The Art of Inheriting Secrets
Ratings6
Average rating4.5
When Olivia Shaw's mother dies, the sophisticated food editor is astonished to learn she's inherited a centuries-old English estate--and a title to go with it. Raw with grief and reeling from the knowledge that her reserved mother hid something so momentous, Olivia leaves San Francisco and crosses the pond to unravel the mystery of a lifetime. One glance at the breathtaking Rosemere Priory and Olivia understands why the manor, magnificent even in disrepair, was the subject of her mother's exquisite paintings. What she doesn't understand is why her mother never mentioned it to her. As Olivia begins digging into her mother's past, she discovers that the peeling wallpaper, debris-laden halls, and ceiling-high Elizabethan windows covered in lush green vines hide unimaginable secrets. Although personal problems and her life back home beckon, Olivia finds herself falling for the charming English village and its residents. But before she can decide what Rosemere's and her own future hold, Olivia must first untangle the secrets of her past.
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An evocative tale of an American magazine food writer who travels to a small English village to discover the secrets of her mother's past, and finds love in the process.
Poignant.
Olivia has just lost her mother, but she is about to learn some shocking secrets. Her mother was an English Countess, and Olivia never knew! She lived her entire life thinking that her mother was just an artist, a friend, and a confidant.
When she arrives in England to take a look over the estate and figure out what she is going to do, there are several issues to confront head on. Not only is her relationship at home falling apart, but she is alone, and treading water in territory that she has no clue as to navigate.
When her kindly older neighbor takes her under his wing, she begins to learn and understand more about the life that she has been thrust into. But her mother did not let things just lie - there are secrets and decades old skeletons to uncover.
Olivia must decide if she will rise to the challenge of becoming the Countess of Rosemere or if she will sell out and abandon the past that her mother fled from...
This was an interesting read. It held my attention from the beginning. Enjoyed reading through and getting to dive into a different world all together.
Sneaky Book Hangover. This is one of those books that has a way of sneaking up on you, in all the good ways. In the beginning, we're thrust into the world of a food editor who has just arrived in England after only recently finding out that she has inherited a full English estate and title. Throughout the book, we discover things as she does, and through the first half of the book what we discover is mostly that she is falling in love with both the countryside and its resident thatcher. The “secrets” come mostly in the back half of the book, and they are tragic yet beautiful. While the timing of my own reading of this could have been better (reading a book about falling in love with the English countryside over July 4...), this really will make a great read anytime, but particularly (for my own tastes) as a late summer read - which means its release in mid July is timed nearly to perfection.
