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Where There is Love #4
To Be Worthy
Until he gets an answer, Cranville seems destined to repeat the same pattern: Resolve to try harder in hopes of earning that acceptance. Stumble. In despair, give himself over to the fast life. Again and again. But then one of his escapades comes to the attention of his father and it also awakens him to the truth.
- GenresHistoricalFiction
255 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
About the author
Donna Fletcher Crow
67 books128 followersDonna Fletcher Crow loves to give books away. If you would like a copy of one of her best-selling Lord Danvers Investigates series, go to her website: http://www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com
Donna is the author of 50 books, mostly novels dealing with British history. The award-winning GLASTONBURY, The Novel of Christian England is her best-known work, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history.
Donna authors 3 mystery series: The best-selling Lord Danvers Investigates Vitorian true-crime series; The Monastery Murders; and The Elizabeth and Richard Literary Suspense.
Donna and her husband have 4 adult children and 14 grandchildren. She is an inveterate researcher and an enthusiastic gardener. You can see pictures of her research trips and her garden, learn more about her books, subscribe to her monthly newsletter, and read her blog at: www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com
Donna is the author of 50 books, mostly novels dealing with British history. The award-winning GLASTONBURY, The Novel of Christian England is her best-known work, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history.
Donna authors 3 mystery series: The best-selling Lord Danvers Investigates Vitorian true-crime series; The Monastery Murders; and The Elizabeth and Richard Literary Suspense.
Donna and her husband have 4 adult children and 14 grandchildren. She is an inveterate researcher and an enthusiastic gardener. You can see pictures of her research trips and her garden, learn more about her books, subscribe to her monthly newsletter, and read her blog at: www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 28, 2018
Georgiana is intrigued by the handsome stranger who appears unexpectedly at the hunt ball—then is amazed and delighted to discover he is none other than Granville Dudley Ryder, dearest playmate of her childhood. The specter of Granville’s harsh father, however, shadows all that Granville strives to achieve until the terrors of the Cato Street Rebellion lead Granville to reconciliation and love.
An entirely historical story that moves from Cambridge to Somerset, to London to Wales and includes many of the most famous people of the day, the letters they wrote, and the words they spoke—even the animals are a matter of record. A love story for all time.
Published as To Be Worthy in the Cambridge Collection and the Cambridge Chronicles, the all-new edition is Where Love Restores in the Where There is Love series.
An entirely historical story that moves from Cambridge to Somerset, to London to Wales and includes many of the most famous people of the day, the letters they wrote, and the words they spoke—even the animals are a matter of record. A love story for all time.
Published as To Be Worthy in the Cambridge Collection and the Cambridge Chronicles, the all-new edition is Where Love Restores in the Where There is Love series.
February 7, 2018
I loved most of Ms. Crow's other books but could not finish this one. Made it to 50%. I found the protagonist to be a childish whiner. Descriptions of various things throughout the book such as landscapes and atmospheres went on far too long for my taste.
November 1, 2016
What I love about Donna Fletcher Crow’s Where There is Love series is how she makes real historical people and the world in which they lived come alive. She does that here with the friends of William Wilberforce for whom fighting slavery in the early 1820s is a natural outgrowth of their evangelical faith. Crow pulls in such fun details as playing at shuttlecocks at the Badminton estate of Lord Beaufort—the origin, of course, of the game. The time falls broadly within the Regency Period in British history that has been so popular with Jane Austin fans. The gowns are elegant, the manners formal, but beneath that aristocratic exterior beat hearts of real people with fears and hopes, wounded spirits and spiritual needs.
In this story the struggles are mostly interior. Just returned from success in the royal navy, Granville struggles to meet his earthly father’s expectations in his studies at Cambridge and, similarly, to “merit” the grace of his heavenly Father. His cousin Georgiana struggles to choose another suitor when her heart already belongs to her cousin Gran, who she believes is in love with her sister. I was surprised that Crow never points out how spiritually unsuited Gran’s competition is to the evangelical Georgiana. Even Georgiana never seems to notice and comments only on suitable social rank and general agreeability even though she feels no emotional attachment to him and he mocks evangelical “enthusiasts.” Granville’s struggles mirror the temptations of students at the time and the contrasting teaching of Charles Simeon. Crow uses original sources to put authentic words in the mouths of her characters, which makes Simeon at times sound like the early nineteenth-century preacher that he was. “Our hope is not in perfection but reconciliation (loc 2648),” he tells Gran who is determined to earn his salvation with works that always peter out when the next temptation comes along.
I would have appreciated a bit more action, but I believe it is Crow’s commitment to historical accuracy that keeps her from developing earlier in the book the conspiracy that lends excitement to the end of her story. I wish I had noticed the dates for each book in the series that occur at the beginning. I struggled to locate myself within my general knowledge of history. A few references to dates attached to letters or parties would have helped me to embroider the context in my mind.
In this story the struggles are mostly interior. Just returned from success in the royal navy, Granville struggles to meet his earthly father’s expectations in his studies at Cambridge and, similarly, to “merit” the grace of his heavenly Father. His cousin Georgiana struggles to choose another suitor when her heart already belongs to her cousin Gran, who she believes is in love with her sister. I was surprised that Crow never points out how spiritually unsuited Gran’s competition is to the evangelical Georgiana. Even Georgiana never seems to notice and comments only on suitable social rank and general agreeability even though she feels no emotional attachment to him and he mocks evangelical “enthusiasts.” Granville’s struggles mirror the temptations of students at the time and the contrasting teaching of Charles Simeon. Crow uses original sources to put authentic words in the mouths of her characters, which makes Simeon at times sound like the early nineteenth-century preacher that he was. “Our hope is not in perfection but reconciliation (loc 2648),” he tells Gran who is determined to earn his salvation with works that always peter out when the next temptation comes along.
I would have appreciated a bit more action, but I believe it is Crow’s commitment to historical accuracy that keeps her from developing earlier in the book the conspiracy that lends excitement to the end of her story. I wish I had noticed the dates for each book in the series that occur at the beginning. I struggled to locate myself within my general knowledge of history. A few references to dates attached to letters or parties would have helped me to embroider the context in my mind.
September 3, 2016
Fourth in Donna Fletcher-Crow’s Where There Is Love series, Where Love Restores is a wonderful blend of period romance, English history, and Christian faith. The story takes place against a political backdrop of Wilberforce’s opposition to slavery, American independence, the Cato Street conspiracy and more. Georgiana delights in dances and hunts, while dreaming of marriage one day. Meanwhile Granville, the love of her childhood, leaves the navy to attend Cambridge. Ever suffering as the younger son with no future planned out for him, he struggles to believe there is any purpose to his life.
Cambridge, with its churches and temptations, isn't all that much changed today. Certainly, having attended there, I have no problem believing the author’s depiction of the university's past. I’m excited to see new buildings going up—then and now—and delighted to learn the history of both Christian and secular societies.
Where Love Restores isn’t a book for those opposed to Christian faith. But it might be a particularly good book for someone struggling with the idea of not being good enough. Granville struggles to believe in the love of a young woman, or of an earthly or heavenly father. In the real world he’s slightly deaf, and in the spiritual he insists on hearing only condemnation and obligation. But faith and prayer will win through, protecting hearts and lives, as the year goes on.
The story’s based on accurate research and presented with evocative prose. Where Love Restores is another great book in the series, and I can hardly wait to read more.
Disclosure: I was given a copy and I offer my honest review.
Cambridge, with its churches and temptations, isn't all that much changed today. Certainly, having attended there, I have no problem believing the author’s depiction of the university's past. I’m excited to see new buildings going up—then and now—and delighted to learn the history of both Christian and secular societies.
Where Love Restores isn’t a book for those opposed to Christian faith. But it might be a particularly good book for someone struggling with the idea of not being good enough. Granville struggles to believe in the love of a young woman, or of an earthly or heavenly father. In the real world he’s slightly deaf, and in the spiritual he insists on hearing only condemnation and obligation. But faith and prayer will win through, protecting hearts and lives, as the year goes on.
The story’s based on accurate research and presented with evocative prose. Where Love Restores is another great book in the series, and I can hardly wait to read more.
Disclosure: I was given a copy and I offer my honest review.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews