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Legacy Saga #2
A Second Legacy
Continuing the story begun in LEGACY OF LOVE. A novel from Joanna Trollope writing as Caroline Harvey. Praise for Legacy of 'Caroline Harvey has created a huge blockbuster to rival even Barbara Taylor Bradford.' - COMPANY Behind Alexia Langley stood the legacy of three remarkable women. The trouble was that Alexia wasn't brave or extraordinary at all. She was totally unsuited to the free-wheeling world of the 'sixties, and when Martin Angus made a beeline for her she let herself fall wildly and gratefully in love. It took just over a year for her to discover his betrayal - to realize that from now on she had to fight, for herself, her future, and the future of her child. With a legacy of her own - a crumbling castle in Scotland - she began to build a new life...
Audio CD
First published March 18, 1993
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About the author
Joanna Trollope
132 books607 followersJoanna Trollope Potter Curteis (aka Caroline Harvey)
Joanna Trollope was born on 9 December 1943 in her grandfather's rectory in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England, daughter of Rosemary Hodson and Arthur George Cecil Trollope. She is the eldest of three siblings. She is a fifth-generation niece of the Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope and is a cousin of the writer and broadcaster James Trollope. She was educated at Reigate County School for Girls followed by St Hugh's College, Oxford. On 14 May 1966, she married the banker David Roger William Potter, they had two daughters, Antonia and Louise, and on 1983 they divorced. In 1985, she remarried to the television dramatist Ian Curteis, and became the stepmother of two stepsons; they divorced in 2001.
From 1965 to 1967, she worked at the Foreign Office. From 1967 to 1979, she was employed in a number of teaching posts before she became a writer full-time in 1980. Her novel Parson Harding's Daughter won in 1980 the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Joanna Trollope was born on 9 December 1943 in her grandfather's rectory in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England, daughter of Rosemary Hodson and Arthur George Cecil Trollope. She is the eldest of three siblings. She is a fifth-generation niece of the Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope and is a cousin of the writer and broadcaster James Trollope. She was educated at Reigate County School for Girls followed by St Hugh's College, Oxford. On 14 May 1966, she married the banker David Roger William Potter, they had two daughters, Antonia and Louise, and on 1983 they divorced. In 1985, she remarried to the television dramatist Ian Curteis, and became the stepmother of two stepsons; they divorced in 2001.
From 1965 to 1967, she worked at the Foreign Office. From 1967 to 1979, she was employed in a number of teaching posts before she became a writer full-time in 1980. Her novel Parson Harding's Daughter won in 1980 the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 19, 2025
Two very different stories about the descendants of Charlotte and Alexandra in Trollope's - aka Caroline Harvey - Legacy of Love. Alexia is a somewhat spineless young woman, who falls in love with the first person to pay her any attention. The book becomes more interesting when Alexia gets a job with two flamboyant 70s women running a custom curtains business, and subsequently moves to Scotland with her daughter to turn an outmoded castle (is there any other kind?) into a hotel.
A generation later, Carly, named for her impressive grandmother, leaves the hotel and her family behind to find herself in London. Eventually, she realizes that she yearns for the adventures her ancestors experienced and joins a film-making expedition that will take her to Afghanistan where great-great-great grandmother Charlotte met the love of her life.
Both women find themselves in these stories which have more of a category romance feel than do Trollope's later work but are still very enjoyable (although I can see how some readers might lose patience). Moreover, Alexia's parents are extremely annoying, and her father, in particular, behaves unforgivably in revealing personal information about her and never seems abashed by his action, which I found very annoying, but they have mellowed by the second book.
A generation later, Carly, named for her impressive grandmother, leaves the hotel and her family behind to find herself in London. Eventually, she realizes that she yearns for the adventures her ancestors experienced and joins a film-making expedition that will take her to Afghanistan where great-great-great grandmother Charlotte met the love of her life.
Both women find themselves in these stories which have more of a category romance feel than do Trollope's later work but are still very enjoyable (although I can see how some readers might lose patience). Moreover, Alexia's parents are extremely annoying, and her father, in particular, behaves unforgivably in revealing personal information about her and never seems abashed by his action, which I found very annoying, but they have mellowed by the second book.
April 30, 2016
This book needs to be reviewed with its prequel, "A Legacy of Love" which between them are five books/stories of five generations of women in the same family. In my opinion, the best story was that of Charlotte who kicks of the first story but unfortunately for me, the characters deteriorated with each generation until the last one in this book, Cara is a bit of a pain in the proverbial. This was a huge task that Joanna Trollope took on, covering a story of five women over a time frame of 150 years. The enormity of the task was highlighted in the penultimate story of Alexia whom I felt I had not got to know before her story concluded. When I got on to Cara's story, I kept confusing her with Alexia.
August 23, 2008
This is the sequel to Trollope's earlier book Legacy of Love, which told of the adventures and love stories of three generations of marvelous women, beginning with Charlotte, a spunky Victorian bride who goes to Afghanistan with her soldier husband.
A Second Legacy follows these three great stories with the tales of two more of Charlotte's descendants. The final one, set in the 1980s, is about Carly, who returns to Afghanistan in a beautifully drawn coming-of-age saga.
Loved it.
A Second Legacy follows these three great stories with the tales of two more of Charlotte's descendants. The final one, set in the 1980s, is about Carly, who returns to Afghanistan in a beautifully drawn coming-of-age saga.
Loved it.
September 12, 2012
I enjoyed the second story a lot more, maybe because I could relate to the timing more.
The book was actually interesting story of a Mother and daughter through out the years. The first part was the story of the mother, and the second part was the story of the daughter and her journey to Afghanistan.
Overall, a good book though at times were very detailed and long.
The book was actually interesting story of a Mother and daughter through out the years. The first part was the story of the mother, and the second part was the story of the daughter and her journey to Afghanistan.
Overall, a good book though at times were very detailed and long.
June 4, 2010
one of my favorite authors. glad I found some old books by her that i had not read yet.
September 8, 2025
[spoiler alert, I guess]
Oh my land, what a piece of shlock -- all the more deplorable because Trollope, here writing as Caroline Harvey, really is a very gifted writer and is quite capable of giving us a novel fit for adults. But this novel is pure chick lit, fluffy, glib, pseudo-feminist, feel-good nonsense. Every problem its two heroines (mother and daughter) encounter is either solved gloriously and speedily, or turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Men adore them (okay, there's one man who doesn't adore Carly, but jeeze oh pete, who would want such a stuffed shirt, and it's obvious she'll find some other Prince Charming, now that she's a Strong and Confident Woman). When they need jobs, somehow a dream job is ready to hand. Villainously plotting ex-husband? Not to worry: your next door neighbor will take you in and protect you, and if you happen to be in love with that neighbor, all the better, because -- surprise!-- he's in love with you too. (And the husband turns out to be pretty harmless anyway).
Bad marks to Trollope for feeding the fantasy that life offers magical and richly satisfying solutions to our problems. More bad marks for sloppy characterization. We are expected to believe that Alexia has self-esteem issues because she has lived so long under the domination of her parents, but the minute she sallies forth into the world she acquires an altogether new personality: efficient, assertive, even bossy. Without any experience whatsoever, she is able to transform a gloomy and derelict Scottish castle into an award-winning hotel. Later, her daughter Carly undergoes a similarly implausible transformation, when she erupts in rage at some Afghani border guards, saving a whole expedition of Western filmmakers from indefinite imprisonment. Carly has been established as a character not without courage and a streak of rebelliousness, but would she really have dared to mouth off to a sinister gang of armed men in a country not known for its tolerance of assertive women? More to the point, would those men really have backed down under the lash of her invective? It's all just too pat, too good to be true.
Oh my land, what a piece of shlock -- all the more deplorable because Trollope, here writing as Caroline Harvey, really is a very gifted writer and is quite capable of giving us a novel fit for adults. But this novel is pure chick lit, fluffy, glib, pseudo-feminist, feel-good nonsense. Every problem its two heroines (mother and daughter) encounter is either solved gloriously and speedily, or turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Men adore them (okay, there's one man who doesn't adore Carly, but jeeze oh pete, who would want such a stuffed shirt, and it's obvious she'll find some other Prince Charming, now that she's a Strong and Confident Woman). When they need jobs, somehow a dream job is ready to hand. Villainously plotting ex-husband? Not to worry: your next door neighbor will take you in and protect you, and if you happen to be in love with that neighbor, all the better, because -- surprise!-- he's in love with you too. (And the husband turns out to be pretty harmless anyway).
Bad marks to Trollope for feeding the fantasy that life offers magical and richly satisfying solutions to our problems. More bad marks for sloppy characterization. We are expected to believe that Alexia has self-esteem issues because she has lived so long under the domination of her parents, but the minute she sallies forth into the world she acquires an altogether new personality: efficient, assertive, even bossy. Without any experience whatsoever, she is able to transform a gloomy and derelict Scottish castle into an award-winning hotel. Later, her daughter Carly undergoes a similarly implausible transformation, when she erupts in rage at some Afghani border guards, saving a whole expedition of Western filmmakers from indefinite imprisonment. Carly has been established as a character not without courage and a streak of rebelliousness, but would she really have dared to mouth off to a sinister gang of armed men in a country not known for its tolerance of assertive women? More to the point, would those men really have backed down under the lash of her invective? It's all just too pat, too good to be true.
September 10, 2021
Great book.
November 1, 2009
This was a lovely story (actually two) about coming of age, family, family history, true love,and finding ones place in the world. The story begins with Alexis who is feeling misunderstood and unappreciated strikes out on her own little adventure to have it misguided by love. Alone and now with a baby in tow she inherits a castle in Scotland and creates her own Happy Ever After. Next that baby, little Carly grows up to be just as independent and strong as her mother. She sets out on her own adventure following her ancestors journey to Afghanistan and there discovers her true passion in life.
September 19, 2011
When I first began reading this book, I thought it might be more of a Harlequin type romance/tearjerker, etc. I was pleasantly surprised that it was not. A very believable love story. Then I was even more pleasantly surprised to find a second story featuring the daughter of the heroine. The second part of the story, set in 1980's Afghanistan as the Russians were retreating, was a fascinating glimpse into that culture. Thoroughly enjoyed the book, now looking forward to reading more of her material!
March 11, 2009
Audio book.
I love the English multi-generational novel where women pull themselves out of crummy situations, work hard, and create their own mini-empires. This is not as good as "Woman of Independent Means" but still a good comfortable, enjoyable commuting novel.
I love the English multi-generational novel where women pull themselves out of crummy situations, work hard, and create their own mini-empires. This is not as good as "Woman of Independent Means" but still a good comfortable, enjoyable commuting novel.
March 5, 2011
I got thoroughly involved with the plot - a sign of a good read
June 26, 2011
Same review as Legacy of Love. Loved it.
September 29, 2013
A bit of a Cinderella read but it was interesting.
April 24, 2016
Another light romance by Joanna Trollope of a 20-something divorced mother in 1965 and later her 20-something daughter in 1988, with the usual rebellion and restless search for love and adventure.
October 24, 2024
Makin a mental note to find the first in thi series
October 1, 2012
Like her work, under whichever name.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews