Ginny Frost
The Banishment by Marion
Chesney (MC Beaton) fulfills the category “Book from Your TBR List You Associate with a Favorite
Person, Place, or Thing” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge.
I bought this title on a trip
to Portland, OR to see my husband’s
bestie. The two have known each other since the Navy many years ago. Bestie
moved to the West Coast after stints in New York and Connecticut. He and Hubby
talk all the time in long, political, and scientific conversations. Two years
ago, we decided to hit the Pacific Northwest, and all four of us packed up for
Portland.
Hubby had visited Bestie before
and sent me back pictures of Powell’s
Book Store. I was like, “very nice.” I had no idea. Powell’s bookstore in
person is a thing of wonder and glory. I wanted to stay all day and buy
everything! I purchased all the Marion Chesney/MC Beaton I could find,
including The Banishment.
I hit all three: favorite
person (one of them)—Bestie, favorite place—bookstore, favorite thing—books.
This title is a regency
romance. Ms. Chesney has several series of regency romances, Edwardian
mysteries, and of course, her sixty-plus cozy mysteries. The Banishment begins
the “Daughters of Mannerling”
series. The plot sets up the series when the Beverly’s lose their fortune to
their father’s gambling. They had been the snootiest, richest family around,
and now they were forced to sell their palatial home and live in a cottage.
Isabella, the heroine, just had a failed season because of her snobbish ways.
Had she married, it might have saved the family.
Of course, being a romance, we
end up with a happily-ever-after for Isabella, who goes through a
not-quite-believable change of heart about her family’s circumstances. Page one, she’s a ridiculous snob. Page
100, she’s empathetic and strong. Her change was abrupt, but the book is short.
Also, it’s MC Beaton, and I’m used to following her lead, even if it’s not a
hundred percent believable.
I love her books, and this
first in series was fun. Ms. Chesney played on all our literary favorites. The
house sounds like Manderley, from Rebecca. The family has a house full
of girls in need of good marriages, a la Pride and Prejudice. They are
forced into a cottage like Sense and Sensibility. I’m sure there are more that I
missed.
Anyway, loved the book, loved
buying the book, loved seeing Bestie.
I give The Banishment
by Marion Chesney Four Horses with Evil Names (only four because of Isabella’s quick change).