The Castle Keepers is a historical romance novella collection penned by J'nell Ciesielski, Rachel McMillan, and Aimie K. Runyan. The setting is Leedswick Castle located in the English countryside, home to generations of the Alnwick family.
Each novella addresses an interesting time in history:
1870 Following an embarrassing social season in New York, American socialite Beatrice Holbrook travels to England with her parents and meets Charles Alnwick, the future Marquess of Northridge. Soon after they marry, tragedy strikes, casting a dark legacy on the Alnwick family.
1917 After Tobias Alnwick, grandson of Charles and Beatrice, sustained extensive facial scarring in WWI, he returned to Leedswick Castle and is reluctant to venture outside its walls. Artist Elena Hamilton is summoned to create a custom mask to cover his face and bolster his confidence.
1945 Alec Alnwick is a veteran of World War II and the great grandson of Charles and Beatrice. While not physically injured, he has deep psychological scars from his war experience. Alec creates a convalescent center at Leedswick Castle for a group of fellow soldiers with the assistance of researcher Brigitta Mayr, niece of a famous Austrian phychoanalyst.
I've read novels by each of these historical fiction authors and I enjoyed this collection. It was a pandemic project which might explain the thread of a dark family curse that's woven through the stories.
I occasionally appreciate novellas because the plots unfold at a brisk pace due to limited word count. The first two novellas featured subjects I've seldom read in historical fiction. The first introduced me to the term 'dollar princesses' - daughters of wealthy American families who sought to marry into the British aristocracy; the financial resources bolstered the British grand families and the American families gained a connection to nobility.
Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for access to the audiobook narrated by Ann Marie Gideon.
Each novella addresses an interesting time in history:
1870 Following an embarrassing social season in New York, American socialite Beatrice Holbrook travels to England with her parents and meets Charles Alnwick, the future Marquess of Northridge. Soon after they marry, tragedy strikes, casting a dark legacy on the Alnwick family.
1917 After Tobias Alnwick, grandson of Charles and Beatrice, sustained extensive facial scarring in WWI, he returned to Leedswick Castle and is reluctant to venture outside its walls. Artist Elena Hamilton is summoned to create a custom mask to cover his face and bolster his confidence.
1945 Alec Alnwick is a veteran of World War II and the great grandson of Charles and Beatrice. While not physically injured, he has deep psychological scars from his war experience. Alec creates a convalescent center at Leedswick Castle for a group of fellow soldiers with the assistance of researcher Brigitta Mayr, niece of a famous Austrian phychoanalyst.
I've read novels by each of these historical fiction authors and I enjoyed this collection. It was a pandemic project which might explain the thread of a dark family curse that's woven through the stories.
I occasionally appreciate novellas because the plots unfold at a brisk pace due to limited word count. The first two novellas featured subjects I've seldom read in historical fiction. The first introduced me to the term 'dollar princesses' - daughters of wealthy American families who sought to marry into the British aristocracy; the financial resources bolstered the British grand families and the American families gained a connection to nobility.
Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for access to the audiobook narrated by Ann Marie Gideon.
