THE FOLLY AT FALCONBRIDGE by Maggi Andersen is a wonderfully crafted mystery that will appeal to any historical fiction reader. The story definitely has a Cinderella quality to it, with some clever symbolism shown via Lord Falconbridge's study of butterflies. I enjoyed it immensely and give it 4 stars.
In THE FOLLY AT FALCONBRIDGE, destitute Vanessa Ashley, niece and granddaughter of an earl, takes a governess position at the home of Julian Grieve, Viscount Falconbridge, who has had a difficult time keeping a governess for his ten year-old daughter, Blythe. Vanessa and Blythe connect quickly, and occasionally, Vanessa thinks that she may be receiving heated looks from Lord Falconbridge. Of course, those must all be in her imagination; or are they? She certainly receives unwanted heated looks from the head groomsman, gypsy Lovel.
Life at Falconbridge falls into a routine for Vanessa and Blythe. Add some strange lights at the folly, late night run-ins with her employer, dangerous woods, a snobbish husband-hunting neighbor, and Blythe's uneasiness over her mother's death, her father's imminent expedition to the Amazon, the disappearance of her last governess and that of an unremarkable household painting. All in all, Vanessa feels as if something odd is afoot. In order to provide some security for Blythe, Julian asks Vanessa to marry him. Should she accept him given all of her questions about his family? And what would life at Falconbridge Hall be like without him around for months and months?
I definitely enjoyed THE FOLLY AT FALCONBRIDGE. Life at Falconbridge Hall was described in such a way that it was easy to imagine the house, the grounds, and the ability to get lost and separated from your fellow horseback riders. The dialogue is well done, especially that between Julian and Vanessa. The reader can easily feel the awkwardness Vanessa feels in her interactions with Julian and the restraint Julian exhibits as her employer. The character development and that of the romantic relationship in the novel were also believable. I never felt like there was a question about a character's motives or actions. This book has a heat level rating of a 2, only the occasional adult content, but nothing too graphic. Still, given some of the subject matter, this book is probably appropriate for those 17 years of age and over.
On a technical note, I would have liked to have seen a bit quicker pace in the pre-proposal time period. Once the proposal is out there, the book moves fairly quickly. There were also some typographical and grammatical errors that detracted from the story, but for the most part, it is easy to get past them.
Overall, I really enjoyed THE FOLLY AT FALCONBRIDGE, and definitely recommend it for your summer reading list.
**Since writing this review, I have discovered that some of the grammatical errors I noticed can be attributed to a difference between US English and UK English.
*Original review written for The Romance Reviews.com at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=8950.
