Even worse, Silence justifies her choice not just to herself alone, but to her children and her cautiously disapproving maid, all of whom (conveniently) end up supporting her.

Wintercombe by Belle Pamela - AbeBooks

Despite my disappointment with the characters' motivations and the final chapters of "Wintercombe", I did find much to learn in this Civil War novel and am curious to see where the author takes the reader next in this series.

I love to read novels that illustrate personality change and watch the characters mature through their life lessons and circumstances. This comment is never again referred to or explained, which, rather than making us forget it, hints (I imagine unintentionally) at a darker side to his character when it comes to his relations with women. The descriptions of Wintercombe, the gardens that Silence loved and tended and gave her comfort, the rooms, the servants, the people even her beloved animals who lived in it made me feel that I was there and gave me a sense of why Silence wanted to protect it from the ravages of war.

Wintercombe (Wintercombe Series Book 1) eBook : Belle, Pamela

Tortured by a cold, Puritan father, Silence has learned to conceal her passionate nature inside a prison like shell of passivity. Oh and one other thing: I normally can’t deal with books that have the lead couple engaged in adultery. Silence's husband (off fighting while the rest of the story takes place) is not a kind man, and doesn't care for anyone save his mother and oldest son. Remaining steadfast within challenging, difficult or even insurmountable situations, while modelling qualities such as faithfulness and building stability within one's household, (especially in front of young, impressionable children), would have made for me, a much more enjoyable story. Married at twenty to an older widower, London raised Silence struggles to fit in with his children and tyrannical mother.Married and a teacher of a class of six-year-olds, she wrote in longhand and, while publishers made encouraging noises, no one was prepared to risk publishing a large book by an unknown author. Silence and Nick are truly unforgettable characters, and this absolutely remains one of my all-time favorite historical novels. When a troop of Cavaliers are foisted on the household, Silence discovers she has a resilience she never knew. Leading the troop is the ruthless Colonel Ridgeley who has no pity for the wife of a "traitor" - and Wintercombe is soon invaded by drunken, carousing soldiers. Such plots with two people from opposing sides of a war converging together to collaborate for everyone's sake and survival, which often results in a sentimental attachment, is one I've found a few times quite recently, and after a while I'd have thought it should lose some of its power to command attention.