The Gresham Chronicles

It's ironic that lisa chose to read some inspirational fiction this past month, as that was my choice as well! Great minds think alike, eh?

I read Lawana Blackwell's trilogy The Gresham Chronicles: The Widow of Larkspur Inn, The Courtship of the Vicar's Daughter, and the Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark. These books could also be classified as historical fiction, as they are set in the late 1800's. In the first book, you are introduced to Julia Hollis. A young widow from London, who by financial hardships, was forced to move herself and her three children to the quaint little village of Gresham. It chronicles her quest to build a new life for herself, and in the process, find new love.

The second book tells the tale of the town vicar's daughter, Elizabeth Phelps, and her own quest for love, which she finds in the arms of one she (and her father) fought so hard to forget. The third book leaves you with Lydia Clark, who thought she was content with being a school mistress AND spinsterhood, but finds she wants more when her desire for true love is awakened by a man whose affections lie with a different woman.

Pretty much all of these characters, along with a slew of less prominent ones, exist in the background of all the books in the series with interesting sub plots that constantly shift from one loveable character to the next. The writing was descriptive, but not overly flowery. The stories stick to the doctrine of faith that if you put your trust in God, He will show you the best path in life to walk (which isn't always the one we think it should be). Blackwell is not preachy, but she gets her message across. It seems to me that there is something in these stories for a wide range of age groups. Possibly YA and up. My favorite character was probably the owner of Gresham's general store, Mr. Trumble, who spews malapropisms constantly. I'm glad I gave this genre a chance, I really enjoyed the series!