Pursued: Lillian's Story

by Felice Picano

n Pursuit: A Victorian Entertainment, Addison Grimmins, slum-born but ambitious and ruthless, sets out on a quest to bring back the Lord Exchequer of England’s missing wife. Now, in Pursued: Lillian’s Story, we get the other side of the story from Lillian, the woman being pursued.

From boat to stagecoach to train, as Lillian and her questionably reliable companions elude her pursuers throughout Europe, Lillian writes to her daughter-in-law on her honeymoon, warning her of what she may expect marrying into the Ravenglass estate and its cursed male line of descent. Lillian recounts how as a girl she entered a dream marriage to the “golden” son of a great Lord. And how, little by little, one misfortune after another, the dream union threatened to become a nightmare that would destroy her reputation—and her life.

Published April 1, 2022

Reviews

[Della B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pursued is the second novel in this series which looks at a major event from two different perspectives. I did not read the first novel yet felt very comfortable in the second one due to the way it is set up. In the first novel titled Pursuit, the point of view is from the person hired to find and bring back Lord Ronald’s missing wife, Lillian. In this novel, through the correspondence from Lillian to her new daughter-in-law, we learn the story behind the fleeing of Lillian.
Picano chose this atypical method for delivering his story and made it work. My interest was piqued from the beginning and it keep me guessing to whom Lillian was fleeing. My problem with the story was how quickly and neatly it tied up the loose ends. There were a couple of unbelievably convenient occurrences which stretched the integrity of the story to obtain the ending. This is disappointing to me but others may find it works for themselves.

Pursued is a Victorian adventure which is an entertaining light read. This style of novel is not for me however I am sure others will be delighted by it.

I received an advance review copy from Bold Stroke Books through NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lillian is on the run through Europe. Through letters to her daughter-in-law, she warns her and recounts her own marriage that was once a dream but ended int a nightmare.
The plot was interesting, and I loved the characters. I was not a fan of how the book was written in letters. The writing was not easy to read, and I had a hard time getting interested in the story mostly because of the formatting