St Magnus Cathedral, and its organ, play a central part in Music on the Waters, the latest novel from Caroline Warfield. The video above gives the history of the cathedral.
I love stories about two people groping their ineffectual way towards an understanding, and this is a delightful one. The hero is a successful businessman, but hasn’t been quite as successful in understanding his now deceased wife. He needs help with his wild children, especially the daughter who seems increasingly distant. But he is certainly not interested in another meek conventional wife who won’t express an opinion of her own.
Ann appears on the surface to be such a woman, but Alec first sees her when she is playing the organ — can he coax her to be, with him, the vibrant passionate woman she becomes when she plays?
Ann is the daughter of a bullying father, well used to everyone telling her that her thoughts, feelings, tastes, and opinions are wrong. She has learned to hide her appreciation of, and talent for, the music of the great masters. Instead, she teaches and conducts saccharine ballads, while yearning for something more. She has no idea what Alec is up to, but she doesn’t trust it.
The outcome of this romance was never in any real doubt, but the steps and missteps in the developing relationship are wonderfully satisfying, and Warfield has also given us a delightful supporting cast, including a trio of engaging children.
You won’t regret buying this story (for a mere USD99c, or free on KU). Without the twists and the life and death situations of Warfield’s great Children of Empire series or her compelling Christmas Hope, it nonetheless left me with a smile and a warm heart. Perfect comfort reading.
Music on the Waters
Sir Alexander Bradshaw needs a wife, a sensible woman to manage his unruly sons and sullen daughter. No suitable candidates appear, however, and Alec resigns himself to spend another long, dark Orkney winter companionless. When an acquaintance suggests a music teacher might occupy his daughter, he embraces the idea.
Ann Dunwood travels to Orkney for the opportunity to play the Kirkwall organ. For the beauty of the instrument, Ann endures the conservative choir members who wish to perform the most banal of hymns; she’s done it before. She knows how to fade into the shadows and keep to her place.
When he happens upon Ann in the cathedral, Alec is enchanted by the woman at the keyboard, who fills the room with a Bach fugue. Yet, when the music ends, the object of his fascination turns into a demure mouse. Alec determines to reignite the passion he glimpsed in her and fill his home with music.
The Earldom of Rothgard has a long and storied history of strength, wealth, and integrity. But the death of the current matriarch hits everyone hard – most especially the Earl – and he tumbles into a mourning so intense his life becomes lost in a shroud of grief. His eldest daughter, Lady Isobel, steps up to lead the family so her brother can continue at university while her younger sisters experience a childhood of some normalcy.
Legends love again in each Regency romance novel.
There was no getting away from it; someone wanted him dead. The trigger had surely been the notice in the Gazette of his recently acquired title. But who begrudged him the title of Viscount enough to try and kill him? Richard Lacey’s mouth twisted, trying to fathom it out. Well, he was here now; come to see for himself what was so special about Easterby Hall.
I’ve been passionate about books ever since I first learnt to read. A common refrain at home was that I always had my nose in a book; things haven’t changed, even though I’m now somewhat older.