Ruby May is a sympathetic character. She’s motivated and determined and her care of children is beyond reproach. Trained at the prestigious Norland school and recipient of her childcare certificate, Nurse May puts the child or children she is caring for at the center of her life. Norland College, which still exists today, provided Prince George and his siblings, Charlotte, and Louis, the children of Prince William and Kate with a Norland nanny. Ez a gótikus fenyegetésekkel és rejtélyekkel teli Edward-kori történet meggyőző és teljességgel lebilincselő.” – Louise Hare, a This Lovely City szerzője Ruby May is a children’s nurse trained at the prestigious Norland Institute. She joins the England family from West Yorkshire to care for their four children. Their house sits isolated above the wool mill the family own. Welcome to my stop on the #HTPBooks Harlequin Trade Press Publishing’s 2022 Blog Tour for historical fiction. Thanks #HTPBooks #Netgalley for a complimentary eARC of #MrsEngland upon my request. All opinions are my own.

Mrs England by Stacey Halls | Waterstones

Certainly this is a slow-burn novel, and yet whilst there were chapters where not very much actually happened, I found myself enjoying the small details and interactions between the characters, which I think is credit to the author.

The strength in this book is three-fold - its mysterious Gothic setting, the menacing feel surrounding the England family and the strength of Ruby's character. I loved Ruby's determination and capability as a children's nurse and the secrets from her past add to the mystery, but unfortunately, her story isn't woven into the main thread, leaving readers to wait until close to the end of the story to learn what they are. The pacing is slow but deliciously eerie, my only beef is that a romantic element felt too forced to be believable. The staff at Hardcastle House was not welcoming, and Ruby had to do many things she hadn't done in her first position. The perfect read for a rainy evening, Mrs. England is a compelling, well-written slow-burn mystery that invites the reader to immerse themselves into a different time, place, and a group of characters whose secrets will soon have the reader second-guessing what's going on. When the twists are revealed, they suited the story well, and while they didn't come as a surprise to this reader, I definitely enjoyed the journey. This was my first book by Stacey Halls, but it will not be my last. The rest of the characters are pretty basic minor characters. Relatively one-dimensional, very predictable and for the most part not well developed or thought through. Thank you to the publisher, MIRA, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Mrs. England in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mrs England by Stacey Halls | Goodreads

When Ruby May takes on the position of nurse to the England children of Hardcastle House in Yorkshire, she finds herself puzzled by Mrs England whilst drawn to the Master of the house. Yet slowly she discovers that all is not as it seems! A zárkózott és visszahúzódó Lilian csekély érdeklődést mutat gyermekei és elragadó férje iránt, és távolról sem az „a ház angyala”, akinek Ruby gondolta. Bár a barátságos, élénk Charles örömmel fogadja a dadát a családban, Rubyt egy sor különös esemény arra kényszeríti, hogy kérdőjelezzen meg mindent, amit addig tudni vélt. A cselédek által kiközösített, és magát egyre kényelmetlenebbül érző dadának szembe kell néznie a démonaival, megelőzendő, hogy a történelem megismételje magát. Azon tűnődtem, létezik-e szó a honvágyra, ha nem egy hely, hanem személyek után munkál bennünk; maga a lakás, vagy a hálószobánk nem hiányzott, csak az a meleg, páratlan érzés, hogy magam körül tudom azokat, akik a legjobban ismernek. This version of Norland exists in 1904 England. A young woman who goes there can rise above her social class and take part in a lifestyle to which she would otherwise never be exposed. Such was the case for Ruby May, who attends Norland with a scholarship. At the beginning of the story, she is set to lose her position with the Radletts because they are moving overseas. They wish for Nurse May to go with them, but she refuses, saying that she can’t leave her family in England. It’s a bit mysterious because Norland nannies travel and live abroad with their families all the time. Why can’t Nurse May do the same? Slowly over the course of the novel, Stacey Halls reveals the answer to this mystery. I wonder if the setting of the novel in the year 1904 is significant, as the Suffragettes’ struggle to win the vote for women was becoming militant at this time. There is no overt politics in the book, but Halls appears to be putting forward a feminist case for the strength of women.Yorkshire megye, 1904. Ruby Mayt, a frissen végzett dadát felveszik Charles és Lilian England négy gyermeke mellé. Ruby reméli, hogy ez az a kiugrási lehetőség, amelyre mindig is várt, ugyanis Englandék befolyásos gyártulajdonos dinasztiából származnak, jelentős vagyonnal rendelkeznek. De az új dada számára, amint megszokja az élet rendjét az eldugott Hardcastle House-ban, világossá válik, hogy a titokzatos és szépséges Mrs. Englanddel valami nincs rendjén. I have already read Halls’ account of the Pendle witches and she writes historical fiction from a female perspective. This is an undemanding novel, set I would guess in the early 1900s. It is a bit gothic and is a bit of a slow burner. The main character Ruby May is a Norland Institute nurse/nanny. After her first family emigrated she is sent to Yorkshire to the family of Mr Charles England and his wife Lilian and their four children. Each of the main characters has secrets which gradually unravel over the course of the novel. Halls also provides a pretty good description of how coercive control works. The setting is in the Hardcastle crags area of Yorkshire and there is a bleakness to it which is quite pleasing. Failed to impress are the words that comes to mind on finishing this one. A nice easy read but certainly not one I will remember a few months from now Stacey Halls új regényének középpontjában ismét tragikus sorsú, ám hihetetlenül bátor nők állnak, és az anyaság, a gyermekek nevelése ezúttal is kifejezetten nagy hangsúlyt kap. A Mrs. England főszereplője a naiv May dadus, míg a nála rafináltabb, jóval összetettebb címadó szereplő sorsába jóval kevesebb betekintést nyerhetünk. Az olvasmányos történet baljós hangulatot áraszt, és lassan csordogál, egészen addig, míg mindkét nő lelki terheire fény nem derül. At what point did you suspect it might be Mr England and not Mrs England that Nurse May needed to watch out for?