The Cavendon Luck (Cavendon Hall #3) by Barbara Taylor
It is 1938 in England, and Miles and Cecily Ingham have lead the family in bringing the Cavendon estate back from the brink of disaster. But now, with the arrival of World War II, Cavendon Hall will face its biggest challenge yet. It is a challenge that will push the Inghams and Swanns to protect each other and the villagers, and reveal their true capacity for survival and rebirth.
Told with Bradford’s deft, evocative prose and featuring a beloved cast of characters, The Cavendon Luck is a story of intrigue, romance, sorrow, and joy that readers won’t soon forget.
Review: In the third installment in this series, it is 1938 the Cavendon family is now facing the challenge of World War II. The family has successfully saved the great estate from ruin but the risks of war now and all its deprivations and atrocities lie before them.
This is a generational saga in many ways and this novel shifts perspective from the oldest generation to the youngest Cavendons. The Cavendon and Swann family are more closely linked than ever, as Miles and Cecily have married and started a family together. I do like that this also means there is a shift from the first novel where it was very much upstairs and downstairs dynamics to more of two families on more equal footing.
This novel felt more scattered than the earlier books. Rather than following one or two of the characters' love stories closely, it just briefly references some and then zooms on to the next member. Part of this is that the cast of characters has become so large that it is unwieldy and unmanageable. I don't feel like I know any of the younger characters well. I missed the in-depth focus on a few members. This book just felt especially light on character development. It also does a whole lot of telling rather than showing with the writing and felt clunky and unrealistic in its dialogue as a result.
Stars: 3
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