The Widow of Larkspur Inn - Lawana Blackwell

Lawana Blackwell is one of those authors who doesn't hit her stride right away (the Victorian Serenade series, her first, is out of print and for good reason) but when she hits it, she hits it hard. The Gresham Chronicles is her second series, and in my opinion, the best contemporarily-written Christian Victorian series out there. And I read all of them. I probably wouldn't have student loan debt if I didn't buy books. Yes, Blackwell hit her stride in this series.

It's a simple enough premise: In the mid nineteent-century, Julia Hollis, the widow of a wealthy doctor discovers that her husband's gambling debts have eaten up the family fortune, and she and her children have no money, but one remaining asset, an old coaching inn in a dairying village called Gresham. Together with her three children and dear friend/chambermaid Fiona, she sets out to Gresham, determined to convert the coaching inn into a boardinghouse so she can maintain an income for herself and her family.

Various adventures, both romantic and spiritual, ensue, but the real treat of this novel is the characters. Blackwell creates such a charming, delicious cast of characters who interact in such amusing and poingiant ways that you're sincerely sorry when the tale is over. Though Julia Hollis is calm and ladylike, she is surrounded by such a vibrant, eccentric bunch of people it's a small wonder she doesn't lift her silk skirts and run back to London. There's the elderly, imperious Mrs. Kingston, who has both a tender heart and a viciously clever mind, but few can see it beneath her harsh exterior. There's the ancient sisters Iris and Jewel Worthy, who keep a close watch on the town while spinning lace on their front porch. There's the actor Ambrose Clay, whose sorrowful eyes carry dark burdens. Julia even discovers secrets among her own brood, the pain her son is trying to hide, and the hidden past of Fiona. Perhaps the most intriguing character of all, at least to Julia, is the village's new vicar, who, like Julia, is widowed, and struggling to raise children who are difficult to understand.

The spiritual message is strong, and the varying adventures of the villagers are enough to keep you engrossed and in stitches for hours. A total must-read for women, as well as those men who don't mind showing their softer side. Reviews of the other three Gresham books to come, including the newest, the Jewel of Gresham Green.

Highly Recommended.