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!

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!

Wonderful

This book actually surprised me. so many of these were predictable. But this one was much better. Belinda was a changling.

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.

Everybody lives happily ever after. Even the bad guys turn out not to be bad. A little sappy.

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.

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.

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.

*** "The Changeling" by Philippa Carr aka Victoria Holt is an old-fashioned kiss-less romance in Victorian England, entangled in servant gossip and rising political ambition, with children and adults who can behave both well and ill. I had heard of Rebecca de Mandeville, but mistakenly connected with the story called Rebecca. Becca is born in Australia in the same fine house as Pedrek, and when her father dies saving his in a mine accident, both grow up in Cornwall, childhood sweethearts. I do not think I have read the story before, just that the author leaves pointed clues so we are ahead of the characters to decipher a mysterious adoption, attack, and disappearance.

I loved it. It's so fantastic as all her books

Your typical Victorian novel.

I enjoyed this book and it was different from a lot of the gothic romance that you see from this author. I was appalled by Belinda's behavior and was so mad that the adults in the story just shook their heads at her misbehavior. She was pretty rotten!! I'm glad everything turned out for the best in the end!