I had such a hard time reading this one because of the fact that it's writen with only one perspective. There is no dialogue, we are in the head of the main character and i had a hard time getting used to it.

Intrigued by a 15th century church memorial, Elliot meticulously reconstructed as a novel (told in the voice of Brome's third wife, about whom very little is known) the eventful gentry life of Nicholas Brome, Lancastrian survivor of Wars of the Roses and early Tudor Warwickshire, who married three times, gathered up a lot of real estate, made shrewd legal decisions and committed two acts of breathtaking public violence that caused him to demand to be buried standing upright under the church floor.

I got a free copy of this via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The story is well-written and evocative of the period. The main characters were engaging, especially Lettice. The religious viewpoints of the period were certainly covered well and to the best of my knowledge seemed accurate. However, I don't know if my own beliefs got in the way, but after enjoying the build up to the great reveal of Nicholas Brome's darkest secret, I found it to be a bit of an anti-climax. Would definitely read more from this author

Interesting read. Not really a romance, but more like a fictional memoir with a marriage. I would recommend to to reader's who like historical fictional memoirs versus those readers craving a typical English romance.

This isn't the typical books I'm reading so I was a little bit hesitant about it!Once I start reading I couldn't put it down it was quiet interesting and captivating!

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, atmosphere, and characters. I would recommend the book to friends and family for their reading pleasure.

Set in the early 1500s Lettice Catesby, recently widowed reflects on the life of her husband Nicholas Brome. The social history of the period has been well researched and the author has woven this into the story without it becoming overwhelming. A fault often found in historical novels. Despite this I didn’t find the plot line convincing. The marriage to Lettice was Nicholas’s third and by her own account it was a very happy marriage. Nicholas himself comes across as a kind and considerate father, grandfather, a just and understanding landowner and court official. His early misdemeanours are neatly set in context and are adequately explained away. So it becomes a struggle to understand the premise of the story. It could be my personal views on purgatory and the afterlife got in the way, but I am afraid I found the story very slow and frustrating. read.

This was a interesting and unusual book and don’t feel I can say too much about the story as it would be giving away too much. The book is full of implied questions about mortality and the nature of sin. It is very wordy and descriptive, there isn’t much real time action happening and that for me made it quite slow going. However the story was good for the most part. I’m glad I persevered with it.
I was given a ARC by NetGalley, all opinions are my own.