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Ann of Norfolk Saga #3
The Native Air
A seventeenth-century doctor preparing for an imminent trip to India hunts for a kidnapped young woman who had lived in Blackow Hall with two other eccentric and mysterious women
- GenresHistorical
298 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1990
About the author
Sarah Woodhouse
25 books7 followersSarah Woodhouse was born on 1950 in Birmingham, England, UK. She grew up in Cambridgeshire and attended St Mary's convent school before studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Medieval English at Reading University.
Sarah is the author of numerous short stories, many of which were published in 19 magazine in the 1970s, and 9 romance novels from 1984 to 2000. In 1989, her novel The Peacock's Feather won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Sarah is the author of numerous short stories, many of which were published in 19 magazine in the 1970s, and 9 romance novels from 1984 to 2000. In 1989, her novel The Peacock's Feather won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 31, 2013
The final book in the 3-part Ann of Norfolk (England) Saga, this book held my attention but wasn’t quite as enjoyable as the other two. It does supply a reasonable and realistic, if not completely satisfying, conclusion to the series. In my opinion, this book doesn’t stand on its own as well as the previous books.
It’s a tricky matter to get a reader who hasn’t read the previous books in a series caught up with past plot and action. Instead of telling a different story, then revealing details a few at a time through other characters, as she did in Book 2 (The Peacock’s Feather), Woodhouse chooses to simply narrate parts of books past. While efficient, it’s less interesting for the reader to learn all of the story at once rather than having details accumulate until the story unfolds.
With that said, Woodhouse again creates interesting characters involved in complex relationships, as in the other books. Some favorite characters from Book 1 (A Season of Mists) appear, but their personalities and oddities aren’t as extensively or humorously developed. Much of the action revolves around a family of misfit and misunderstood Irishwomen who are new in the neighborhood. The cranky but well-off old aunt whose trade is breaking and selling horses, her needy niece who typically exposes scandalous amounts of skin, and the niece’s daughter who loves the country as much as her aunt; the townspeople ponder the rumors that have preceded them, and what they might not be revealing.
Like the first two books, this book is, I believe, billed as a romance. Although Ann, the protagonist, has many suitors, she doesn’t seem to be as happy or interesting a character as in the other books. Most of the suitors seem half-hearted at best, but perhaps this is because they aren’t described in great depth. A reasonable, if not passionate, conclusion is reached.
If you’ve read the other two books in this series, by all means read this one. It’s an easy read, and several of the women characters, as well as the Doctor from the first two books, spark up the plot a bit.
It’s a tricky matter to get a reader who hasn’t read the previous books in a series caught up with past plot and action. Instead of telling a different story, then revealing details a few at a time through other characters, as she did in Book 2 (The Peacock’s Feather), Woodhouse chooses to simply narrate parts of books past. While efficient, it’s less interesting for the reader to learn all of the story at once rather than having details accumulate until the story unfolds.
With that said, Woodhouse again creates interesting characters involved in complex relationships, as in the other books. Some favorite characters from Book 1 (A Season of Mists) appear, but their personalities and oddities aren’t as extensively or humorously developed. Much of the action revolves around a family of misfit and misunderstood Irishwomen who are new in the neighborhood. The cranky but well-off old aunt whose trade is breaking and selling horses, her needy niece who typically exposes scandalous amounts of skin, and the niece’s daughter who loves the country as much as her aunt; the townspeople ponder the rumors that have preceded them, and what they might not be revealing.
Like the first two books, this book is, I believe, billed as a romance. Although Ann, the protagonist, has many suitors, she doesn’t seem to be as happy or interesting a character as in the other books. Most of the suitors seem half-hearted at best, but perhaps this is because they aren’t described in great depth. A reasonable, if not passionate, conclusion is reached.
If you’ve read the other two books in this series, by all means read this one. It’s an easy read, and several of the women characters, as well as the Doctor from the first two books, spark up the plot a bit.
May 30, 2007
A pleasant enough British romance. There were some wildly implausible plot twists at the end. I borrowed this book from my mom.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews