Book 46 The Banishment

 

The Banishment by Marion Chesney (MC Beaton) fulfills the category “Book from Your TBR List You Associate with a Favorite Person, Place, or Thing” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge.

I bought this title on a trip to Portland, OR to see my husband’s bestie. The two have known each other since the Navy many years ago. Bestie moved to the West Coast after stints in New York and Connecticut. He and Hubby talk all the time in long, political, and scientific conversations. Two years ago, we decided to hit the Pacific Northwest, and all four of us packed up for Portland.

Hubby had visited Bestie before and sent me back pictures of Powell’s Book Store. I was like, “very nice.” I had no idea. Powell’s bookstore in person is a thing of wonder and glory. I wanted to stay all day and buy everything! I purchased all the Marion Chesney/MC Beaton I could find, including The Banishment.

I hit all three: favorite person (one of them)—Bestie, favorite place—bookstore, favorite thing—books.

This title is a regency romance. Ms. Chesney has several series of regency romances, Edwardian mysteries, and of course, her sixty-plus cozy mysteries. The Banishment begins the “Daughters of Mannerling” series. The plot sets up the series when the Beverly’s lose their fortune to their father’s gambling. They had been the snootiest, richest family around, and now they were forced to sell their palatial home and live in a cottage. Isabella, the heroine, just had a failed season because of her snobbish ways. Had she married, it might have saved the family.

Of course, being a romance, we end up with a happily-ever-after for Isabella, who goes through a not-quite-believable change of heart about her family’s circumstances. Page one, she’s a ridiculous snob. Page 100, she’s empathetic and strong. Her change was abrupt, but the book is short. Also, it’s MC Beaton, and I’m used to following her lead, even if it’s not a hundred percent believable.

I love her books, and this first in series was fun. Ms. Chesney played on all our literary favorites. The house sounds like Manderley, from Rebecca. The family has a house full of girls in need of good marriages, a la Pride and Prejudice. They are forced into a cottage like Sense and Sensibility. I’m sure there are more that I missed.

Anyway, loved the book, loved buying the book, loved seeing Bestie.

I give The Banishment by Marion Chesney Four Horses with Evil Names (only four because of Isabella’s quick change).