A TIME TRAVELER’S MASQUERADE by Sian Ann Bessey

When Isla Crawford goes to a costume shop looking for a Wendy outfit (in the shape of a blue nighgown) for an office party, the last things she expects is to be transported back to 1605. But as the owner of McQuivey’s Costume Shop looks for that Wendy costume, her fingers skim over a Jacobean gown that she believes is perfect, reading correctly that Isla would far rather be gowned in a creamy floral Jacobean dress than an undignified nightie. 

As soon as Isla puts it on in the changing room, she realizes it is perfect. Happy with her find, she doesn’t even bother to put on her shoes before opening the door to find Mrs McQuivey. Instead she finds herself on a gravel path in the middle of a fierce downpour. The first person she meets is a gentleman called Lord Bancroft, who is just as bedraggled as she. However, he gallantly insists on wrapping her in his cloak, before taking her inside to introduce her to his sister and brother-in-law.

And so Isla finds herself in 1605, with no way to get home. People cannot understand her modern speech, and she feels so stupid as she cannot write with a quill pen, ride a horse, or make an elegant curtsy.

And what is she doing here anyway? Surely, no-one needs her help in overturning the Gunpowder Plot in which Guy Fawkes and his confederates attempted to blow up Parliament?

But it turns out that Isla is needed to foil this plot, for she plays a crucial rule.

Once the plot is foiled, what then? Isla has fallen in love with Lord Bancroft (Simon) and he with her. She is so committed to him that she considers staying in 1605 so that they can marry and spend the rest of their lives together. But will that actually happen? Disaster strikes when Simon insists on being part of the group of men that finally confront Guy Fawkes on 5 November 1605, leaving Isla with a very difficult choice to make.

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