The Heart of the Rose

by June Barraclough

Book Overview

The Yorkshire home of the Hardow family, Fontaynes Castle, is still run along feudal lines, and presided over by the aging though formidable Earl. Young Ann Tessyman travels a vast distance from the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1555472214
• ISBN13: 9781555472214
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: Critics Choice Paperbacks/Lorevan Publishing
• Length: 256 Pages

Customer Reviews

Sad...sad...sad!

I have not read anything like this book. It's very emotional and draining but such a good story. I felt so bad for the hero and the heroine but in a way I was happy that at the end of the story, a legacy was left and remembered. Up until now I still feel sad and kind of melancholy.

Stunning, unusually detailed and researched historical romance

I have to say I almost never cry due to a book's content -- (unless it's with tears of frustration, ha ha). But THE HEART OF THE ROSE had me reaching for a hankerchief during its last, tragic third. And I can almost never give 5 stars to a book, but I think this book deserves every single one, unlike the snotty editorial review. I may be an Anglophile but I'm not uncritical! This is a heartfelt, but heartbreaking story of an innocent, intelligent and lovely servant girl, Anne Tressyman; her working life and eventual romance with the oldest son of the noble family she's employed by. She and her love are both young, and too good, to have experienced what they went through. I can promise you: if you want to read an essentially serious but beautifully written historical novel which will touch you--then The Heart of the Rose should be the one you choose. I'm actually getting tears prickling my eyes just now while thinking about the progress of this story and writing this review. I simply could not put this book down. The detailed, well-researched time period (Yorkshire, England, 1818-1821); the fully realized supporting characters; the serious tone and the realism of the story, were just superb. June Barraclough is an excellent writer. If this story is representative of the quality of this author's work, then I would gladly read any other book by this author (this is my first). I can only recommend this novel very highly -- it's a romance that even a non-romance reader could read. (In fact, the cover art is very misleading.)