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| Heywood Press 2020 Linford #1 My thanks to the author for my copy of this book |
From the award-winning author of The Road Back comes the first in a sweeping saga set between the wars, which introduces the Linfords, a family simmering with secrets, schemes and lies. Oxfordshire, 1919 The instant that Lily Brown and Robert Linford set eyes on each other, they fall in love. The instant that Robert’s father, Joseph, head of the family’s successful building company, set eyes on Lily, he feels a deep distrust of her. Convinced that his new daughter-in-law is a gold-digger, and that Robert’s feelings are a youthful infatuation he’d come to regret, Joseph resolves to do whatever it takes to rid his family of Lily. And he doesn’t care what that is.As Robert and Lily are torn apart, the Linford family is told a lie that will have devastating consequences for years to come.
What did I think about it..
Family secrets run deep and none more so than in the Linford family who we meet, as the story opens, in 1919, when the country is trying getting back on its feet after WW1. Joseph Linford heads the family and rules, not only his children, with a rod of iron, but also his construction business. When his son Robert falls in love with the beautiful Lily Brown, Joseph immediately distrusts this relationship, as Lily is considered socially inferior to the Linford family, and Joseph is determined to do all in his power to separate the young married couple. What then follows is the story of the lengths that Joseph Linford will go to in order to get what he wants.
There's a huge sense of drama within the story and I especially enjoyed following Lily's eventful journey which the author brings to life really well. The historical atmosphere of the early part of the twentieth century comes into focus demonstrating all of the restrictions which were placed on those who had to work really hard for what they wanted. The overall pace of the story is slow and considered and I think this works well as it allows time for the characters to reveal their complicated stories.
This is the first book in this historical series which charts the life of the Linford family and this book certainly gets the series off to a good start. It will be interesting to see just what happens to the members of this family as we go through the years.
About the Author
Born in London, Liz Harris graduated from university with a Law degree, and then moved to California, where she led a varied life, from waitressing on Sunset Strip to working as secretary to the CEO of a large Japanese trading company.
A few years later, she returned to London and completed a degree in English, after which she taught secondary school pupils, first in Berkshire, and then in Cheshire.
In addition to the novels she’s had published, she’s had several short stories in anthologies and magazines. Her latest novel, The Flame Within, is the second in The Linford Series, a sweeping saga set between the wars. Each of the novels in the series is also a standalone.
Liz now lives in Oxfordshire. An active member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Historical Novel Society, her interests are travel, the theatre, reading and cryptic crosswords.
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