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Annie of Ainsworth's Mill
A gripping and emotional cross-cultural love story for readers of Kitty Neale and Dilly Court. By the author of The Gypsy Bride and The Gypsy's Daughter. It's 1897 and young Annie Maguire and her parents are leaving their farm in County Down, Ireland. Driven away by poverty they're looking for a place to start again. After moving to Comber and settling for a time, once again the Maguire family's lives are turned on their heads when Annie's mother dies and she and her father move on, this time to Cleator Moor, Cumberland, where Annie starts work in Ainsworth's Mill. Robert McClure also grew up in County Down. The illegitimate son of the land agent and cook from the big house, he spent his childhood being moved from pillar to post, never sure who he was or where he belonged. That is until he found himself in Cleator Moor and invited to join the Orange Order, a Protestant Society. On the 12th of July, day of the Orange March, Annie and Robert meet when he rescues her from a rowdy gang out to cause mischief. Sparks instantly fly and Annie and Robert quickly fall in love. But Annie has been brought up Catholic and is devoted to her community and religion. Brought together by chance, but with backgrounds worlds apart, Annie and Robert will have to fight to be together. But can their love really survive when the weight of the community is against them?
432 pages, Paperback
Published July 21, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 18, 2023
This book is simply amazing. I read it in little over a day, could not put it down.
Even more so all of the little historical facts, recitations of the bible, advertisements etc. throughout the book, was absolutely a gem.
I am a huge fan of the writing style, parallel stories of the main characters till they meet and fall in love and their difficulty finding their place in new world of both chaos and harmony, this pair overcame their obstacles.
But further more to read about historical facts, plus the inspiration to the book at the very end, is truly special. Thank you Author Katie Hutten for this absolutely gorgeous book. I shall be reading more of your books.
Even more so all of the little historical facts, recitations of the bible, advertisements etc. throughout the book, was absolutely a gem.
I am a huge fan of the writing style, parallel stories of the main characters till they meet and fall in love and their difficulty finding their place in new world of both chaos and harmony, this pair overcame their obstacles.
But further more to read about historical facts, plus the inspiration to the book at the very end, is truly special. Thank you Author Katie Hutten for this absolutely gorgeous book. I shall be reading more of your books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2022
1897. Following her mother’s death Annie Maguire and her father escape the poverty and unemployment of County Down and relocate to Cumberland, where there is work – hard, dangerous work – in cotton mills and iron-ore mines. When her father moves away again to live (in sin) with an abandoned married woman, Annie makes a temporary home in a series of lodging houses, treated as an outcast because of her father’s situation. She falls in love with Robert McClure, who has also fled from County Down. But Robert is a Protestant and Annie a Catholic. The hatred between the two branches of Christianity is as strong in 1900s Cumbria as it was in the time of the Tudors – and still is today in the more sectarian areas of Northern Ireland. The ancient enmity creates a wall against which the love of these two young people is hard pressed to prevail.
Harsh deaths – consumption, childbirth, hideous accidents – are a daily risk, as is the threat of the poorhouse. There are rare moments of tenderness or humour. Robert compares the Roman ritual of confession and penance to “an account book at the Co-operative”, a simile that will stay forever with Annie (and with me). There is one priest with a reconciliatory mindset; at the other extreme there is Philomena, one of Annie’s landladies with a merciless soul.
Katie Hutton is a gifted writer. A lot of the novels I read I devour in great chunks; Annie of Ainsworth’s Mill is a book you want to read slowly, savouring the lovely lilt of every page, every paragraph. You hear the rise and fall of Irish accents in every line of dialogue. The evocation of harsh lives in the harshest of times stands comparison with writers like Arnold Bennett and Mrs Gaskell. This is a novel at the very pinnacle of the Historical Romance genre.
Harsh deaths – consumption, childbirth, hideous accidents – are a daily risk, as is the threat of the poorhouse. There are rare moments of tenderness or humour. Robert compares the Roman ritual of confession and penance to “an account book at the Co-operative”, a simile that will stay forever with Annie (and with me). There is one priest with a reconciliatory mindset; at the other extreme there is Philomena, one of Annie’s landladies with a merciless soul.
Katie Hutton is a gifted writer. A lot of the novels I read I devour in great chunks; Annie of Ainsworth’s Mill is a book you want to read slowly, savouring the lovely lilt of every page, every paragraph. You hear the rise and fall of Irish accents in every line of dialogue. The evocation of harsh lives in the harshest of times stands comparison with writers like Arnold Bennett and Mrs Gaskell. This is a novel at the very pinnacle of the Historical Romance genre.
October 13, 2022
Authentic historical family drama in the hands of a skilful storyteller.
This engaging historical novel set at the end of the 19th Century tells the story a young Northern Irish man and woman Robert McClure and Annie Maguire who fall in love despite the odds. He is a Presbyterian, illegitimate, and she is Catholic. As a young man, Robert had been fostered by a Catholic woman who taught him tailoring skills and he dreams, one day, of setting up his own business. However, Robert and Annie are both forced by circumstances to leave Ireland. She ends up working in Ainsworth’s Mill in Cumbria, England, and he in the local coal mines. Shortly after arriving there, Robert is invited to join an Orange Lodge, and on the 12th July celebrations he rescues Annie from a group of bullying Orangemen. The couple’s tender relationship unfolds against bitter sectarian hatred within the two communities. On one level this is a highly enjoyable and fast-paced tale of the couple’s evolving romance, plagued with setbacks and dramas -- but on another it is also the story of a troubled community beset by bigotry. As a piece of social history this was an extremely satisfying read which explained the different religious perspectives and argued fairly from both sides. Beautifully written and researched, with memorable and well-rounded characters, this was a charming story, shedding new light on troubled times, with a highly satisfying ending.
This engaging historical novel set at the end of the 19th Century tells the story a young Northern Irish man and woman Robert McClure and Annie Maguire who fall in love despite the odds. He is a Presbyterian, illegitimate, and she is Catholic. As a young man, Robert had been fostered by a Catholic woman who taught him tailoring skills and he dreams, one day, of setting up his own business. However, Robert and Annie are both forced by circumstances to leave Ireland. She ends up working in Ainsworth’s Mill in Cumbria, England, and he in the local coal mines. Shortly after arriving there, Robert is invited to join an Orange Lodge, and on the 12th July celebrations he rescues Annie from a group of bullying Orangemen. The couple’s tender relationship unfolds against bitter sectarian hatred within the two communities. On one level this is a highly enjoyable and fast-paced tale of the couple’s evolving romance, plagued with setbacks and dramas -- but on another it is also the story of a troubled community beset by bigotry. As a piece of social history this was an extremely satisfying read which explained the different religious perspectives and argued fairly from both sides. Beautifully written and researched, with memorable and well-rounded characters, this was a charming story, shedding new light on troubled times, with a highly satisfying ending.
September 10, 2022
In this captivating historical novel which opens at the end of the 19th century we follow the coming of age of two characters, both from the North of Ireland. Annie is a young Catholic girl whose father has sold the family farm to work in industry. She becomes a mill-worker and ends up at the Ainsworth’s Mill of the title, in Cumberland (Cumbria), England.
Robert, a Protestant boy, is fostered, his parentage concealed from him. His beloved Catholic foster mother teaches him tailoring skills but when she dies he leaves for England to find work as a miner and there is persuaded to join the Protestant Orange Lodge. He soon finds that Protestants and Catholics who have moved from Ulster have brought their conflict with them.
Annie’s and Robert’s converging stories vividly illustrate how people moved from rural to urban livelihoods at that time. As these two protagonists grew up I followed their internal thoughts, their fears and dreams, so that I longed for them to find happiness as adults living in a society tormented by religious prejudices and sectarian hatred. Inspired by the author’s own family history, this was a satisfying read with a moving and uplifting conclusion.
Katie Hutton brings her historical settings to life in immersive sensory detail and skilfully animates the voices of her characters with the nuances of regional dialect.
Robert, a Protestant boy, is fostered, his parentage concealed from him. His beloved Catholic foster mother teaches him tailoring skills but when she dies he leaves for England to find work as a miner and there is persuaded to join the Protestant Orange Lodge. He soon finds that Protestants and Catholics who have moved from Ulster have brought their conflict with them.
Annie’s and Robert’s converging stories vividly illustrate how people moved from rural to urban livelihoods at that time. As these two protagonists grew up I followed their internal thoughts, their fears and dreams, so that I longed for them to find happiness as adults living in a society tormented by religious prejudices and sectarian hatred. Inspired by the author’s own family history, this was a satisfying read with a moving and uplifting conclusion.
Katie Hutton brings her historical settings to life in immersive sensory detail and skilfully animates the voices of her characters with the nuances of regional dialect.
September 23, 2022
'Annie of Ainsworth's Mill' is another thrilling heart-wrench of a read from the fertile pen of Katie Hutton.
Set in the latter part of the 19th century, it’s about the lives of Annie Maguire and Robert McClure that cross in unlikely circumstances.
Despite both protagonists having poverty-ridden, disrupted childhoods, their backgrounds are worlds apart – she is from Catholic stock, while he is not only Protestant but a budding Orangeman.
Due to the biting poverty of the time, Annie and her father have had to leave the family farm in Northern Ireland and settle in Cleator Moor, Cumberland.
Robert is also from the North. He’s the illegitimate son of the cook from the big house and the land agent. He ends up not only in Cleator, but invited to join the Orange Order.
As he marches, Annie spots him from a window; he looks up and sees her – they are both intrigued but don’t meet until he rescues her from abuse by rowdy members of the Order. Their connection is immediate.
Life appears to be stacked against them, but in the end their decency and integrity pays off. The conclusion is satisfying – perhaps paving the way for a follow-up…?
This is a moving and dramatic Victorian saga with a nod to the work of Catherine Cookson.
Set in the latter part of the 19th century, it’s about the lives of Annie Maguire and Robert McClure that cross in unlikely circumstances.
Despite both protagonists having poverty-ridden, disrupted childhoods, their backgrounds are worlds apart – she is from Catholic stock, while he is not only Protestant but a budding Orangeman.
Due to the biting poverty of the time, Annie and her father have had to leave the family farm in Northern Ireland and settle in Cleator Moor, Cumberland.
Robert is also from the North. He’s the illegitimate son of the cook from the big house and the land agent. He ends up not only in Cleator, but invited to join the Orange Order.
As he marches, Annie spots him from a window; he looks up and sees her – they are both intrigued but don’t meet until he rescues her from abuse by rowdy members of the Order. Their connection is immediate.
Life appears to be stacked against them, but in the end their decency and integrity pays off. The conclusion is satisfying – perhaps paving the way for a follow-up…?
This is a moving and dramatic Victorian saga with a nod to the work of Catherine Cookson.
October 30, 2022
Katie Hutton’s evocative writing takes us right into Annie’s world, where we really care about the characters and what happens to them. The dialogue reminded me of summers spent with my Irish family.
I’m left with mental images that will remain with me for a long time. Thank you.
I’m left with mental images that will remain with me for a long time. Thank you.
May 14, 2025
after reading the blurb I thought... I'll give it a chance but it won't be my type of book... however it surprisingly was. loved the story and the descriptions of the way things where at the time without it being boring very invested in the characters and a lovely twist of fate at the end
November 19, 2023
An amazing story set in Ireland and England of hardship in the times where religion decided who you could or couldn't love.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews