Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame - OPTIONAL

Grahame, Abby  Wentworth Hall, 276 pgs.  Simon and Schuster, 2012.  $16.99  Content:  Language: PG (2 swears); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: G.   

The Darlington’s have owned Wentworth Hall for centuries, so Lord Darlington is frantic to fight formidable matches for his oldest, beautiful daughter Maggie, hoping that is will help their family financially.  However, there are many secrets at the estate, and Maggie can’t force herself to love a wealthy young man from Africa with his new money.  As the secrets are unveiled the traditional ways of the English estate are questioned and when Westley, the eldest son and heir, comes back from his trip to America he sees that Wentworth Hall needs to move forward with the times.   

This is an interesting book that will appeal to people who like Downton Abbey.  The secrets that are uncovered are shocking and interesting and the forbidden love between the two castes is fun to follow.  My biggest complaint is there is a satire written about the Darlington’s lack of money for the newspaper and it’s weird, repetitive and boring and takes up a lot of pages.  This is a forgettable/light read and it doesn’t have a lot of depth to any of the characters.  The content is clean, the mature content is not explained in detail but it’s a covered up pregnancy and a love affair. 

MS, HS-OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.