The Prodigal Sister in Aussie Readers

Dec 06, 2021 Brenda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-release, aussie-authors, net-galley, read-on-kindle, historical-mystery, arc, own-read, 5000-2021

4.5★s

When Prudence North returned to Melbourne, Australia in 1900, from university in Scotland, she was shocked to see her beloved mother so debilitated. Huntington’s Chorea was a dreadful disease, hereditary, and it terrified her to know that both her sister, Valerie, and she would succumb to it. After they’d buried her mother, just a short time after arriving home, Prudence, her doctor father and Valerie were shattered. And their worry was now for Valerie as the symptoms were fast taking hold. ...more

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Dec 15, 2021 Helen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: review-copy-from-publisher

Darry Fraser has again written a story that is not only entertaining but informative as we travel back in time to Melbourne 1900 just before federation and we meet the strong and lovely Prudence North a young woman determined to get ahead in life, this was a fabulous story that had me turning th pages as I got to know Prudence, I do hope you will come along for the journey.

Prudence North has just returned from Scotland where she was studying at the university, she now has a degree and hopes to f Darry Fraser has again written a story that is not only entertaining but informative as we travel back in time to Melbourne 1900 just before federation and we meet the strong and lovely Prudence North a young woman determined to get ahead in life, this was a fabulous story that had me turning th pages as I got to know Prudence, I do hope you will come along for the journey.

Prudence North has just returned from Scotland where she was studying at the university, she now has a degree and hopes to find worthwhile employment in a male dominated world, she is very interested in the modern new forensic science that should enable the police department to correctly discover answers, but for the moment she is concentrating on her mother who is very ill and her younger sister who sadly has the same condition their mother has a debilitating illness Huntington’s Chorea.

Prudence is met soon after her arrival home by a friend of her father Dr Gregory North, a high ranking police officer Everard Bankston and he threatens to have her father charged with illegal practice unless she finds information on a man by the name of Jasper Darke, left with no choice Prudence does her best to find some information not that there seems to be much but she is taken with the handsome stranger.

Things seem to be changing fast for Prudence and she is more worried about her sister as she finds out some truths about Mr Bankston, when a body turns up in her father’s surgery Prudence immediately notices footprints and her knowledge sees her working out how some things have happened but she finds it hard to get anyone to listen to her.

Meanwhile meeting up with an old school friends gets her closer to Mr Jasper Darke and their friendship grows as he steps in and helps her through some trying times and they discover the truth behind Mr Bankston, and has Prudence thinking about her future and that of her sister.

This is such a great story, fast paced with some twists and turns that had me turning the pages, an intriguing story with such awesome characters Prudence is such a strong woman I loved that she was prepared to stand up for her herself through some very hard and trying times and Jasper what a great hero he is through everything that happened.

Darry Fraser has again researched so well and bought this story and the wonderful characters to life on the pages and I would highly recommend this story to anyone who loves a good story.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy to read and review
...more

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Dec 19, 2021 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: aussie-author, netgalley-reviews, arc-are

The Prodigal Sister is a story of betrayal, intrigue, loyalty, and love set in Australia at the turn of the 20th century from Darry Fraser.

Though she was hoping to further study the new science of forensic investigation after completing her Master of Arts in Scotland, Prudence North heeds her father’s request to return home to Melbourne. With the health of both her mother, and younger sister, Valerie, worsening due to Huntingtons Chorea, Prudence is needed to manage the household and support her The Prodigal Sister is a story of betrayal, intrigue, loyalty, and love set in Australia at the turn of the 20th century from Darry Fraser.

Though she was hoping to further study the new science of forensic investigation after completing her Master of Arts in Scotland, Prudence North heeds her father’s request to return home to Melbourne. With the health of both her mother, and younger sister, Valerie, worsening due to Huntingtons Chorea, Prudence is needed to manage the household and support her father, a busy doctor. When family friend, and high ranking police officer Everard Bankston requests an interview with her just a few weeks after her return, Prudence is hopeful of a career opportunity, instead Bankston tells her that her father has been accused of providing illegal abortions, and if Bankston is to stop him from being charged, Prudence must make the acquaintance of a Mr. Jasper Darke, and report on his activities.

There are several intrigues in The Prodigal Sister, including what truth, if any, there is in the accusations levelled at Prudence’s father, who murdered the man found in his clinic, and what Bankston’s interest is in Jasper Darke, but in general the plot is quite busy with secrets, deceptions, and betrayals. Prudence, caught in the middle, struggles to make sense of everything, drawing on the little she knows of forensic investigation, and finding support from an unexpected quarter.

In addition to the mysteries, there is the development of a romance for Prudence, which is complicated by a number of issues, including her belief that she too will develop Huntington’s, of which little is known at the time, except that it runs in families and is always fatal.

Prudence is an appealing heroine, bright, strong and resourceful, though still constrained by the societal expectations of her time. In mourning, subject to blackmail from Bankston, concerned about the health of her sister and her self, and fighting her attraction to Jasper, she is under an extraordinary amount of pressure.

There really is a lot of drama in The Prodigal Sister, and I think overall perhaps a little too much. While Fraser manages it all well, and the various threads converge neatly, the pacing was a little off, and the author’s twists, though clever, didn’t have the impact they could have.

Nevertheless, The Prodigal Sister is an entertaining and engaging work of historical fiction. ...more

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