This novel is centered around a very old house near a small village in rural England - a house Julia Beckett knows from childhood is meant to be hers. When she finally is able to move into the house as an adult, she soon finds herself pulled back into the past - to a previous life she lived as Mariana in the 17th century. This novel made for a quick read and included a final twist that I absolutely loved. ( )

That twist at the end was the absolute best. I was only planning on giving the book a four star rating until I read that part. ( )

I usually love Susanna Kearsley’s books and although this started well for me as the story progressed I became less interested in the outcome. Overall it was ok and I am glad I read it but nowhere as enjoyable as some of her other books ( )

Susanna Kearsley's voice flows very pleasantly and it was a very satisfying read. The English village life is described vividly and intimately and I am kind of surprised she is Canadian. Although, I don't really know if I believe in reincarnations, I liked Julia traversing back in time in this way and this mix of contemporary and historical fiction. The ending took me by surprise and I had to mull over it for a while. ( )

Julia Beckett fell in love with a house when she was five and on a family vacation. She saw it again at 22 and again at nearly 30. She's grown up, become a successful illustrator, and inherited a packet from a great aunt. She is finally able to buy the house that had been calling to her for years.

Almost as soon as she moves in, she begins seeing a man on a gray horse, hears legends of a Green woman who haunts her house, and finds herself slipping out of the present into the life of a young woman named Mariana who lived in the 1600s. This terrifies her and makes her think she's losing her mind, but her brother who has become a Vicar reassures her and lets her open her mind to the possibility of reincarnation.

As Julia spends more time as Mariana she comes to know Richard de Mornay who is the Lord of the Manor. She is also forced to live with her abusive uncle, his beaten wife, and sister-in-law. As an orphan who was forced to flee London because of the plague, she has no other options. Her relationship with Richard has to be kept secret.

Meanwhile, Julia is making friends in the present. Vivien is the local barkeeper. Her next-door neighbor is Geoff de Mornay who is very rich and a descendant of Richard's. She also meets Iain Sumner who is Geoff's best-friend from his Cambridge days and who is currently a farmer and gardener.

Julia also meets Vivien's Aunt Freda who is Geoff's housekeeper and who seems to know a lot about what Julia is going through. Julia becomes almost obsessed with Mariana's life and spends more and more time in the past. None of her research in the present gives her any information about Richard and she knows little more about Mariana than she can find on her tombstone.

I loved this story which was beautifully written and intriguing. I will admit that I was surprised at the ending which didn't go at all the way I thought it would. I'm not really a fan of time travel but Kearsley's books are exceptions. I love the way the present and past are woven together. ( )