by E. L. Daniel
Overall: All the Gold in Abbotsford takes place in a fictional town in England in the 1300s. In the prologue, the reader meets Stephen Warde, an English soldier who barely escapes from a battle that kills his father. The main narrative then picks up 12 years later when Stephen has returned to his hometown of Abbotsford to run the garrison. During his absence, the town has fallen under the sway of corrupt men. Stephen comes up with a plan to root them out, but as part of this plan, he needs a very specific wife. So, he married Elena, the daughter of the local landholding family who’ve been ousted from their ancestral estate, Shilton, with the promise that he will try to recover the property for her and her n’er-do-well brother, Godfrey. Elena does little to conceal her disdain for Stephen, while he hides his passion for her under a mask of indifference. If you enjoy the works of Philippa Gregory or other historical fiction set in the medieval or Tudor periods, and you like a strong undercurrent of romance in your books, you should give this one a look.
Likes: I enjoyed Elena’s character, feisty and independent. I also enjoyed the character of Anselm, “the Good Abbott,” and some of the minor characters, who have interesting backstories. The love story between Elena and Stephen unfolds in fits and starts that felt true to life. And there are lots of details about living in the 14th century, including cooking, medicine, alchemy, and mapmaking. Abbotsford is a character in its own right, with interplay between the Abbey, the guild masters, the representatives of the king, the garrison, and the ordinary townsfolk providing an interesting backdrop.
Dislikes: Stephen’s machinations become confusing at times; there are a lot of subplots being woven together. I would have benefited from a short synopsis about England’s current political situation at the beginning of the book, as many of the characters’ actions are part of a larger plot taking place offstage involving the exiled Queen of England. I sometimes found the use of alternative spellings for words, like “gyngerbrede” for “gingerbread,” distracting.
FYI: war, violence, sexual violence (offstage), sexual assault of a child (offstage), attempted murder, death of a parent, death of a child.
Liz Helfrich 