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Dec 18, 2014WVMLStaffPicks rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Victoria Clayton's writing combines the elements of the 19th century romance and gothic novel with a large dose of irreverent contemporary British humour. Her appealingly naive and klutzy heroine Viola arrives with her unimpressionable boss, Giles, at Inskip House in Nottinghamshire to assess its suitability for conservation by the charity they represent. Their involvement with the charmingly eccentric Inskip family through the following long, hot summer results in numerous mishaps and misalliances. The pace of this substantial novel never slackens through its innumerable complications and sub-plots to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion.