The Weaver's Daughter by
Sarah E. Ladd
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
In the Netgalley copy I received in exchange for my honest review, there are several mistakes in continuity, typos, and a lot of wordiness. This is published by Thomas Nelson, so I doubt you'll find those same gaffs, but there were enough to jar my reading pleasure so bear that in mind in reading this review.
I really liked this book. The story is one of prejudice, greed, principles, and how loyalty can be blind, with romance interwoven as tightly as a 400-thread count sheet.
The premise is a good one taking place within the context of the beginning of industrialized fabric milling and weaving. Interesting backdrop for the romance between the offspring of two warring families--sound familiar? Fortunately, the end is not as heartbreaking as Romeo and Juliette.
I found it very difficult to suspend belief that a supposed independent woman could be so gullible and blinded by loyalty to her father who tossed out her brother when he went to work for the rival family's mill. The father had such a hatred for this rival family, it spoiled his character. I just think it shouldn't have taken so long to discover his duplicity. But, they do say that love is blind. Maybe loyalty becomes a habit and is blind as well.
The characters are well-developed, even the supporting cast right down to housekeeping and kitchen help. There is enough action to keep one riveted through the long passages of character angst, second-guessing, and fretting over what was and what will be. Hopefully, good editing will remove a lot of that hashing and rehashing.
The setting is in England in a tiny town close to the moors. So you know the damp cold is deeply biting, but when reading this you don't really feel the cold, or taste the era. To the author it is just place and time with no elaboration or thought to helping the reader settle into the time, the place, and the feel of the environment. There are quite a few misuses of words. For example Ladd uses "banter" for a serious discussion. That kind of word misuse really bothers me. So I skipped over a lot of, what I thought of as, unnecessary pages of dialogue and especially narrative. But I did read to the end.
Anyhoot, the story line and story flow is pretty good, and it seems the historical accuracy is also pretty good. Although, I still don't know what shearing sheep has to do with the gig-mills, or why millers and weavers are so different. Still, you'll enjoy the character development, but if you are into period drama and well-described historical settings--you won't get it here.
All that said, I still give it four of five stars.
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