What do you think?
Rate this book
A failed marriage.
A longing for escape.
An unexpected romance.
With her girlish days of blind innocence behind her, Eleanor finds herself more than just physically bruised, as she attempts to battle through her darkest days in the aftermath of an unprecedented season.
Fallen from grace, traumatised, friendless, and alone, there seems little left to live for and even less to find meaningful occupation in as she vows never to return to her husband after his vile treatment of her.
Far from being where she expected to be by now; prettily situated and much at her own leisure in a marriage of comfortable convenience, Eleanor’s future has never been more uncertain.
Taking refuge at Cuddington might keep her safe from his attempts to reclaim her, but shunned from society, dropped by her friends, and sinking her family into ever deeper depths of disappointment with her failures, it is a bitter-sweet refuge that soon has her longing for escape.
Just when all seems lost and bleak, something unexpected begins to emerge from a most unlikely quarter and reminds Eleanor that life is still worth living, love is not dead, and not all new acquaintances are worthy of mistrust.
Will this emerging new relationship help to restore all that was set asunder and show her what it really means to find friendship, trust, and love?
A longing for escape.
An unexpected romance.
With her girlish days of blind innocence behind her, Eleanor finds herself more than just physically bruised, as she attempts to battle through her darkest days in the aftermath of an unprecedented season.
Fallen from grace, traumatised, friendless, and alone, there seems little left to live for and even less to find meaningful occupation in as she vows never to return to her husband after his vile treatment of her.
Far from being where she expected to be by now; prettily situated and much at her own leisure in a marriage of comfortable convenience, Eleanor’s future has never been more uncertain.
Taking refuge at Cuddington might keep her safe from his attempts to reclaim her, but shunned from society, dropped by her friends, and sinking her family into ever deeper depths of disappointment with her failures, it is a bitter-sweet refuge that soon has her longing for escape.
Just when all seems lost and bleak, something unexpected begins to emerge from a most unlikely quarter and reminds Eleanor that life is still worth living, love is not dead, and not all new acquaintances are worthy of mistrust.
Will this emerging new relationship help to restore all that was set asunder and show her what it really means to find friendship, trust, and love?
683 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2022
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 2, 2026
At first I was…
not happy about his Annalise business as I felt Annalise was not quite fair or being true to Eleanor and her “situations.” I also had to remember the period of time they existed in. Annalise’s disappearances and other instances of turning her back on Eleanor leaves her battle weary and lacking good judgement as she faces her rejection.
What’s also bothersome at times is that Eleanor seems like she is much older than she really is. And she is also younger than Annalise.
We have basically been spared Giles for mostly two books and this rather dreadful news from Edmunds tells me he shall have his due. I wonder who will betray Eleanor so this is true. And pray tell what will happen to Annalise in the interim?
Eleanor cannot seem to get a break from it all. First Mariella, then Sheldon, Giles, Betsy, Anna, Mr Richards (although not his fault), and whomever else will see her some sort of harm. I wish her well and hopefully, Annalise will also stop running and causing her unnecessary angst. When you experience such love and devotion that Eleanor has bestowed upon her she should be that quick to always cast judgment and bail. Hopefully she is here to stay this time.
not happy about his Annalise business as I felt Annalise was not quite fair or being true to Eleanor and her “situations.” I also had to remember the period of time they existed in. Annalise’s disappearances and other instances of turning her back on Eleanor leaves her battle weary and lacking good judgement as she faces her rejection.
What’s also bothersome at times is that Eleanor seems like she is much older than she really is. And she is also younger than Annalise.
We have basically been spared Giles for mostly two books and this rather dreadful news from Edmunds tells me he shall have his due. I wonder who will betray Eleanor so this is true. And pray tell what will happen to Annalise in the interim?
Eleanor cannot seem to get a break from it all. First Mariella, then Sheldon, Giles, Betsy, Anna, Mr Richards (although not his fault), and whomever else will see her some sort of harm. I wish her well and hopefully, Annalise will also stop running and causing her unnecessary angst. When you experience such love and devotion that Eleanor has bestowed upon her she should be that quick to always cast judgment and bail. Hopefully she is here to stay this time.
July 4, 2023
Wow. What an amazingly written sequel in the saga, I absolutely love this and could not put it down. Very cleverly written great build up and growth in characters, focusing on the journey in the story of the two main protagonist Eleanor' and Annalise, who come from different classes and are thrown together by unforseen circumstances and tested to there limits. There are sad parts to this in Eleanors journey where she is dealing with the consequences of her actions which due to her innocence and vulnerabilities from a sheltered upbringing and a governess who was quite liberal and granted her to much freedom, have left her in an awful predicament. Where self destruction is inevitable from a failed marriage and the world as she has known is turning back on her and alienating her. With hope all lost and justice and fighting back impossible for is yet to be told. For i do not wish to spoil it for others. I found this story quite empowering and it has some surprising funny clever antidotes and well written scenes where public arguments occur. On the whole I rate this as one of the novels I've ever read and highly recommended it to all readers.
December 24, 2024
the ups and downs of this series are overwhelming after the relative brief arcs of most romances even the queer ones. Perhaps this is really what life was like for lesbians in those times, full of concealment and strife. I'm not sure I'm up to Eleanor getting back with her husband, but maybe I'll buy iy just to skip through to the happy ending, I like the emotional depth and imperfections of the main characters, though Annelise especially is a bit too impulsive, perhaps because we don't have her diary entries, Too much furniture description for my taste, but I enjoy the description of the servants' interactions. The prison scenes and the visits to annelse's poor friends are interesting, as well as Eleanor's discovery of how the legal system works for poor people, still does to some extent.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews