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Literary Friday: The Weaver's Daughter

Friday, June 8, 2018



Happy Friday, My Lovelies!  I hope y'all have made some fun weekend plans.  Our older daughter is coming home for a visit, and we have lots of fun activities planned.

This week I read The Weaver's Daughter by Sarah E. Ladd.   I'm finding that I enjoy titles written by Thomas Nelson Publishers, and I'm so happy I've discovered them via TLC Book Tours.

According to Goodreads:

Kate's loyalties bind her to the past. Henry's loyalties compel him to strive for a better future. In a landscape torn between tradition and vision, can two souls find the strength to overcome their preconceptions?

Loyalty has been at the heart of the Dearborne family for as long as Kate can remember, but a war is brewing in their small village, one that has the power to rip families asunder --including her own. As misguided actions are brought to light, she learns how deep her father's pride and bitterness run, and she begins to wonder if her loyalty is well-placed.

Henry Stockton, heir to the Stockton fortune, returns home from three years at war seeking refuge from his haunting memories. Determined to bury the past, he embraces his grandfather's goals to modernize his family's wool mill, regardless of the grumblings from the local weavers. When tragedy strikes shortly after his arrival, Henry must sort truth from suspicion if he is to protect his family's livelihood and legacy.


Henry has been warned about the Dearborne family. Kate, too, has been advised to stay far away from the Stocktons, but chance meetings continue to bring her to Henry's side, blurring the jagged lines between loyalty, justice, and truth. Kate ultimately finds herself with the powerful decision that will forever affect her village's future. As unlikely adversaries, Henry and Kate must come together to find a way to create peace for their families, and their village, and their souls - even if it means risking their hearts in the process.




My Review:

This Regency historical novel had me hooked from the first scene when Kate is a child, and she is informed by her best friend (and sure to be rival as an adult), Frederica,  that they can no longer be friends because Kate's family are weavers and the Penningtons, once weavers, are now millers.  This scene also illustrates the rift between an old, traditional way of life and modernization.  Later in the novel, the two groups can't even share the dance floor at the End of Winter Festival Ball, with the weavers dancing one round, and the millers the next, etc.

Class is often a source for conflict in Regencies, but in this novel it's more than that.  It's about losing: one's livelihood, creative process,  regional tradition, and the devastation of one's pride due to losing all three.  Kate's father Silas is a leader of the weavers.  He doesn't trust Henry Stockton because of his prejudice against Henry's grandfather.  War has changed Henry, and he is more open to listening to others with differing viewpoints and meeting them halfway, however, he also understands his responsibility to his family's business and their workers.  Kate enjoys her work, yet her father only sees her as a woman.  Plus he's bitter because his son Charles went to work for the Stocktons at their mill.  Kate has a difficult time maintaining her relationship with her brother because Silas forbids Kate to see Charles, and he isn't allowed in their home.  One of the many things I love about this novel is that Henry and Kate aren't stock characters; they are well-developed and unique.

Given the restrictions placed on Kate and the prejudices instilled in Kate and Henry about the other's family, their relationship seems doomed from the start.  One unexpected twist is Kate's budding friendship with Henry's sister, Mollie, and another is Henry's dependence on Charles's skills at the mill.  But love conquers all, and this Regency has the added benefit of suspense and a surprising mystery.  The Weaver's Daughter is a fantastic novel, and I highly recommend it especially if you enjoy Regency romances.


Disclosure:  I received an ARC of The Weaver's Daughter from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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Until next time...

Happy reading!
Ricki Jill



3 comments

  1. thank for this..I really do trust your reviews...they are all so accurate and honest.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for being a part of the tour for this fabulous book!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This book sounds fascinating, am looking forward to reading it!
    Jenna

    ReplyDelete

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I'm Ricki Jill. Welcome! I'm honored that you're reading my blog. I enjoy sharing my creative lifestyle @ The Bookish Dilettante. For more information about my blog, please read the Start Here page. Thank-you for stopping by, and I hope you'll consider following me via email.

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