Status Updates From The Old House at Railes

Charles is so petty and I'm loving it coz some people think they can choose but not suffer the consequences of their choices

Choices have consequences, whether made with accurate or inaccurate assumptions.
Somehow Charles thinks his desertion should bear no serious and dire consequences for him and I guess how things were in his time that is probably not unwarranted even if unreasonable. As a man he had all the rights, while his wife and children had none. By marrying him Katharine transferred her guardianship from her father to him

I wonder what the trope for Martin and Katherine is... Peasant falls for Noble who becomes a peasant while the peasant becomes a noble?

Men will be selfish even when they appear to love. Charles leaving his wife to fend for herself and their two children when he knows she cannot get the kids of jobs that would be available to him or the salary he has the potential to earn. Such hubris should cause physical affliction to someone who has sired children

Something I appreciate about Charles is his honesty and respect for his wife, which is evident to me by his conduct more than by his words or thoughts solely.

Wow, this writer is such a killer
Killed 4 characters before half the story was even told
So now both family's children are orphans
Also, Martin is quite infuriating...

And so begins a decent life for the Cox children with the loss of their miserly father who left a sizeable estate to his only heir

Well that was a sweet moment between the antagonist who is now an ally

A penny pinching lout that Rufus... Malnourished children, happy to accept charity than spend money he works hard to earn on a better dwelling & wholesome food... What an awful father...

The ending is what many would have hoped for, but sad, none-the-less. The husband again overextends himself and then resorts to unethical and illegal transactions, and again flees the country...forever. He never realizes that his family should have been the most important thing in his life, not the money and prestige. Katherine and the children will end up where they want to be...with Michael.

Katherine, abandoned by her husband, (who flees to America, and is not heard from) after he has overextended himself in the local and usually very profitable wool/clothier/weaving business, has a difficult decision to make. Michael invites her and her two children to return to the Railes House, which he bought from the destitute family. The husband unexpectedly shows back up after 3 years, to a cold welcoming.

The descriptions of the land and people are wonderful. They evoke an amazing picture of the era and the people. Michael inherits his father's business and his life changes for the better. Katherine and Ginnie marry. Michael's sister, Nan, marries a wonderful man. Michael remains single. Who does he really love? Fortunes are lost and made.

Michael is the son of a stonemason in the Cotswold Hills area. He is befriended by the Tarrant family of Railes House. He receives schooling and food. His sister benefits from their friendship, also. They grow up very poor in a horrible quarry shack, where their mother had died. Romances spring up between different characters, some of which are surprises.

Mary E. Pearce who was born in 1933 had a long writing career. Growing up in London, her first job was for a lending library. "April Tree Lean Down" was her first novel, after breaking into the writing industry, with short stories. A quote, about her writing, from James Herriott, one of my favorite authors: "sheer country magic". She wrote 9 novels.
Main characters: Katherine Railes, Ginny Railes, and Michael Cox.