Author: Karen Brooks
ISBN: 9781489261458
RRP: $32.99
Publication Date: 18 February 2019
Publisher: HQ Fiction
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
The Chocolate Maker’s Wife is a weighty historical fiction novel that brings women back into the history books.
Brooks writes meticulously researched historical fiction that brings her chosen time period into stark relief. The Chocolate Maker’s Wife takes us back to 17th Century London in a time of great turmoil.
The Chocolate Maker’s Wife is a story of cruelty, revenge and redemption as well as love and hope. It is sure to captivate and shed light on a period of history many know little about. It is certainly a time I have little knowledge of.
Brooks is known to deftly weave historical figures and events with her own imagination to create a captivating tale. I have only read one of her previous novels, The Locksmith’s Daughter, and I loved it; despite the fact that history has never been my strong point.
Synopsis from the Publisher’s Website:
Damnation has never been so sweet…
When Rosamund Tomkins enters the world she is so different, with her darkling eyes and strange laughter, that the midwives are afraid, believing her a changeling. But Rosamund’s life is set to be anything but enchanted…
Born into poverty, brutalised and ignored by her family, it is only when she is married off to a nobleman that her life undergoes a wondrous transformation, as he recognises that Rosamund infuses magic she does not know she possesses into everything she touches.
Clever, quick and irrepressible, Rosamund soon becomes the darling of the haute ton, and presides over her luxurious chocolate house where the rich go to be seen and indulge in their favourite pastime, drinking the sweet and heady drink to which they’ve become oddly addicted.
But Rosamund stands on the brink of losing all she has worked so hard to achieve and will be forced to make a choice: walk away from all she knows and has grown to love with her soul intact, or make a deal with the devil?
I can’t wait to delve into this one, the decadence, debauchery and deliciousness of the early years of chocolate. In the meantime I look forward to hearing what our readers thought.
Karen Brooks can be found on Twitter, Facebook and her Website.
The Chocolate Maker’s Wife is available now through HQ Fiction and where all good books are sold.
Thanks to HQ Fiction 15 of our Beauty and Lace club members will be reading and reviewing The Chocolate Maker’s Wife so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!