From award-winning author of The Dark Horizon, Liz Harris, comes the second in a sweeping saga set between the wars, which tells the story of the Linfords, a family simmering with secrets, lies and betrayal.
London, 1923
Alice Linford stands on the pavement and stares up at the large Victorian house set back from the road—the house that is to be her new home.
But it isn’t her house. It belongs to someone else—to a Mrs Violet Osborne. A woman who was no more than a name at the end of an advertisement for a companion that had caught her eye three weeks earlier.
More precisely, it wasn’t Mrs Osborne’s name that had caught her eye—it was seeing that Mrs Osborne lived in Belsize Park, a short distance only from Kentish Town. Kentish Town, the place where Alice had lived when she’d been Mrs Thomas Linford.
Thomas Linford—the man she still loves, but through her own stupidity, has lost. The man for whom she’s left the small Lancashire town in which she was born to come down to London again. The man she’s determined to fight for.
The Flame Within is perfect for readers of The Thorn Birds and the Cazalet Chronicles, and the novels of Fiona Valpy and Santa Montefiore.
Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flame-Within-gripping-between-Linford-ebook/dp/B08GQB97NF
US - https://www.amazon.com/Flame-Within-gripping-between-Linford-ebook/dp/B08GQB97NF
Review:
This was a lovely book though I didn't know what to expect from it. While the blurb describes where the story starts - Alice, determined to reclaim her husband - the majority of the book is made up of flashbacks leading to this point. We see Alice's childhood ambition to escape the life her parents lead, her time as a nurse, her marriage to Thomas, and the troubles that came with it, and how their story eventually resolves.
It's a gorgeous period piece that deals with mental health and the toll it takes on others. It's also a reminder than love needs attention and effort to thrive - if you don't feed it, it will die. While I wouldn't call this a romance, it does have a happy ending, even
if it's not the one I would've preferred - let's be real, there's one
character who did not get the ending they deserved (no spoilers, though warning for infidelity).
Despite being second in a saga, it stands well on its own, neither needing the first book nor spoiling it, so if the inter-war period or family dramas tweak your interest, pick this one up!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Rachel's Random Resources, all opinions are my own.
Author Bio:
Liz’s first six novels were published by Choc Lit. The Road Back was the US Coffee Time and Romance Book of the Year, A Bargain Struck was RoNA-shortlisted for Best Historical Novel, and they and The Lost Girl, Evie Undercover, The Art of Deception and A Western Heart were shortlisted by the Festival of Romantic Fiction in their respective categories. Liz’s latest historical novel, The Dark Horizon, Book 1 of The Linford Series, which is set between the wars, was released in May 2020. She has also had short stories published in several anthologies and in magazines.
Liz is an active member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and also of the Historical Novel Society. She regularly gives talks and workshops at conferences, and is an approved speaker for organisations such as the WI and U3A. Her hobbies are theatre, reading, travel, cryptic crosswords. You can visit her website at www.lizharrisauthor.com
Social Media Links:
Website: www.lizharrisauthor.com
Twitter: @lizharrisauthor
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/lizharrisauthor
Instagram: liz.harris.52206
Many thanks for a very interesting review, Lauren. I'm so glad you enjoyed the novel, and I'm grateful to you for pointing out that the novel is a standalone, although it's one of a series. :-)
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