are always "characters". In TIME'S TYRANNY we witness the deepening friendship of a close circle of women and follow the romantic love between Jane, an easy character to empathise with, and Jesper, a flawed yet lovable hero. The twist at the end brought the novel to a perfect conclusion. I thoroughly recommend it.
SARA DOWNING, author of I Let You Fall, winner of the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel Award.
346 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 3, 2025
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Linda Gillard
19 books284 followersLinda Gillard lives in North Lanarkshire, Scotland and has been an actress, journalist and teacher. She’s the author of ten novels, including STAR GAZING, shortlisted in 2009 for "Romantic Novel of the Year" and the Robin Jenkins Literary Award, for writing that promotes the Scottish landscape.
HOUSE OF SILENCE and THE MEMORY TREE became Kindle bestsellers.
HOUSE OF SILENCE and THE MEMORY TREE became Kindle bestsellers.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 13, 2025
This is another wonderfully absorbing story from Linda Gillard. I was delighted to be back in the company of the Wyngrave Women, and to discover Howthwaite. A cosy romance, an intriguing mystery, and an exploration of friendships and family and the covid pandemic lockdown experience. Definitely recommended.
April 2, 2025
A compelling art mystery, a community of women friends living through difficult times, a hidden family history and a love story that encounters unforeseen obstacles – all delivered with the strong characterisation and engaging storytelling that has made the author a personal favourite.
Time’s Tyranny is the sequel to the excellent Time's Prisoner, which saw historical novelist Jane take on sixteenth-century Wyngrave Hall, sharing her home with three other women at a crossroads in their lives. The “unseen occupant” who provided such an intriguing layer to their experience has now been put to rest and the story resumes as the first Covid lockdown draws to its end. Jane's romance with Jesper, the art conservator who helped solve the historical mystery at the heart of the earlier book, has necessarily been conducted long distance, but the easing of restrictions allows them to be together again. They travel to Howthwaite Castle in Cumbria, where Jesper assesses some damaged paintings for an old friend, and where his assistant, Bella, is currently helping with the care of her elderly cousin Em who, as a small child, played a part in the creation of a strange white painting known as The Snowstorm – a key to the solving of the mystery.
There are deeply buried family secrets, but also some unexpected and dramatic developments, giving rise to a deliciously convoluted mystery with the most unexpected twists and turns, and a final resolution that I found both ingenious and fascinating.
As well as creating the most engaging characters, all wonderfully developed and very real, the author does have a special touch with relationships. At Howthwaite, there's another romance in the offing – between Bella and quirky gardener Merlin, engaged to restore the castle's neglected gardens to their former glory. And the relationships between the Wyngrave women are as perfectly drawn as ever. I'm a particular fan of retired actress Sylvia, now almost entirely blind and this time enjoying a touching friendship with Jesper's challenging mother, Iris.
The supernatural elements that intrigued so much in the earlier book are largely absent this time - yes, I'll admit I did rather miss Horatio, although there are nods to his story - but Iris' invisible companion was a welcome touch and a rather lovely part of the book's lightness and gentle humour. The resumed relationship between Jane (so easy to empathise with) and Jesper - perhaps an unlikely romantic hero in the first book, but one I really took to my heart - was one I very much enjoyed and really believed in, although their path to future happiness isn't a smooth one, complicated by the long shadow of Jesper’s past.
The storytelling is excellent, the different plot threads perfectly entwined and equally engaging, with plenty of moments that bring a smile or laughter (the dialogue is so well-handled throughout), but also a fair measure of real drama, sadness and poignancy. Several moral dilemmas are woven into the story, all handled with care, sensitivity and the perfect emotional touch. I also really enjoyed the way the mystery developed, with clues gently dropped here and there and I found the detail about art conservation and restoration and the part it played in the resolution of the plot fascinating – undoubtedly the result of extensive research, but every detail is made entirely accessible for a reader without the same level of knowledge.
The book's ending is perfectly judged - satisfying and uplifting - but I'll admit I was pleased to learn the author has plans to make The Wyngrave Women a trilogy. There are definitely some threads in the original story, Time’s Prisoner, that I'd be delighted to see explored further. But Time’s Tyranny was a book I really loved - and one I'd very much recommend to others.
Time’s Tyranny is the sequel to the excellent Time's Prisoner, which saw historical novelist Jane take on sixteenth-century Wyngrave Hall, sharing her home with three other women at a crossroads in their lives. The “unseen occupant” who provided such an intriguing layer to their experience has now been put to rest and the story resumes as the first Covid lockdown draws to its end. Jane's romance with Jesper, the art conservator who helped solve the historical mystery at the heart of the earlier book, has necessarily been conducted long distance, but the easing of restrictions allows them to be together again. They travel to Howthwaite Castle in Cumbria, where Jesper assesses some damaged paintings for an old friend, and where his assistant, Bella, is currently helping with the care of her elderly cousin Em who, as a small child, played a part in the creation of a strange white painting known as The Snowstorm – a key to the solving of the mystery.
There are deeply buried family secrets, but also some unexpected and dramatic developments, giving rise to a deliciously convoluted mystery with the most unexpected twists and turns, and a final resolution that I found both ingenious and fascinating.
As well as creating the most engaging characters, all wonderfully developed and very real, the author does have a special touch with relationships. At Howthwaite, there's another romance in the offing – between Bella and quirky gardener Merlin, engaged to restore the castle's neglected gardens to their former glory. And the relationships between the Wyngrave women are as perfectly drawn as ever. I'm a particular fan of retired actress Sylvia, now almost entirely blind and this time enjoying a touching friendship with Jesper's challenging mother, Iris.
The supernatural elements that intrigued so much in the earlier book are largely absent this time - yes, I'll admit I did rather miss Horatio, although there are nods to his story - but Iris' invisible companion was a welcome touch and a rather lovely part of the book's lightness and gentle humour. The resumed relationship between Jane (so easy to empathise with) and Jesper - perhaps an unlikely romantic hero in the first book, but one I really took to my heart - was one I very much enjoyed and really believed in, although their path to future happiness isn't a smooth one, complicated by the long shadow of Jesper’s past.
The storytelling is excellent, the different plot threads perfectly entwined and equally engaging, with plenty of moments that bring a smile or laughter (the dialogue is so well-handled throughout), but also a fair measure of real drama, sadness and poignancy. Several moral dilemmas are woven into the story, all handled with care, sensitivity and the perfect emotional touch. I also really enjoyed the way the mystery developed, with clues gently dropped here and there and I found the detail about art conservation and restoration and the part it played in the resolution of the plot fascinating – undoubtedly the result of extensive research, but every detail is made entirely accessible for a reader without the same level of knowledge.
The book's ending is perfectly judged - satisfying and uplifting - but I'll admit I was pleased to learn the author has plans to make The Wyngrave Women a trilogy. There are definitely some threads in the original story, Time’s Prisoner, that I'd be delighted to see explored further. But Time’s Tyranny was a book I really loved - and one I'd very much recommend to others.
April 22, 2025
Romance and a mystery
All impacted by the COVID lock down. Brilliantly written as ever and reminded me of what it was like while also keeping the story developing in a way that kept me gripped. Thank you again Linda for a very readable book.
All impacted by the COVID lock down. Brilliantly written as ever and reminded me of what it was like while also keeping the story developing in a way that kept me gripped. Thank you again Linda for a very readable book.
May 13, 2025
Excellent
I couldn’t put this down. I enjoyed it much more than the first one- though I liked that a lot. The mystery was well handled and I really appreciated how well the emotions of lock down were captured. Dare I hope this will be a trilogy?
I couldn’t put this down. I enjoyed it much more than the first one- though I liked that a lot. The mystery was well handled and I really appreciated how well the emotions of lock down were captured. Dare I hope this will be a trilogy?
May 31, 2025
I took my time reading this sequel to Time’s Prisoner. I savored it slowly like a fine cognac. I enjoyed winding down my evenings with these familiar, good people. They’ve weathered hardships and now face a pandemic with lockdowns and social isolation. They muddle through trying their best to keep everyone healthy and safe. And amid those trails they are thrust into a mystery nearly 90 years old.
Linda has a gift for creating three dimensional characters with scars and imperfections but also having goodness and light. Her characters have lived through trials and come through them as better humans. I enjoy reading about mature people. They offer a deeper perspective on life. I’m looking forward to the series prequel!
Linda has a gift for creating three dimensional characters with scars and imperfections but also having goodness and light. Her characters have lived through trials and come through them as better humans. I enjoy reading about mature people. They offer a deeper perspective on life. I’m looking forward to the series prequel!
April 19, 2025
I don’t normally enjoy books set in lockdown but this one was so well done. Beautiful writing. I loved it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews