The Bronte Plot

After reading A Little Life, I was in the mood for something a bit lighter.  This popped up on the Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Kindle deals list and I just knew that it was exactly what I was looking for.  And it was!

Lucy lives in Chicago and works in an antique shop.  Her boss and the owner of the shop is a glamorous interior decorator while she procures and orders gorgeous antique furniture and books from around the world.  She and one of her book customers, James, fall in love and she soon finds out that she has a mysterious connection to his family.

Similar to The Goldfinch, Lucy makes some poor choices while running her antique book business, which leads to a falling out with her new boyfriend.  But Helen, his grandmother, still asks Lucy to join her on a trip to London on an antique shopping expedition.

They hit all of the high spots in London – Portobello Road, St. Paul’s Cathedral, lovely little tea shops.  But Lucy soon learns that there is another reason why Helen needs Lucy with her in London and it has to do with their mysterious family connection.

And Lucy has ideas of her own for this trip.  Her father abandoned her and her mother when she was very young and she suspects that he lives in Haworth, the home of the Bronte’s.  She is able to spend some time in that paradise for literary tourists and enjoys all of the atmosphere that we love in Victorian novels – windy and rainy moors, bleak days, passionate love interests.

This book was quite fun and made me want to crack up open Wuthering Heights, which I did.  And I found that I am much too old to actually enjoy Wuthering Heights, but that will have to be a story for next time!