Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 288pgs

The Story

It's 1912 and the Darlingtons of Wentworth Hall have more than just their extensive grounds to maintain. They need to keep up appearances that things are as they have always been for one of England's most elite families . . . even as whispers of secret romances and bitter betrayals threaten their facade of perfection.

Maggie Darlington has a secret. And she's not the only one: The handsome groom, Michael, the beautiful new French nanny, Therese, even Maggie's youngest sister, Lila, are all hiding something. And when scandalous satires start appearing in the newspaper with details that closely mirror the lives of the Darlingtons, they are soon looking over their shoulders, worrying about whose scandal will be next - because at Wentworth Hall, nothing stays secret forever.

The Review

A big thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!

Do you love the likes of Downton Abbey and Gossip Girl? Well then, please look no further in the book department because Abby Grahame's debut novel, WENTWORTH HALL offers up a delicious combination of both of those titles and is more than it appears to be for a quick historical read! Filled with a variety of themes and weaved together into several separate storylines, while also mixing between gossip and scandal, unrequited love and budding romances, and even social classes and deadly do-not-tell secrets, it's no reason why everyone is spreading the word about this book and why I enjoyed it so, so much!

WENTWORTH HALL introduces you to the lives of the Darlington family, one of the most powerful families in all of England at the beginning of the twentieth-century. Under the roof of its massive estate, Wentworth Hall, there we first meet one of the main characters named Maggie Darlington, the elder sister of her siblings and whom has always been the free spirit amongst her very strict and well-respected family. But when Maggie finally returns home after traveling for almost a year now, something is really off about her. She's no longer the carefree girl she used to be - not happy, but rather cold and callous towards everyone. While we may not know of her secret as of yet - at least not until the end of the novel - but this secret plays a much larger part to the rest of the characters' that we end up meeting along the way, the many stories that crossover and ones we will soon come to learn more about. There's Maggie of course, there's the handsome groom, Michael, there's the beautiful and new french nanny, Therese, and then there's characters like Maggie's youngest sister, Lila, who all share something in common: Secrets and Scandal.

Already being a hardcore fan of the television series, Downton Abbey, there was a definite guarantee that I would adore this book as well. Even if the storyline and the events that happen shared some similarity to the TV show Downton Abbey and it's own characters, but hell . . . I didn't care about any of that whatsoever because I love - absolutely LOVE - historical fiction written at its best (which this book is) and I love this particular period too, so I rarely noticed such similarities since I was so entertained by this book alone, so entertained indeed. The author, Abby Grahame, did such a fantastic job in understanding the culture of this particular period and the social aspects of men and women, so this book was a total win-win for me in all regards!

But it was more than the storyline I loved, it was also the characters as well. For sure, I may have favoured some characters more than others, especially when reading different perspectives in each section of the book, but I still loved every single one of them in my own way and how each of their stories came to together and played some major part to one another. But if I had to say who was my favourite character of them all . . . it was totally the two of the main characters, Maggie and Michael. Maggie and Michael . . . I just adored those two characters to death and I wanted so much more from them. Reminding me of two of Downton Abbey's character's, Mary and Branson, both Maggie and Michael had something so captivating and lovable about them, and in the end I just wanted them to be together. Whether or not that happens, that my friends means that you will have to pick up this book for yourselves in order to find out what exactly happens to the characters! Trust me . . . it's so worth the read!

Overall, even for such a short book and not a lot of character depth, I have to say Abby Grahame's debut book WENTWORTH HALL had really hit home for me with her very entertaining story and I seriously can't wait to read more from her and I really, really hope that there is more coming from this series because I want more from my two little sweetie-pies, Maggie and Michael! Oh how I loved those two! *smiles gleefully*

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars