Fiercombe Manor by Kate Riordan FIC Rio

This was a bit different than what I usually read but I enjoyed it.  It is sort of a gothic novel.  It is the story of two women separated by 30 years and the reader is taken back and forth between the two stories.  One woman, Alice, finds herself in trouble at the age of 22.  The man she loved was married - but of course he was going to get a divorce.  (Really, do these women always have to fall for that old line????)   Alice's love for him led her into one moment of passionate lovemaking which leaves her pregnant.  Her mother is frantic to keep this a secret (it is the 1930's) so she arranges for Alice to go to Fiercombe Manor for the remainder of her pregnancy and then they will take the baby to an orphanage.  Fiercombe Manor was once a beautiful estate but now it is mostly deserted except for a few servants. The full-time housekeeper, Mrs. Jelphs, was a good friend of Alice's mother.  She writes to Mrs. Jelphs that Alice's husband has died and she thinks Alice should go somewhere quiet to recover and to have the baby.  Alice becomes intrigued with some clues to a woman named Elizabeth who had lived there.  The second story is that of Elizabeth and what her life was like in the Manor.  Of course the young good-looking heir to the Manor pops in for one of his infrequent business trips and meets Alice.  I enjoyed the characters and the descriptions of the two time periods.  An entertaining book.

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