Mrs England by Stacey Halls is one of my most highly anticipated releases for 2021 and I was thrilled when it delivered on all of my hopes and expectations. From the stunning cover design, the enticing premise, the Edwardian era setting and location at Hardcastle House in West Yorkshire, Mrs England is everything I love in historical fiction.
Ruby May is a qualified nurse from the Norland Institute in London and after her employers move to America, Nurse May finds herself frantically looking for work so she can continue to support her ailing sister. Accepting a position at the isolated Hardcastle House, Ruby eagerly agrees to look after three children from the family of wealthy mill owners Charles and Lilian England. The previous nurse had cared for Charles as a boy and died of natural causes and Nurse May finds her new surroundings lacking. She immediately embarks on a drastic 'makeover' of the nursery, cleans and dusts, mends the children's clothes and takes the children outdoors to play every day. This kind of 'manor makeover' is total bookish catnip to me. I love when a governess or nursemaid shakes things up for the better, and I was in heaven during these pages.
Mrs Lilian England keeps strange hours, doesn't interact much with the children and doesn't involve herself in the running of the household. Mr England is friendly, relaxed and approachable and it's soon clear who really runs the house. This is a slow moving gothic tale, with Ruby's past carefully revealed and the relationships between the characters slowly evolving.
Reading Mrs England felt like being immersed in the world of Downtown Abbey. Not much happens but I just loved being there, the interactions and back stories of the characters being enough to keep me transfixed. It is for this reason that the denouement came as quite a surprise and everything I thought I knew was turned slightly on its head. Oh, and the last line of dialogue between the characters made me exclaim out loud and impatient to discuss it with another reader.
I've read all of Stacey Halls' books, beginning with The Familiars in 2019 and The Foundling in 2020, both of which were 5 star reads. You can understand why Mrs England was high on my watch list, and I'm thrilled to report it was also a 5 star reading experience. This makes Stacey Halls an automatic must-read author for me and I can't wait to find out what what she's working on next.
Highly recommended for historical fiction fans.
Loved this review Tracey!
ReplyDeleteThanks Theresa!! Now that I've published my review, I can go and check yours out ;-)
DeleteOff to the library to see if they have this one. thanks
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear Carole! It's a new title so if there's a queue for it, just know that it's worth the wait.
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