Delightful, interesting and funny. Rarely have I enjoyed reading a time traveler story as much as this one.
Angela, a nurse from Arizona is vacationing with her boyfriend in England. Returning to the hotel early, she finds him in bed with another woman. Furious, she drives off, has a car accident and is transferred into 1648. In Cornwall of 1648, Nicholas Warren, a rich estate owner, finds her and brings her to his home. At his estate lives also Ellen, a nurse/doctor by Medieval standards. Considering the time period, Angela, with her blue hair tips and fancy tattoo, could be taken for a witch. Luckily, both, Nicholas and Ellen, are open-minded people, who want to learn from Angela. Ellen manages to save the badly hurt Angela. And, yes, Nicholas is attracted to her at first sight but he has more than one secret, which make him a complicated character. Will Ellen and Nicholas find together?
What makes this novel outstanding is that besides demonstrating a solid knowledge of history, author Diana Douglas made it a fun book to read.
When Nicholas complains that Angela is such a (modern) strong willed woman, who does not behave herself according to the standards of 17th century England, Angela comes right back,
“… I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you,” she said. “Next time I decide to take a jaunt through the centuries, I’ll skip Haverscroft Manor and drop in on Attila the Hun or Ghengis Khan. I will be probably more welcome….”
This author also makes it fun to read about historic customs,
“… Comfortable? In addition to being in pain, she was cold, caffeine deprived and slightly nauseous from the warm cider and salted fish she had been served for breakfast….”
And, when Nicholas sees Angela’s cellphone,
“Mother of God!” he exclaimed. “I am not a man of religion, but that thing is possessed.”
I thoroughly appreciated the cleverness, with which this author set up her plot. Angela is a visitor from the US, thus it makes sense that she carries many tourist brochures in her bag. When Nicholas Warren finds her, he also finds the brochures. And, opposite to many he is not illiterate! Nicholas is a supporter of King Charles I. From the brochures he learns that Oliver Cromwell will sign King Charles I's death warrant. What will he do with this knowledge? Add in that Nicholas is also a kind of time traveler and you see why this plot is a lot more interesting than many others.
I was tickled with the many clever side plots, this author devised. For instance, after saving a man with the Heimlich maneuver at a country fair people think that Angela is a witch (remember, she is a nurse), which in those days is worse, than if she had not saved the man. Then, there is also Nick Warren’s son, who opposite to his father is the personification of evil.
The author even finds a way to explain why Angela will not travel back to her time. Nicholas gets to question if she would have survived the bad accident in her time. Maybe, if she an opportunity to go back, she’d be a corpse in a ditch along highway A30? As turns it out, Angela will travel other times too. Diana Douglas found a great way to end her book, (no, I am not in the habit of spoiling). I’ll be reading the next one too.
Gisela Hausmann, author & blogger