The Summer Country by Lauren Willig
I was familiar with Lauren Willig from having read a couple of the Pink Carnation books, but this is a whole different kettle of fish. The story is set in Barbados in the 1800s. The beginning is a little confusing (the book would benefit from one of those family tree diagrams at the beginning) because the action kept bouncing between the 1810s and the 1850s--and a lot of the characters had the same last names so it was a little hard to keep everyone straight.
In the earlier time line, the main character is Mary Ann, who owns a huge sugar plantation that is being run by her uncle (who would like to keep it for himself). Her maid/best friend/slave is Jenny.
The main character in the later time line is Emily, who comes to Barbados because her grandfather has left her the sugar plantation next to Mary Ann's plantation, which no one in the family knew he even owned. Emily's plantation has been in ruins since a slave revolt in the 1810s and she, a vicar's daughter from England, clearly knows nothing about growing sugar cane and running a huge plantation. The now much older Mary Ann would like to take it off her hands, but Emily isn't sure she wants to let it go.
There are a lot of unhappy marriages and people who are unhappy with their lives in this book--and many secrets. It's an interesting story and Lauren Willig clearly did a lot of research into the time and place. (She offers suggestions for further reading at the end of the book.) I was glad that she tied up some of the loose ends at the conclusion of the story.
In the earlier time line, the main character is Mary Ann, who owns a huge sugar plantation that is being run by her uncle (who would like to keep it for himself). Her maid/best friend/slave is Jenny.
The main character in the later time line is Emily, who comes to Barbados because her grandfather has left her the sugar plantation next to Mary Ann's plantation, which no one in the family knew he even owned. Emily's plantation has been in ruins since a slave revolt in the 1810s and she, a vicar's daughter from England, clearly knows nothing about growing sugar cane and running a huge plantation. The now much older Mary Ann would like to take it off her hands, but Emily isn't sure she wants to let it go.
There are a lot of unhappy marriages and people who are unhappy with their lives in this book--and many secrets. It's an interesting story and Lauren Willig clearly did a lot of research into the time and place. (She offers suggestions for further reading at the end of the book.) I was glad that she tied up some of the loose ends at the conclusion of the story.
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