Yorkshireby Lynne Connollyreviewed by Barbara R. HumeOctober 2002, 240 pages, Publisher: NovelBooks, Inc., ISBN: 1931696713 Back Cover Blurb: I sat in my best riding habit in the dirt at the side of the road, a man I hardly knew sprawled next to me, his head in my lap. I looked ruefully at my skirts as the blood began to seep into the material. I'd bought it especially for this visit, and now it was ruined. Anxiously, I looked over to where Mr. Kerre and the coachman kicked and pulled at the overturned roof of the stricken vehicle. The canvas covering was peeling away with age; its thin top splintered easily when the men aimed hard kicks at it. Mr. Kerre had pulled out his brother, the man whose head now lay in my lap. They had more difficulty reaching the other occupants. Our horses were safe enough, their reins thrown over the branches of a nearby tree. The unhurried shifting of their hooves matched the movements of the coach horses standing close by, cropping grass. Blood saturated my riding gloves as I held the gaping wound together in what seemed increasingly like a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. I daren't move in case the outpouring worsened. Cramp spread across my back, and the hard pebbles of the road dug into my legs. My breath misted in the crisp autumn air, and I feared my patient would begin to shiver in that uncontrollable way I'd seen before in others. He might have lost so much blood he wouldn't recover before we got him back to the Abbey. The thought, rather than the cold air, made me shiver. I hardly knew this man but I might not get to know him any better. Suddenly he opened his eyes and looked directly at me, staring uncomprehendingly until he recovered his senses. I saw intelligence return to his face, and then something else. Something warmer. I stared at him transfixed. No, oh no! This couldn't happen, to me, not sensible, shy overlooked Rose Golightly! But I had no way to stop it, and I couldn't look away now. This wasn't right, but my treacherous heart turned over when he smiled. "Hello," he murmured weakly. How could a visit anticipated so eagerly, regretted so bitterly end in this
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I looked forward to the publication of Yorkshire for simply ages. I had heard intriguing tidbits about the book: it was Georgian, it was a love story, it was a mystery, it was gothic but yet not gothic, it presented a fascinating historical background. I have now read the book, and I find that it lives up to the buzz about it. Although my overwhelming preference is for Regency romance, I enjoyed Yorkshire very much, as much for its execution as for the story. I find that to be true less and less often, so I was pleased to be swept away by the fine crafting of this novel.
The story takes place in 1752. Rose Golightly travels with her sisters and brother-in-law to the estate of the Earl of Hareton to witness a marriage. They find the earl and his family not to their taste, and the estate in a ruined condition. They begin to wonder if the marriage should go forth. Why would anyone marry into such an odd add unpleasant family?
Also visiting the estate are the Kerre brothers, the only identical twins in polite society. Their style of dress and deportment differs, but both are attractive, appealing men. Rose is drawn to both, but in different ways. It doesn't take long for the reader to become curious about the brothers, as well as about the strange family and the neglected estate. Then other characters appear who are definitely not in the usual style. What are they, really? Why do they behave as they do? What are the secrets behind all the inexplicable goings-on?
Such questions become even more urgent when a carriage accident kills two members of the party. Rose and Richard, the elder Kerre brother, discover that the accident was deliberately staged. Why? Who was the intended victim? Richard himself was injured, and other people were on board. As if that were not enough, Rose and Richard find themselves in the grip of an irresistible attraction to each other, although such a connection would be not at all the thing in the eyes of their families.
Plot summary cannot begin to convey the loveliness of the style and structure of this novel. I loved the prose for its own sake, and I appreciated the characters as well-developed and wonderfully human. In the hands of a lesser writer, the story could easily have become melodramatic. Instead, it proved an emotionally satisfying read: one that convinced me that I want to read Connelly's next book, Devonshire, when it appears.
"Hareton Abbey is based on a real place," Lynne Connelly told me. The National Trust "found treasures in the house, and ruined rooms which had just been abandoned. It haunted me for years, and was a natural setting for the characters in Yorkshire." She was especially intrigued by a ruined nursery, the scattered toys in it mildewed or rusty. Lynne has always been interested in the eighteenth century, and the period details in the novel express that fascination.
The novel is wonderfully written. Even if you do not care for first-person narration, I believe you will agree that for this book it was the right choice.
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