This historical romance has great pace, strong characters, intrigue and mystery, danger, friendship and love. Nicola Pryce is expert in weaving multiple threads of plot into a coherent story whilst delighting readers with insight into her chosen period. Cornwall in 1800 offers the Napoleonic Wars, spying and republican ideas. It was very much a time of change. The fashions of corsets and wigs were giving way to soft flowing dresses and natural hair. Traditional farmers began looking to engineering works. Women were becoming more educated and more enterprising.
As in her other novels in this series the writer explores a particular research topic - in this instance the forced seclusion of women in lunatic asylums and how this could be used as a way of controlling their lives and fortunes. Even a French prisoner of war was granted more freedom! This topic appears again and again in The Cornish Captive, together with themes of trust and decision-making. I found it an exciting and fascinating read.
As in her other novels in this series the writer explores a particular research topic - in this instance the forced seclusion of women in lunatic asylums and how this could be used as a way of controlling their lives and fortunes. Even a French prisoner of war was granted more freedom! This topic appears again and again in The Cornish Captive, together with themes of trust and decision-making. I found it an exciting and fascinating read.