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Fortunes of the Heart
Kate thinks her life is about to change - forever.
A chamber maid from a world of grinding poverty, she falls pregnant and unexpectedly marries Pearce Kinnon, the son of wealthy Irish landed gentry.
She expects to move into a new world fitting her husband's status.
The world of a lady.
But her new family are far from welcoming - and Kate and her husband are cut off without a penny.
Kate is suddenly right back where she started - except with a husband and a young child to look after.
And with nothing to live on apart from their wits and brains.
As poverty-stricken Irish immigrants they are considered the lowest of the low by the Glaswegians in the city where they have settled.
Kate has to battle religious, cultural, and social prejudice to build a new life for herself.
And she has to battle to save her marriage - and re-build the fortune that was cruelly taken from them.
'Fortunes of the Heart' is a brilliant family saga that combines period detail with a gripping and moving story. It is perfect for fans of Margaret James and Christina Courtenay.
'An enthralling story that kept me hooked from the first page to the last' - Robert Foster, best-selling author of The Lunar Code.
Jenny Chaplin is a well known writer to loyal readers worldwide for her books on Scottish social history and for her articles in the Scots Magazine and the Scottish Banner. Jenny, as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland, is well qualified to write her historical novels after years of research into and writing about Scottish social history. She now writes her novels in her centuries old cottage on the Island of Bute under the name Jenny Telfer Chaplin to differentiate between her fiction and non-fiction writing.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
A chamber maid from a world of grinding poverty, she falls pregnant and unexpectedly marries Pearce Kinnon, the son of wealthy Irish landed gentry.
She expects to move into a new world fitting her husband's status.
The world of a lady.
But her new family are far from welcoming - and Kate and her husband are cut off without a penny.
Kate is suddenly right back where she started - except with a husband and a young child to look after.
And with nothing to live on apart from their wits and brains.
As poverty-stricken Irish immigrants they are considered the lowest of the low by the Glaswegians in the city where they have settled.
Kate has to battle religious, cultural, and social prejudice to build a new life for herself.
And she has to battle to save her marriage - and re-build the fortune that was cruelly taken from them.
'Fortunes of the Heart' is a brilliant family saga that combines period detail with a gripping and moving story. It is perfect for fans of Margaret James and Christina Courtenay.
'An enthralling story that kept me hooked from the first page to the last' - Robert Foster, best-selling author of The Lunar Code.
Jenny Chaplin is a well known writer to loyal readers worldwide for her books on Scottish social history and for her articles in the Scots Magazine and the Scottish Banner. Jenny, as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland, is well qualified to write her historical novels after years of research into and writing about Scottish social history. She now writes her novels in her centuries old cottage on the Island of Bute under the name Jenny Telfer Chaplin to differentiate between her fiction and non-fiction writing.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
293 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
34 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 14, 2020
This is about how people deal with their reversal of fortune... for some it would be the making of them... or the breaking of them... and maybe something in between. When Pearce Killon was sent to America by his family to avoid an entanglement of his own making and when he got his sister's maid pregnant almost as soon as he got back on English soil, he decided to marry Kate rather than letting her suffer the fate of his first victim. As a result of marrying beneath him, he was disinherited. Pearce and Kate left Ireland for Glasgow, Scotland ~ second to London in population growth and mirroring the capital's plight and condition of its poor including prejudice towards the Irish. Born and bred to rule not to toil, it was inevitable that Pearce had trouble adjusting to having a master and earning a living though he was able to get a clerical job at the market. But tragedy and misery were circumstances that kept on happening to the Killon family. The death of Isabella, their youngest child, broke Pearce's tenuous hold on his sanity then he lost his job... I stopped reading after Jenny was having morning sickness... this is too disgusting. Too pathetic and too miserable.
April 24, 2013
It was a little on the slow side for me personally. I found myself getting quite frustrated with Kate, and wishing she had a bit more gumption and get up and go. Although having said that, the woman had trials enough to cope with: a upper-class husband that couldn't take his down turn in circumstances or loss of children well, a handicapped child, family disagreements etc.
Having read quite a few Audrey Howard novels, it is quite difficult not to make a comparison between the two. The style of writing is similar. I would say possible Ms Howard has the edge.
Don't get me wrong it wasn.t that I didn't like, or indeed enjoy it, it's just if Kate had been written with just a bit more go and ambition, it could have been a spectacular offering.
There were just a couple of typographical and grammatical errors - when are there not? Also the end formatting could do with being tidied up a bit. The last sentence, flows into details about the author. Another wee thought, in the late 1800s did they celebrate Halloween?
All in all a 3.5 star read, but for Amazon/Good Reads just not quite good enough to make a 4 star rating.
Make no mistake I would be interested in reading more of this family saga, and look forward to perhaps a bit more fire.
Having read quite a few Audrey Howard novels, it is quite difficult not to make a comparison between the two. The style of writing is similar. I would say possible Ms Howard has the edge.
Don't get me wrong it wasn.t that I didn't like, or indeed enjoy it, it's just if Kate had been written with just a bit more go and ambition, it could have been a spectacular offering.
There were just a couple of typographical and grammatical errors - when are there not? Also the end formatting could do with being tidied up a bit. The last sentence, flows into details about the author. Another wee thought, in the late 1800s did they celebrate Halloween?
All in all a 3.5 star read, but for Amazon/Good Reads just not quite good enough to make a 4 star rating.
Make no mistake I would be interested in reading more of this family saga, and look forward to perhaps a bit more fire.
September 8, 2014
My kind of read! I have never heard of this author and was lucky to get this book to download for free one day. When I started to read it, I found it very easy reading, the story opened almost right away and for me, this means I will enjoy the book.
I don't do spoilers, but just to say, I'm glad I didn't like in the 1800's I'm sure I wouldn't have been so lenient on my husband!
I gave it 4 stars as in the middle of the book before a lot of disasters occurred it was a bit boring, but then it livened up with a lot of things happening.
If you liked Catherine Cookson, or like Anne Bennett, those sort of reads, then this is along those lines
I don't do spoilers, but just to say, I'm glad I didn't like in the 1800's I'm sure I wouldn't have been so lenient on my husband!
I gave it 4 stars as in the middle of the book before a lot of disasters occurred it was a bit boring, but then it livened up with a lot of things happening.
If you liked Catherine Cookson, or like Anne Bennett, those sort of reads, then this is along those lines
March 21, 2013
this book tells the story of Kate who is a lady's maid but then becomes pregnant to the son of the house. when the pregnancy is discovered by the family she is thrown out but amazingly Pearce stands by her and so they get married and leave Ireland to travel to Glasgow and set up home. Unfortunaltely it's far from the start Kate had imagined and she struggles to make ends meet especially when more children arrive.
This book tells the story of live in the Glasgow slums during the late 19th century and shows how hard life really was.
There were a few typographical errors but on the whole they didn't detract from the story.
This book tells the story of live in the Glasgow slums during the late 19th century and shows how hard life really was.
There were a few typographical errors but on the whole they didn't detract from the story.
June 6, 2016
Loved it.
Loved the time period. Wish I knew some of the definitions of some words. The story was well written and other than Pearce I liked all the characters. Will there be a sequel? I would like to know what happened to Daniel . Why was Kate so forgiving of Pearce? After the way he treated her and flaunted the Delaney women and on his death bed told her of the necklace that should have been hers ? The way he treated the children was so uncaring and down right abusive. How could any woman and mother try to rationalize his goodness when there was really no thought of her or love for her.
Loved the time period. Wish I knew some of the definitions of some words. The story was well written and other than Pearce I liked all the characters. Will there be a sequel? I would like to know what happened to Daniel . Why was Kate so forgiving of Pearce? After the way he treated her and flaunted the Delaney women and on his death bed told her of the necklace that should have been hers ? The way he treated the children was so uncaring and down right abusive. How could any woman and mother try to rationalize his goodness when there was really no thought of her or love for her.
March 6, 2013
it's hard to believe that version of this book that I bought on my kindle is anything other than an early draft.
there are significant typos throughout and while there is the framework for a story here, it read more as basic notes for scenes and events.
there was nothing other than the passage of time to move the plot forward and several unnecessary scenes that I feel were written purely to demonstrate the authors knowledge of the era rather than to add depth or texture to the characters or their story.
there are significant typos throughout and while there is the framework for a story here, it read more as basic notes for scenes and events.
there was nothing other than the passage of time to move the plot forward and several unnecessary scenes that I feel were written purely to demonstrate the authors knowledge of the era rather than to add depth or texture to the characters or their story.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews