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I was all along expecting that Leah had a secret child with the Frenchman,and that this would be revealed at some point in the story, but not the swapping of the babies by the midwife!
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Daughters of England #15
The Changeling
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Rebecca Mandeville
The story of The Changeling is told by Angelet's daughter, Rebecca, who was born in Benedict Lansdon's grandfather's house in an Australian gold-mining township. Before Rebecca was born, her father had died saving another man's life. She had always looked up to him as a great hero and when she heard that her mother was to marry Benedict Lansdon, she was deeply shocked.
The prolific British author of historical romances (The Pool of St. Branok) continues her lavishly entwined narrative of the families connected to Benedict Lansdon, now a recently bereaved widower, absentee father and wealthy seeker of a Parliament seat. Narrated by Benedict's aggrieved stepdaughter, Rebecca, this complex tale of love and betrayal concerns a three-cornered sibling relationship involving Rebecca, her half-sister, Belinda, and Lucie, a country waif informally adopted by Rebecca. Aware that her father blames her for her mother's death in childbirth, Belinda takes refuge in michievous behavior. Placid Lucie, however, fits in well with the family, though her lineage is suspect and clouded with mysterious events at St. Branok's pool. Although Belinda seems the most obvious "changeling", Carr sustains an air of doubt and intrigue. The ambience of the Cornish countryside and of Victorian London permeate this piquantly Gothic family saga.
The story of The Changeling is told by Angelet's daughter, Rebecca, who was born in Benedict Lansdon's grandfather's house in an Australian gold-mining township. Before Rebecca was born, her father had died saving another man's life. She had always looked up to him as a great hero and when she heard that her mother was to marry Benedict Lansdon, she was deeply shocked.
The prolific British author of historical romances (The Pool of St. Branok) continues her lavishly entwined narrative of the families connected to Benedict Lansdon, now a recently bereaved widower, absentee father and wealthy seeker of a Parliament seat. Narrated by Benedict's aggrieved stepdaughter, Rebecca, this complex tale of love and betrayal concerns a three-cornered sibling relationship involving Rebecca, her half-sister, Belinda, and Lucie, a country waif informally adopted by Rebecca. Aware that her father blames her for her mother's death in childbirth, Belinda takes refuge in michievous behavior. Placid Lucie, however, fits in well with the family, though her lineage is suspect and clouded with mysterious events at St. Branok's pool. Although Belinda seems the most obvious "changeling", Carr sustains an air of doubt and intrigue. The ambience of the Cornish countryside and of Victorian London permeate this piquantly Gothic family saga.
369 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 3,1989
This edition
- Format
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369 pages, Mass Market Paperback
- Published
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August 28, 1990 by Ivy Books
- ISBN
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9780449146972
- ASIN
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0449146979
- Language
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English
About the author
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Eleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anna Percival and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia
-Wikipedia
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Community Reviews
Rating(4 / 5.0, 45 votes)
5 stars
14(31%)
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15(33%)
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45 reviews All reviews
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The writing was fine, but the storyline reminded me of a night-time drama or soap opera. I suppose it fits with when the book was written. Gotta love those 80s!
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Wonderful
This book actually surprised me. so many of these were predictable. But this one was much better. Belinda was a changling.
This book actually surprised me. so many of these were predictable. But this one was much better. Belinda was a changling.
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Book 15 in Carr's Daughters of England / Cornwall Saga series is much better than the 14th, although not one of the series' gems. It picks up the pace with more twists and turns, and is suspenseful despite some things being patently obvious. I was also thankful a character I thought was annoying in the last book didn't show up here!
The love between the protagonist Rebecca and her chosen man could've been fleshed out better so that it was more believable. The suspense was exciting, but was wrapped up ridiculously neatly at the end. And there was no scene showing the reaction of one character to an earth-shattering revelation! There's no reason we couldn't have gotten just one paragraph.
This makes for a riveting read for those who have been following along with this family through the centuries and want to finish the series. But at this point, the series has been fizzling out and I don't have much hope that any of the remaining five books will return to the glory of the really fun and scandalous ones from earlier on.
The love between the protagonist Rebecca and her chosen man could've been fleshed out better so that it was more believable. The suspense was exciting, but was wrapped up ridiculously neatly at the end. And there was no scene showing the reaction of one character to an earth-shattering revelation! There's no reason we couldn't have gotten just one paragraph.
This makes for a riveting read for those who have been following along with this family through the centuries and want to finish the series. But at this point, the series has been fizzling out and I don't have much hope that any of the remaining five books will return to the glory of the really fun and scandalous ones from earlier on.
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Everybody lives happily ever after. Even the bad guys turn out not to be bad. A little sappy.
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I love the daughters of England series but I just did not like this book. I think Philippa Carr missed the mark on this one. The historical info she usually writes about wasn't there, and I missed reading about family members from previous books growing old and the mature knowledge they provide. The death of her mother at the beginning of the book left me disappointed.
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I just could not read this book. It was written well, the characters were fleshed out, the settings well described and plausible, but after 78 pages I just didn't care about the young lady's dislike of her stepfather and that was all that seemed to be discussed. As a rule I can't read this author's books fast enough so I honestly don't know what happened with this one.
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The Changeling is not a mystery, nor is it a good historical novel, both of which are genres I love. Instead it is a stereotypical romance novel that just happens to be set in Victorian England. The author dropped a couple of names (Disraeli and Gladstone)and describes the Queen (in passing) as "a diminutive figure with an expression of gloom and an air of aloofness which was rather disconcerting." But this was not enough to truly leave the reader with a sense of the time or place in which the story was set.
Mystery? No mystery here. Read the title. Story? Read the jacket fly leaf and save yourself time.
If you really like Harlequin Romances, you will probably like The Changeling. I do not and I did not.
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