Standing in the Shadows

Swallowcliffe Hall #2

by Jennie Walters

Grace is a kitchen maid, but unlike her mother, Polly, she doesn't enjoy life inside the house—she'd much rather be working in the stables with the horses. Teas and shooting-party luncheons will soon become a distant memory. It's 1914, and war is about to turn the country upside down. Tragedy comes to Swallowcliffe Hall, and life there changes more dramatically than anyone could have ever imagined. Amid the turmoil, Grace discovers a dark family secret that has been hidden for years. Learning the truth brings its own heartache, and now she faces a new challenge. Is she brave enough to step out of the shadows and claim her rightful place in this dangerous new world?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Young Adult

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Jennie has always been interested in stories. She was constantly making them up as a child, studied English at university and worked in publishing before leaving to write books of her own. Author of the Swallowcliffe Hall series for young adults, she also writes historical fiction for adults under the name of Daisy Wood. Cecil and Claude, the heroines of 'What We Did in the War' first crept into her head during a Creative Writing MA at City University in London, and she has been rewriting their story ever since - approximately a hundred years. Now finally here it is: a true labour of love!

Reviews

[Katherine Coble · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous discovery!

I am nott overly generous with 5-star reviews, but this book earned it. I stumbled across it while searching the Kindle Store for 'Downton Abbey' and figured that for three bucks i had not much to lose. I became instantly swept up by the story, which was filled with interesting detail yet still very well-paced.

I quite literally could not put it down and ended up reading straight through til morning, having downloaded the subsequent two booksin the trilogy and burning through those as well.

This is not a ponderous literary tome. It's just a ripping story that is well worth your time.

[MBenzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grace's Story continues the tale of the servants of Swallowcliffe Hall. It picks up 24 years after Polly's Story, in 1914. WWI is raging, and all the young men at the hall and the rest of England are being shipped off to France to fight and die for their country.

Just as her mother Polly did over two decades earlier, Grace comes of age while working at the beautiful manor. She begins work in the kitchen but is miserable. She knows it's not what she's meant to be doing and longs to work in the stables with her father. It goes completely against convention, but since all the able-bodied young men have gone to war, Grace gets the chance to prove what she can do. She also finds herself falling for a young man far outside of her class. Everyone makes it clear that there is no way she can be with him, especially her mother, but Grace can't help the way she feels.

I really liked this installment of the Swallowcliffe story. Grace is a stubborn girl, but she has a good heart. Her mother Polly is extremely set in her ways, which could be frustrating, but Grace isn't afraid to take the reins when she needs to.

We also learn there's a darker side to the mighty Vye family. Lord and Lady Vye are aboard the ill-fated Lusitania on their way back from America when a German sub torpedoes it. The outcome is a shock to all of Swallowcliffe Hall, but especially to Grace, who learns of a terrible personality flaw in the revered Lord Vye.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The only reason I'm giving it 4 and not 5 stars is because of the ending. 'Polly's Story' ended a little abruptly, but you weren't left with a million questions. 'Grace's Story,' on the other hand, was EXTREMELY abrupt. I was left with a whole mess of questions. I'm sure most of them will be answered in the final book, 'Isobel's Story' (which I've already started), but that book is set 24 years in the future, in 1938. Learning about something 24 years later doesn't have quite the same effect as in the present. You lose the moment's emotions. Instead of experiencing things with the characters, you're just being told an abbreviated version. Aside from this small issue, though, I really enjoyed this and highly recommend the series to anyone interested in this time period.

[Patricia Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing story of Swallowcliffe

The story continued at the next generation with Grace' s family and the war. It kept your interest and kept the story moving as not to allow you to get bored. To learn a enjoy about their lives at that time was fun with good descriptions although life was s hard due to war.

[Catherine Mayo · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the start I was caught. The story is interesting as well as being well-researched and well-written. Grace’s voice as first person narrator is neutral-modern, with a casual, everyday tone that fits her place as a servant in a great hall, but doesn’t contain any hint of dialect, in contrast to the voices of other servants. She’s 15, which will appeal to young teenage girls.

Grace falls in love with Philip, son of the younger sister of the Lord of Swallowcliffe Hall, in a slightly eerie parallel to the story of the ill-fated housemaid, Iris of the first book of the trilogy, House of Secrets. At the end of this book, Grace accidentally confesses her love of Philip within his hearing, on the day he goes off to war, and they chastely but blissfully embrace. Curiously she has just found out that Iris, who died in the workhouse after getting pregnant, was seduced by Philip’s uncle, Lord Edward, (though not his younger brother Rory as Grace’s mother Polly had thought). And it was Edward who threw Iris out and destroyed her life. The irony seems lost on Grace.

The reader has to wait for the third book of the trilogy, Shelter from the Storm, to find out, via back story, what happens to Grace and Philip

[JayeL]

I like these stories and see the similarities to Downton Abbey. Perhaps the Downton Abbey authors were inspired by these stories? I think this is another cryptic story where we don't get all the background information. Did Grace marry Philip? If not, who did she marry? Did she tell Polly about Edward and Iris? I feel like I am reading the abridged version and not the full version.

[Vi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this book 3 1/2 stars because it was slow in the beginning but the 2nd half got better.

[Alison Gibson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Insipid dreck....the author has the writing skills of a 12 yr old.