📖 Publication Day Review ~ The Quiet Wife by Felicity York

Harper North
14 August 2025

Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to review this book

 

All he wants is a quiet wife. But she wants something more . . . 1867, Liverpool. 

Wife to an errant husband, the art patron Frederick Leyland, Frances is losing her sense of self. So when Frederick announces they are moving into the crumbling Speke Hall, she throws herself into the all-consuming task of renovating their once-magnificent new home.But when one of Frederick’s protegés – the handsome, brooding American artist James Whistler – offers to help Frances decorate, she and the painter form an instant connection. And under the painter’s gaze, Frances begins to see that like the house, there is neglected splendour within her, too. Inspired by the possibilities the artist arouses in her, she begins to wonder if love might still be in the picture for her, after all…

Based on a true story, this is the heady, slow-burn tale of a woman reinventing herself, while embarking on a daring, forbidden love affair with James Whistler.

📖 My Review…

Although I have visited the beautiful Speke Hall in Merseyside I was unfamiliar with the story of Frederick Leyland and of the momentous events during his ten year lease of the hall between 1867 - 1877. Frances Leyland, his wife, is a lady of quiet fortitude, her quiet grace and ethereal beauty are in direct contrast to Frederick’s cold ambition.

During the Leyland’s tenure of Speke Hall American artist James McNeill Whistler is commissioned to paint individual portraits of both Frederick and Frances, and it is this relationship which is explored in this fascinating reimagining of the alleged romantic affair between Whistler and Frances. The magical connection between Whistler and Frances is explored in tender detail which is in direct contrast to the fractured relationship between Frances and her husband.

Beautifully written, and gloriously imagined, I was enthralled by the way the author brings this world to life. I was so engrossed I started researching Whistler and found, online, his stunning portrait of Frances Leyland and thanks to the author’s detailed description of life at Speke Hall and also at the Leyland residence in London, I could well imagine the places and the people. I raced through the story reluctant to leave it without knowing more about the relationship between Frances and Whistler, delighting in the way their fascinating story played out amidst the wider context of the story.

The Quiet Wife is the second book in the Stately Scandal’s series which began with The Runaway Bride. The third book, The Secret Sister will be released in 2026. All are standalone stories.

About the Author

Felicity York loves in Derbyshire in the High Peak and is the author of the Stately Scandals series and eighteen Regency romance novels under the pen name of Ruby Moone. She is a member if the Romantic Novelists’ Association and is a life long lover of romance stories if all kinds.

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