Published by Barbour Fiction on April 1, 2021
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Uncover the Story Behind a One-Hundred-Year-Old Love Letter
Walk through Doors to the Past via a new series of historical stories of romance and adventure.
Clara Blackwell helps her mother manage a struggling one-hundred-year old family bookshop in Asheville, North Carolina, but the discovery of a forgotten letter opens a mystery of a long-lost romance and undiscovered inheritance which could save its future. Forced to step outside of her predictable world, Clara embarks on an adventure with only the name Oliver as a hint of the man’s identity in her great-great-grandmother’s letter. From the nearby grand estate of the Vanderbilts, to a hamlet in Derbyshire, England, Clara seeks to uncover truth about family and love that may lead to her own unexpected romance.
Pepper Basham does it again! I was enchanted almost from the first page. This is an incredibly beautiful story, one that ties together the past, and the present. This is a story of love, and of love letters, and of a mutual love for stories.
Hope Between the Pages, which happens to be Basham’s first dual time novel, I believe, is a bit different than her other writings, but it is oh-so-delightful! Which time period did I like best? Now that is a hard choice!
Sadie Blackwell is the star of the historical one, well she was such a charmer. A servant in the Biltmore Estate, she worked in the fabulous library. Her job was to stay invisible when guests came around, and to make sure they had the reading materials they were wanting.
And then there’s Clara of the current day. A storekeeper in the Blackwell Bookshop. When their bookshop is threatened, Clara is determined to track down the actual history of their bookstore and save it.
These pages sweep you back and forth, into the past, and then back to the present. I loved reading about the Biltmore Estate, and almost feel like I’ve visited it now….(although I would still like to see it in person). This book also takes you to England, and that was quite the experience.
Both of these heroines, these time periods, have their own bit of romance. Sigh. Both were a bit unexpected, and yet, not so much. But they were just perfect. Pepper Basham has such a way of writing romances. Sweet, swoony, and yet, not overly much, just the right blend.
This book also has a mystery. One that Clara must figure out. And soon…it seems that the future of Blackwell’s Bookshop rather depends on all of this. What exactly happened to Sadie Blackwell? What was her connection to the bookshop? And of course, the ever important matter –where is the deed to the store?
I loved reading as they followed clues and made discoveries. Both of these ladies learned so much, and grew as the story progressed.
For lovers of historical fiction, I would say this is a must read.