REVIEW: The Country Gentleman (Woodham Book 1) by Dinah Dean
When he’s mistaken for her husband-to-be, is that prophetic?
Miss Lucinda Calvert’s quiet life as a rector’s daughter is turned topsy-turvy by the arrival of a gentleman new to the area. Mr John Harris seems respectable, but sets the village gossips wagging with speculation about his past—on which topic he is very private indeed.
He pays her particular attention, and his mysterious papers and odd habits confuse her almost as much as his unexpected kiss! Then speculation of a French spy in their midst, taking advantage of the nearby military encampment, sets Lucinda worrying. Could the man she has grown so fond of—perhaps even loves—be a traitor?
Review
In a quiet English village Lucinda Calvert, a vicar’s daughter who does Good Deeds wonders, along with everyone else, why a seemingly rich and single gentleman would choose to settle down there. Woodham is nice, it’s quiet, everyone knows everyone else’s business (partly due to Miss Enstone who can sniff out gossip before it even occurs) but Pinnacle House has been abandoned long enough to need serious work done on it. So why has Mr. John Harris bought it? Is it possible that he really means what he says when he tells people he’s always longed to live quietly in the country and try to make something of a derelict property?
He’s certainly hired enough people to whip the gardens into shape, renovate the house, and he’s open to Lucinda’s worries about the poor people eking out an existence in the falling down cottages on the property next door (the discussion of which gives Dinah Dean an opportunity to gently but not didactically educate readers about the Poor Law arrangements and toss in a bit about Game Laws as well) but who is this man? He’s almost too good to be true.
Lucinda finds herself starting to fall for him, and Fred certainly approves of him – though Fred has never approved of Lucinda’s other male friend Monsieur Roland, the poor French emigree who fled France because of the Revolution – and Lucinda’s father has always said that Fred is an excellent judge of character though Lucinda’s mother sniffs at that saying “(Mr. Harris) must be a paragon if the cat likes him!” But Lucinda starts to notice odd things occuring in around town. Who is Mr. Harris, really? And can she just stand by when she suspects something awful?
I was a bit surprised that Dinah Dean dedicated this book to the bellringers of Waltham Abbey but, along with including a BFF (for Lucinda), the above mentioned Laws, the military, smugglers, and possibly (okay, I’ll spoil a little and say yes) spy stuff, there’s a little bell ringing that goes on though no peals are rung (a good thing as the Calvert family lives in the vicarage which is right beside the church). Does this really have anything to do with the rest of the book? No, but looking into change ringing on youtube took me down a nice two hour rabbit hole.
Along with all the mysterious stuff, there are lovely bits of early 19th century rural England threaded through the story. Not everything is fine and dandy as Dean shows how bad management of estates could devastate the lives of the working class depending on them. Being a landlord was supposed to be more than just riding across your fields and throwing dinner parties for the local well-to-do. They were also supposed to see to the welfare of their tenants which Harris does with up to date cottage construction full of the latest in “must have” niceties. So it’s not stainless steel appliances, subway tiling, and open shelving but as he was showing them off to Lucinda I thought, that’s not bad. She was impressed, too.
Harris also appreciates the gift Fred gives him and is thrilled to get one of Fred’s daughters (renamed Charlotte) as the official mouser of Pinnacle House. Charlotte knows her business and soon sends the mice packing. The smugglers are portrayed as maybe nicer than they probably were in real life and the town doesn’t appear to have problems with the military camp nearby. Lucinda’s father is a dear and her mother a bit of a trial though maybe mom had chronic fatigue syndrome or something. I also enjoyed a secondary romance that Lucinda takes a hand in furthering.
Sadly I’m coming close to finishing all the Dean books that I have but this one is a winner. A-
~Jayne
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I love her gentle, but informative style. The MCs often have a lovely connection and talk about things. A lot of modern writers could stand to study her technique.
@AMG: I love her gentle writing style. I’ll read one but I’m not one who needs a hot, sensual Regency story.
This is a favorite of mine. It’s likely that the company republishing her works will also do the other regency set there, but I wonder if they’re skipping Briar Rose and Maid of Honour, or are planning to publish them out of historical chronological order. (I still wish they would publish in English the medieval story that only came out in German.)
Hi Alea,
Yes, Country Cousins will be the next Dinah novel we publish, probably at the start of May. Since all the Woodham books are standalones, we decided to publish them in the order they were originally published in, which is the two Regencies first then Rose then Honour.
And I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that due to a happy find by Dinah’s family of the original manuscript of Iron and Amber, we will be publishing that too! Look out for it later this year.
Exciting times and we’re so pleased to be giving these books a new lease of life. :)
Millie
@Millie Page: That is *such* exciting news about “Iron and Amber!”
Wonderful news! Thanks for sharing.
Following your review, I read this yesterday and enjoyed it very much. I don’t have enthusiasm right now to read the Russian Eagles series (they sound angsty) and was happy to see this stand-alone title. I look forward to reading Dean’s other stand-alone novels. Your reviews have introduced me to writers I would have missed otherwise – for decades I was pretty much a library books only reader – and it is a pleasure.
@LML: Thank you! It means a lot to hear that our reviews help readers find books they’ve enjoyed. I’m looking forward to reading (and in a few cases rereading) the next Dean books to be released as they’re all standalone.
If angst is an issue, I would wait to get started with the Russian series as the first two are definitely in that category. It’s less so as the series progresses and they can be read out of order but I’ll give the standard disclaimer that relationships grow over the course of the books and it’s a shame to miss that.
Jayne, I may have asked this before, but which is the one you would most advise starting with? Also, have you read them all, including the out of print ones?
@Jayne, I almost never read series out of order because of the relationships.
Although I notice that some romance series aren’t what I would call a series. A small group of friends, perhaps, whose lives don’t overlap at all after the first book doesn’t quite constitute a series in my mind. Marion Chesney’s Regency stories have been grouped into series, but I think only as a marketing device because there is little to no connection from one to another and the publication dates are completely out of sequence.
@Janine: Her medieval ones are great but they are more historical with a romance with the balance towards history. This one “Country Gentleman” is a great basic English regency that feels very period. “The Briar Rose” is interesting in that it’s set during the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. It’s been a while since I read it and I plan to reread it when it’s released. Millie has said that all of them will be reissued.
@LML: I hear what you’re saying about reading a series out of order. I used to get twitchy if I did that but have loosened up a bit about that if, as you say, people tell me that reading This Series isn’t cut and dried have to read them in order.