A Time for Silence

Daughters of England #17

by Philippa Carr

Lucinda Greenham
When Lucinda Greenham and her impetuous friend Annabelinda Denver leave London for finishing school in Europe, neither imagines the trouble to come. It takes many forms: Anabelinda's secret affair; the child born out of wedlock; and the German invasion of Belgium.
With the Germans one step behind, the girls flee across a stunned Europe on the brink of World War I, to arrive safely in England at last. Picking up the pieces of their lives, they consign Annabelinda's damaging past to secrecy, only to be faced with blackmail so severe it leads to murder. As the girls will learn too late, there is a time for truth and a time for silence.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Historical, Historical Romance, Mystery, Gothic

Hardcover

First published May 9, 1991

About the author

Eleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anna Percival and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Marie Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved the pace of this one

[MV · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 17th book in Philippa Carr's series is narrated by previous protagonist Lucie's daughter Lucinda. By now, this series has repeated plenty of themes, and this book is no exception, with the typical pairing of a sensible "good girl" (Lucinda) with a wilder, selfish best friend who is more like a frenemy. In this case, the friend is Annabelinda, daughter of Lucie's close friend Belinda, so we're getting a repeat of a theme we just sat through in the last book. A little of their story takes place at a boarding school, which is fun, and most of the rest of it during World War I. The answer to the book's great mystery is glaringly obvious - honestly, I wanted to scream at one point, and laughed when a character marveled at how "dumb" he was for missing it. I was, however, pleasantly surprised by two turns the story took near the end.

Despite my desire for more excitement and action like we saw in previous Carr wartime stories, it was still an overall good read if you enjoy the series and keeping up with the family and getting all the gossip (haha). But if you are feeling tired of the series when you reach this point, I'm not sure you will get much out of this one. A possible plus for some is that Carr's wordy writing style is noticeably reduced here.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although not the worst book in the Daughter of England series, “A Time for Silence” is bland, passive, and predictable.

I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, but whenever a chance arises for some drama, it’s “told”, not “shown”.

Second-hand accounts in which the first-person narrator recounts something she’s heard do nothing to liven up the story.

We get reported speech, like: >Mrs. Cherry said the servants all wanted to go out to join the throng and I said they must.< This approach is passive. It could’ve been made active with dialogue and body language.

The main character Lucinda is unbelievably naive. When she finally works out something of importance, it’s a complete surprise to her, yet I’d figured it out at once.

The ending is perhaps the most anti-climatic of the series so far. No danger, no element of threat is evident. We’re "shown" nothing, so again we're "told" what happens.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes place in England during WWI. It is the story of two friends who go to boarding school together, the choices they make, and how those choices affect both their lives. Philippa Carr is one of my favorite authors since I was a young girl, and I am rereading her books just for the pleasure of it.

[Sandie Bergin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kind of predicable. But I did enjoy it.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read about the first world war and she was at a finishing school abroad and the Germans were coming and they had to get out. They take people with them, but are they all who they say they are?

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Daughters of England" saga, now labeled by its publisher as "The Cornish Saga," jumps forward into the twentieth century, racing towards its inevitable conclusion in this slim tale of World War I-era family secrets and skulduggery, a marked improvement on its predecessor. Lucinda Greenham, daughter of the novel's previous heroine, and her family friend Annabelinda begin the novel at finishing school in Belgium. The two girls are the mirror images of their mothers, who were raised together—and predictably for Carr, a misstep by the selfish Annabelinda will affect both their lives, complicated by war. Carr feels less confident in the twentieth century, unfamiliar territory for her (with the exception of "Bride of Pendorric" under her Victoria Holt pseudonym, she only ever wrote one novel set in her own century). But Lucinda is a much more sensible heroine than previous Carr creations, reaching back to the more fully fleshed out forebears of earlier installments, as she realizes that people are complicated individuals. The fly in the ointment is Carr's rehabilitation of Jean Pascal Bourdon, Annabelinda's grandfather, who first makes an appearance in "The Changeling." As is Carr's wont, she likes to create antiheroes, which she'd done with Dickson Frenshaw and Peter Lansdon earlier in the series. Here, it doesn't work well, since the two previous volumes had really played up his unsavory, predatory tendencies. Other than that, as the series hurtles towards its close, "A Time for Silence" is not a bad installment.

[Santi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was curious to read this title by this author, and although she uses another pseudonym, I recognize from the first page that it is her, it is like listening to a Maria Callas recording with your eyes closed, it is really impossible not to recognize her. In this novel, which I really liked, like absolutely all those of her respective pseudonyms, it is captivating, the main character,Lucinda, is very intelligent, interesting, and charming as was the author whom I admire so much, especially for her Tudor and Stuart series. . . Also her unsurpassed novel about the French Revolution with Maria Antonietta as the protagonist, What a great writer, historical writer ,unsurpassed ,unique, truly unique, no wonder she sold so many books, of course her own life was a novel, they could do a Hollywood film👍😊

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would've loved this book when I was a teenager. I would've loved the foreign boarding school, the wartime hospital, the London social scene, etc. As an adult, I can't say I hated the book but love would be too strong a word. Annabelinda is just a little too rotten. Lucinda is just a little too saintly and stupid. She has all the puzzle pieces in front of her. Someone's put together everything but the corner pieces and she can't seem to fit even those in place. It's beyond belief.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book, but the back cover seems to indicate that the hero is Marcus. It's a little disconcerting to find out Lucinda is going to marry Robert instead, especially when there wasn't a lot of interaction between Lucinda and Robert throughout the book.

[Alison Hodgson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best of the series I thought,liked the characters and was interested in what happened to them.

[Dominik Golob · Rating 3 out of 5]

134

[Christine Risi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mysterious story with many surprises.

[Kit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars, because even though it was boring - despite being set during WWI and featuring spies! - there was nothing really objectionable, unlike other novels in this series.

[Sarah Nealy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read. Philippa Carr who is really Victoria Holt always writes romantic suspense that will keep you reading till the end. This book in particular is filled with scandals and spies, and of course loyalty on keeping silent through all of this. It was a little predictable because I've read so many books by Victoria Holt, but this one under the name Philippa Carr was a little different. Usually in Victoria Holt books the heroine is always in danger at the end, that wasn't the case in this book. If your looking for a fast read with lots of drama then this book is for you!

[Yue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago. It has several elements similar to my favorite book of Holt, The India Fan; but this book is not as good as the other one. I read it only once, and that is something, because most of Victoria´s books I have read it at least twice. Actually, I am not a big fan of Jean Plaidy or Philippa, meaning I prefer Holt´s style of writing.

[Tammie Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

17

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Victoria Holt, but in a condensed form and for a younger audience. I think the age level for this book would be Junior High and High School.

[Gary Branson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

[Sec2000 · Rating 1 out of 5]

blah couldn't read