Days Of Grace

by Brenda Jagger

Olivia Heron's vagrant Parisian childhood ended on the day her brother died. Now, as heiress to Clarrow Fell, Olivia brings her delightful, frivolous mother and her sisters home to Yorkshire - and to a different world.

The elegant salons, the shabby lodgings, are replaced by the grim and alien grandeur of the moors and the mill towns. Olivia will inherit the land and the traditions she has come to love. But first she must check the ambitions of her wealthy cousin Max. Charming, sophisticated and ruthless, Max makes no secret of his desire to be master of Clarrow Fell - and of Olivia too . .

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Historical Romance, 19th Century

480 pages, Hardcover

First published August 13, 1984

About the author

Brenda Jagger was born on 1936 in Yorkshire, England, UK, which was the setting for many of her books including her famous ‘Barforth’ family saga. The recurring central themes of her work are marriage, womanhood, class, identity, and money in the Victorian Era. Her work has been praised for its compelling plots and moving storylines as well as its exacting emotional descriptions. Her later novel A Song Twice Over won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 1986.

Married, she had three daughters. Worked in Paris and as a probation officer in the north of England. She passed away in 1986.

Reviews

[Kate Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another of Brenda Jagger's splendid novels about the life and times of the Victorian era. Olivia Heron is an opinionated survivor, the family life raft for her beautiful but impractical mother, her two sisters, and her rebellious little brother. When Olivia unexpectedly inherits an English manor from relatives she never knew existed, she is determined to turn over a new leaf: make herself into the mistress of the manor, marry her sisters to English gentlemen, and turn her brother into an English gentleman himself. She succeeds, but success isn't quite what she thought it would be - and there lies the story's charm. Olivia is a delightful heroine; strong-willed, stylish, certain she can order everyone's lives for them. Her effervescent little mother is delightful, as is Olivia's friend Alys who becomes devoted to the burgeoning suffragette movement. The hero is quite a lot like like Rhett Butler, but I love Rhett Butler so it didn't bother me too much. A terrific story about a Victorian social climber, and the happiness she finds in all the places she never thought to look.

[Luminita Szen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am 80% into this book but this one is a 5 star read for me.Brenda Jagger was such a gifted writer,I have to give a BIG thank you to the few people who wrote a review to this novel.Otherwise I would not have known about it and would have missed such a lovely story! It was published in 1983.
This novel has Gone with the wind vibes,as the main charachters Olivia Heron and Max de Haan have similarities with Scarlett and Rhett Buttler.
Higly recommend!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this author. My only issue is that the storyline drags through the middle of the novel. I was not ready to shelve it because I was invested in the characters. Though patience is not one of my virtues, I persevered onward and was so glad I did.

[Tracey- Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very stilted story swr during the Victorian era and edwardian era just before world war one and during the suffragette movement.
I had a hard time relating to the characters as they weren't emotive enough !

[Saleha · Rating 3 out of 5]

charming and well-done for what it is - a light work of period romantic fiction

[Mrs Book Pond (Anna-Lena) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olivia Heron bor i Paris med sin eteriska mor och sina halvsyskon, när hon får besked om att hon är näste arvtagare till godset Clarrow Fell i England. Den streetsmarta Olivia tar med hela sin utfattiga familj och har snart gjort upp en plan för framtiden, men planer går inte alltid som man tänkt sig.

Lätt att avfärda som en romantisk sekelskiftesroman, men den är mer än så och avhandlar kvinnlig styrka och självständighet och de första fröna till kvinnlig rösträtt. Ett gott hantverk, men något långsamt berättad.