Booklog 21/2019 - Sarah E Ladd: The Governess of Penwythe Hall

[jacey]

After reading the Greatcoats Quartet and The Grey Bastards I needed to read something completely different, so I opted for a Georgian/Regency romance set, not in London in the heart of the Ton, but in rural Cornwall. Cordelia (Delia) Greythorne fled Cornwall after the death of her husband, fearing (with justification) his family. A few years later she's the governess of five children in Yorkshire who are suddenly orphaned. Having promised their dying father to look after them, she's faced with returning to Cornwall as the Children are sent to their new guardian uncle Jac Twethewey. Jac is surprised to have his estranged brother's offspring dumped on him complete with governess (and tutor) but he accepts his responsibility while trying to revive Penwythe's once-flourishing apple orchards. It's an engaging romance with elements of looming danger and betrayal. I probably don't need to tell you that it has the ending you might expect but there are some interesting twists along the way. I do wish I could pronounce Twethewey, though.