I've mentioned how much I enjoyed Canadian author Susanna Kearsley's recent novel Sophia's Secret, so it was without hesitation that I've picked up Mariana to read next. Mariana is Kearsley's second novel published more than a decade ago. I suppose if you wanted to categorize her work it might fall nicely under the heading of romantic suspense, though I'm always hesitant to label books (well, with the exception of mysteries as they are so distinctive). Somehow calling a book a romance tends to scare off a segment of the reading population that might dismiss the book as something fluffy and unworthy, but that was certainly not the case for Sophia's Secret which I thought was a well written and engaging historical novel. It may verge on being a comfort read, but it's a really well done comfort read.
Mariana looks to follow a similar style in that the story is made up of two plots separated by many years, in this case three hundred years, that converge at some geographical or historical point. In this case the stories revolve around a sixteenth century farmhouse, a house that Julia Beckett feels an affinity for. After reading this description, I think I could be happy there myself.
"One entered through the front door into a large entry hall, panelled in richly burnished oak. 'Seventeenth century,' Mr. Owen had pronounced at a glance, 'and very good quality.' Directly ahead, a heavy oak staircase set in the centre of the hall ascended several steps, paused for breath at a square landing, then executed a sharp ninety-degree turn to the left and continued to climb to the first floor. Doors into the sitting room and the study opened off the hall to the left and right, respectively, while to the right of the staircase a narrow passage led through to the kitchen, and old-fashioned pantry occupied the back half of the ground floor, their large, bright windows looking out over the rolling green plain with its fresh sprinkling of early wildflowers."
"There were four bedrooms upstairs. The large one, running the full length of the north side of the house above the study and pantry, had been the obvious choice for my own use. It even had its own working fireplace, along with a sizeable cupboard nestled in the space under the attic stairs. I had selected the small back bedroom for my studio, and was content to leave the two front rooms unfurnished for the time being, to serve as storage areas until I was completely settled. Between my studio and my bedroom, opening onto the wide landing, was a full bath--quite a luxury to find in an older home."
The house is called Greywethers and Julia Beckett has just moved there. Now I am curious about her sixteenth century counterpart, Mariana, who lived there first. It seems like a story that is easy to fall into, so I'm sure it won't take me long to find out. Kearsley mentions Mary Stewart is her favorite author and I wonder if she draws inspiration from her. I've read very few of Stewart's novels, but I think I'll have to do a little supplemental reading if I like this as much as I think I'm going to like it.