Do You like book The Five-Minute Marriage (1979)?
This is the first adult Joan Aiken book I've read all the way thru. (I've read many many of her children's books.) I was worried it would be a difficult book with a lot of tragedy in it, as the only other adult book by Joan Aiken I had tried reading was tragic and too emotionally gruelling for me so I didn't finish it. I don't remember what it was called. But this one has a happy ending, and is even somewhat cliche, but I didn't mind that. I really enjoyed it and got into it and identified with the heroine.It's sort of like a cross between a Jane Austen, a Mary Stewart, and a Georgette Heyer, with Aiken's own twist of humor occassionally added in.
—Lesli
Its true they keep it in the family *ahem* in many old regencies. I even considered adding a shelf for couples that are related :PI still want to read this though..
—Miriam
Overall this was a delightful book. While the writing style and, what I'm assuming is the language of the time period, made me stumble at times, the characters were interesting. The author put in plenty of believable twists and included a happy ending. The storyline includes LOTS of crazy family history which sometimes got confusing, but only formed the overall picture of why this family was the way it was, so I didn't have to focus on getting all the people right in order to follow the main plot. Largely clean, although it hints at much common to life, I think it's really the characters that drew me in and kept me reading.
—Carrie Daws