Rocking Horse Hill in Aussie Readers

Feb 16, 2014 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, own-read, net-galley, romance, aussie-authors, rural, read-on-kindle, 2014-release

In the small village of Levenham the Wallace family name was well known; for generations the Wallace’s had resided in the magnificent old manor Camrick which was built 125 years prior and still stood regal and majestic. Within the walls of Camrick lived Adrienne Wallace-Jones, her mother Granny B and son Digby, all living in their separate quarters. Adrienne’s daughter Emily lived at Rocking Horse Hill which was owned by Digby, having been passed to him by his grandfather, but his promise for Em In the small village of Levenham the Wallace family name was well known; for generations the Wallace’s had resided in the magnificent old manor Camrick which was built 125 years prior and still stood regal and majestic. Within the walls of Camrick lived Adrienne Wallace-Jones, her mother Granny B and son Digby, all living in their separate quarters. Adrienne’s daughter Emily lived at Rocking Horse Hill which was owned by Digby, having been passed to him by his grandfather, but his promise for Em to live there as long as she wished was long standing. She loved her home with a passion, and each Tuesday evening the whole family joined together for their traditional dinner at Camrick.

Em worked and owned a small shop called PaperPassion – she was an artist who did magnificent work on old books; poetry and Shakespeare were among her treasures. But she also needed the small income from PaperPassion, with her beloved animals to keep fed and housed being a drain on her finances. With her two donkeys, a horse and her ancient old dog Muffet, plus chickens and a duck – all of whom she loved dearly – there was never enough money to stretch the budget.

The Tuesday night that Digby announced his engagement to a lovely young woman by the name of Felicity Townsend began as every other had. Granny B was as starchy as ever, while Adrienne was dressed beautifully – her long-time friend Samuel calm and sincere, Digby excited but nervous and Emily happy enough to welcome the newcomer into the family.

But slowly, quietly and almost without them being aware, the dynamics began to change within the Wallace family. With Josh Sinclair having entered Em’s life again – something she thought would never happen after the way she had treated him a lifetime ago – her emotions were on high alert. When he and her girlfriends Teagan and Jaz all voiced their distrust of the situation, Em struggled to find a way to overcome her prejudices and keep Digby from becoming angry with them all. Suddenly a disaster which was almost fatal caused chaos within the family and before they knew it, the Wallace family and their lives as they knew it were set to change forever.

I absolutely loved Rocking Horse Hill. Aussie author Cathryn Hein has created a masterpiece with this novel, her best yet in my opinion. Her beautiful descriptions are so well done as to make it easy to feel I was there with Emily and her animals, gazing at the cypress trees, laughing at the antics of the duck, and chasing the donkeys when they escaped their enclosure, ransacking Em’s vegetable garden. A wonderful novel which I have no hesitation in recommending highly.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.
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Mar 11, 2014 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc-are, netgalley-reviews, aussie-author, provided-by-publisher

Rocking Horse Hill is Cathryn Hein's fourth novel, blending heartfelt romance with impassioned drama in rural Australia.

Emily Wallace-Jones has led a charmed life, having grown up at Camrick, the country manor owned by her wealthy family in Levenham for generations, she is now a successful businesswoman and lives happily in the shadow of Rocking Horse Hill on the family property she has coveted since childhood. Em has only one major regret - allowing her immature ego to destroy her relationship
Rocking Horse Hill is Cathryn Hein's fourth novel, blending heartfelt romance with impassioned drama in rural Australia.

Emily Wallace-Jones has led a charmed life, having grown up at Camrick, the country manor owned by her wealthy family in Levenham for generations, she is now a successful businesswoman and lives happily in the shadow of Rocking Horse Hill on the family property she has coveted since childhood. Em has only one major regret - allowing her immature ego to destroy her relationship with Josh Sinclair ten years previously.
So, when Emily's brother, Digby, announces his engagement to Felicity Townsend, a young woman with an unsavoury background, Em is determined to not repeat her teenage mistake, and do all she can to make her future sister-in-law feel welcome, even though the Wallace matriarch, Granny B, seems convinced Felicity somehow poses a threat to the family.
Reconnecting with Josh, who has returned to Levenham to support his ill mother, only strengthens Emily's resolve to defend Felicity but placing her faith in the young woman will prove to have tragic consequences for everyone she loves.

This is the first of Hein's books to develop a plot that also includes light suspense and I think the author does it very well. Hein subtly builds the tension through the novel and I was never entirely sure if Felicity was innocent of the aspersions cast at her by Granny B, and others, or whether she was simply a victim of snobbery and prejudice.

Emily is torn between her family's suspicions about Felicity and her own guilty conscience, and it seems reasonable that Emily would want to give Felicity the benefit of the doubt. I liked Emily who, despite her youthful mistake with Josh, is shown to have become grateful for the privileges she has been afforded. She has a lovely relationship with Granny B and an affectionate, if not close, relationship with her mother and brother, she is also a loyal friend and a hard worker, making a success of her business, PaperPassion.

Hein always creates appealing male protagonists who are unequivocally masculine but not 'macho' and I enjoyed her portrayal of Josh in Rocking Horse Hill. Though he has since been married and divorced, he still harbours some bitterness over the way his relationship with Em ended and he discovers he is still strongly attracted to her, he is reluctant to trust her with his heart again.

Though Em and Josh reconnect physically quite quickly when it becomes evident their mutual attraction hasn't faded, the emotional reunion between the pair was developed slowly, recognising their need to make peace with their past, and renew their relationship as adults.

Additional complexity in the story is provided by the personal struggles experienced by Emily's two best friend's, and Josh's mother's battle with breast cancer. Hein has also again crafted animal characters who round out the story, including an aging dog, a querulous duck and a recalcitrant pair of donkeys who continually escape their paddock.

With its appealing characters, dramatic storyline and vivid setting, Rocking Horse Hill is an engaging read, and paraphrasing my cover quote, Cathryn Hein is a must-read Australian woman writer.

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Apr 04, 2014 Bree T rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, arc, suspense, australian, mystery, rural-lit, aww2014

Ever since she was a child, Emily Wallace-Jones has loved the family property Rocking Horse Hill. Even though her brother Digby inherited the property and technically owns it, he has promised Em that it will always be her home and that she need never fear losing it. Emily lives there with her assortment of animals including horses, donkeys, chooks, a duck and her beloved Miss Muffet, a Smithfield collie.

When Emily hears that her brother is engaged, she is happy for him. Digby deserves happiness Ever since she was a child, Emily Wallace-Jones has loved the family property Rocking Horse Hill. Even though her brother Digby inherited the property and technically owns it, he has promised Em that it will always be her home and that she need never fear losing it. Emily lives there with her assortment of animals including horses, donkeys, chooks, a duck and her beloved Miss Muffet, a Smithfield collie.

When Emily hears that her brother is engaged, she is happy for him. Digby deserves happiness and even though none of them know Felicity, the family makes a big attempt to welcome her with open arms. Only Emily’s eccentric grandmother doesn’t quite see the news as a happy occasion, making her suspicions about Felicity’s past known to Emily, who doesn’t want to hear it. It seems Felicity is slipping right into the family, almost too easily. She leaves Emily feeling a bit left out when she begins learning to cook with Emily’s mother, starts wearing the family jewellery and when Digby brings her out to Rocking Horse Hill, Felicty is delighted with it. Perhaps a little too delighted. And when Digby agrees to let Felicity buy and keep a horse there without consulting Emily, she begins to wonder just how much she can see Rocking Horse Hill as her permanent home.

But Emily once made a big mistake with snobbery, ending a relationship with her first love in a way that devastated him and made him feel as if he wasn’t good enough for one of the esteemed Wallace-Jones family. Now Josh has returned to the local area and he seems willing to give Emily a second chance. When even he seems to have suspicions about Felicity, Emily feels compelled to stand up for her, to back her brother and his fiancee all the way, determined that no one should judge her for being poor or from a bad area. In her choices, Emily could not only be making a huge mistake for her and Josh but she could also be putting her own life at risk.

Rocking Horse Hill is Cathryn Hein’s fourth novel and this book blends a delicious rural romance story with a healthy sprinkling of suspense and family drama as well. Emily is a member of a very esteemed and also quite wealthy family (although she herself is not wealthy really, given the way the family structure and inheritance works). She does have a home to live in courtesy of her brother and she’s passionate about the property and she also has a very deep love for her family. Emily is somewhat shocked when she gets hit by two pieces of news at once – her first love is back in town to support his mother through an illness and also, her brother has become engaged to a woman no one in the family has ever met before.

Cathryn Hein creates some stellar heroes in her books (I still have a girly sigh and a soft spot for Aaron in Promises, her first novel) and the lovely Josh is no exception here. Although he’s still a bit bitter towards Emily and the savage way she ended their relationship when they were younger (with good reason), the two of them find that the old attraction is still simmering away and they fall into what is totally a relationship again, even if they’re both trying not to label it. The two of them are very easy together, even when a bit uncertain about what’s going on, there’s a comfortableness in their interactions. They know each other and they are quite perfectly suited but they do need to deal with their past together and make sure they can both move forward cleanly.

I really felt the suspense was built very well throughout this book – I kept dithering back and forth about whether or not Felicity could be trusted, if she just seemed a bit sinister because they were looking at her through suspicious eyes or if she was really causing the family to begin rotting from the inside out. It kept me guessing right up until the moment that revealed all but I also loved how it wasn’t quite so black and white in that was she evil or was she not. Despite the fact that she’s only really a peripheral character and there are very few interactions with her in the novel one on one, she’s fleshed out very well and evokes everything from frustration to sympathy.

Rocking Horse Hill is full of such beautiful descriptions, especially of the property and the landscape that surrounds it as well as the homestead in ‘town’ that Emily’s mother and grandmother reside in. Emily is a bit of a foodie (much like the author) and the meals she prepares for herself and her two friends or herself and Josh are mouth-wateringly to die for! There’s also lovely imagery of Emily’s passion of recreating old manuscripts and Josh’s cabinetry and wood-working skills. And if Cathryn Hein ever decides to try her hand at stepping back in time for a bit, maybe to the 40s or 50s then I think there’s definitely a story in the character of Granny B! I know that several ‘spin off’ novels are planned after this one, perhaps for Emily’s two friends and maybe another character or two. I think that Granny B has potential for her own story too one day, should it ever decide to make itself known!

I think with each novel, Hein takes a step forward. Hers have always contained exploration of family dramas and emotions but she’s refining her skills and creating more depth and trying new things. The romance is strong in every book but it’s never just the focus – there’s always so much more going on and the talent is that everything blends together seamlessly without feeling crowded and the focus never feels uneven. I think that without a doubt, this is her best book yet. ...more

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Apr 05, 2014 Helene Young rated it it was amazing

Shelves: australian-women-writers-challenge

Another wonderful story from Cathyrn Hein. There's a real depth of emotion in this one on so many levels. The secondary characters are engaging, quirky and memorable. And Rocking Horse Hill has presence all of its own.

Highly recommended! ...more

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Mar 18, 2014 Helen rated it it was amazing

This is a beautiful heartwarming and moving story set in the Adelaide countryside and in the background Rocking Horse Hill Emily Wallace-Jones is from rich country gentry and Joshua Sinclair from the other side of town the working class but they fell in love as teenagers but Em did something that has haunted her for many years and now Josh is back in town and the spark is still there but with so much guilt. This is a story that will pull you in from the start the charachters are rich and add so ...more

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Mar 24, 2014 Janine rated it it was ok

Shelves: net-galley

This is the first book I have read by this author. I was expecting something a bit better than this. I know that Rural Romance is a huge category and very popular but I felt that the storyline was so predictable and the outcome of that storyline as well. Its a pity as I really respect this author.

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