The Love Child

by Fiona Hill

"...considerably more wit and pizazz than the legendary Georgette [Heyer] herself.” —Kirkus Reviews The lovely Lotta Chilton was fine company at dinner—as delightful a lady as one could wish to have for a walk in the garden, and sufficiently charming and clever to have secured a position as companion to the Dowager Duchess of Karr. But she was emphatically not the type of female with whom an attractive, unattached peer of the realm should fall in love, much less seek to marry. But from Timothy, Duke of Karr's first glimpse of Lotta at his mother's gala winter festivities, he had followed the girl around the splendid halls of Grasmere Castle like a lovesick puppy. Unshaken by his mother's dire warnings about Lotta's parentage and unfazed by the whispering of the other guests, the Duke vows to claim the adorable nobody—despite the protestations of propriety on the part of almost everyone, including Lotta herself.

Genres: Historical Romance, Fiction, Historical

Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

This name is a pseudonym for Ellen Pall (also known as Ellen Jane Pall).

She chose Fiona Hill when she wrote Regency romance novels. She has since published mysteries and literary novels under her own name.

Reviews

[Lesr · Rating 2 out of 5]

so many characters and not enough real excitement to make following their long conversations worthwhile... did not finish

[A.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

15 chapters
280 pages

My Review—It was a very good story. A bit silly in places and took me a couple days to get into it (though whether the fault of the book or of my own business activities capturing more of my attention, I’m not sure), but, once I did, I wasn’t disappointed.

It’s a lighthearted love story mixed in with some drama and mystery (though not so much for me since I guessed all the secrets within the first, oh, five chapters (or fewer)—still, knowing how all the loose threads would weave together didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying the journey) and frivolity. The heroine, Lotta Chilton, is very excellent, as is the hero, Karr (as in, His Grace, the Duke of Karr), and the secondary characters (Jessie and Algernon) and the supporting cast only add to the story.

The story focuses on Lotta and Karr: she’s the “natural” daughter of an Italian, he’s a duke, the heir of the castle in which the story’s set. Lotta was adopted by the Chiltons and, being only a modest-income family, must make her own way financially in the world—so, when the story starts, you learn she’s just become employed by Karr’s mother, the dowager duchess, as her paid companion. Well, because she’s a new-hire, Karr’s never met her before and, when he does, falls instantly in love with her—much to his mother’s chagrin (though she wants him to marry (he’s 35, after all, and it’s high time he found a wife to produce an heir), Her Grace wishes him to marry Lady Henrietta (I think was her name)). The problem with Lotta is, of course, her parentage. No one really knows who she is. It’s assumed she’s illegitimate, but the Chiltons never said, and she never asked. But does Karr care a fig about her birth status? No. He’s in love, and he means to marry only Lotta—and if he can’t (Lotta, herself, tells him he mustn’t set his sights on her because of her dodgy origins), he simply won’t marry. So the rest of the story centers on their romance (of course, Lotta loves him, too) and on who exactly she is. But there are also other stories at work around the Karr-and-Lotta saga, stories involving romance, blackmail, and various mysteries surrounding several guests at the castle (a scene set around a Christmas fire telling ghost stories leads to the unraveling of one character’s history, explaining why he is who he is when we meet him). But the greatest mystery remains Lotta’s parentage—and here’s a hint: A couple of the guests at the castle hold keys to unlock her past, and one of the guests is the sleuthess who helps to unravel the clues.

I don’t want to give anything away, so I won’t divulge any more than that and will end by saying: If you like Jane Austen, you’ll enjoy this tale (the characters, strength of heroine and hero, and setting (being the sort Jane Austen used in Mansfield Park (what with the cast performing a play and pretty much all of the story set inside the walls of Karr’s castle), with a touch of Northanger Abbey’s Gothic bits of ghosts and haunted castles). If you start to read it and, as I, find yourself a bit hard-pressed to read on, please—read on. Again, if you like Jane Austen, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in sticking with it. There were laughs and tears (both mine, of course, but, as to the latter, well, I am a notorious romantic who’s been known to cry at the drop of a hat (if the hat be Sentiment)), and I finished the story as I do with Jane Austen, with a smile on my face and the feeling of “ah, now that was a good read” in my heart.

My last remarks? If you’re still alive, Miss Hill, well done. I can’t wait to read the next one (I think it’s to be Sweet’s Folly) and hope it’ll prove just as good.

Grade: A+

[Cheri Teleri · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an English Lit major and a big fan of Jane Austen, I found this Regency romance novel perfectly masquerading as one actually written in the early 1800s. In fact, I had to check out the provenance to be sure it wasn't. I've not only read all of Austen, but also of her contemporaries such as Emily Eden & Fanny Burney. This reads as if it belongs in that era. The language, the comportment of the characters, the plot itself, is just totally period. I applaud the research and ear of the writer. I've read another of her books (Sweet's Folly) which is good but lacks the authentic 'voice' that this one has.
BTW, Fiona Hill is a pen name of Ellen Pall, who writes some very shrewd and funny contemporary novels.

[elstaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounds up to 4 stars. I didn't necessarily like the main characters or their relationship because of what kind of reads as instalove,but I did really enjoy the writing, and I will definitely be searching out other Fiona Hill books.

[Veronica B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Love Child is an enjoyable regency novel that blends romance with gothic mystery. It features several characters and plot lines, and kept me interested until the end (although the final twist is very predictable).

The novel is set in Grasmere Castle, near Nottingham, England. The events take place almost entirely within the castle grounds, so most of the plot centers around the interactions of 18 guests who have been invited to winter there. I liked having multiple characters and plot lines, and found this to be a positive feature of the book. Personally, I didn't think the main love story was the most interesting plot (it was nice, just not my favorite). I preferred the ghostly adventures of Miss Cawley and Mr. Longstreth and also the blackmail plot surrounding Lord and Lady Stanton.

While I enjoyed the novel, there were two things about it that I didn't love. The last thirty pages include three characters telling stories to the rest of the group (two ghost stories and one confession). While the ghost stories were interesting, it broke up the pace of the novel for me and I didn't feel that they were necessary. The other part of the book that I didn't like was oddly enough the title. It very clearly gives away Lady Stanton's big reveal, which I didn't appreciate. Had it been called something else, perhaps the ending wouldn't have been as obvious.

I've rounded my rating up to a four, but in reality I think it is a 3.75 out of 5.