Love Across the Pond

 

 

I almost missed the latest book in the Archer Family as I was disappointed in the last book. But I was out of Audible credits and had resolved to curb spending as a New Years Resolution so I downloaded this book because it was free and I really enjoyed the first 4 books of the series. I was not disappointed with Love Across the Pond.

In this book, we meet Edward Archer brother of Harnet and Olivia Archer. An aspiring Barrister is asked by his cousin's wife Charlotte the Dutches of Peckham to go to Charleston South Carolina to wrap up a final detail of her late father's estate. The home in which she lived with her late aunt before she was sent to England. Edward agrees to go and plans to return and open his office. His youngest sister Hildegard has talked her way into this adventure and promises to behave. 

The pair arrive at the home and meet Charity Stonewright, our prerequisite heroine. She is everything her trope requires. Orphaned, independent, intelligent and spirited, and above all absolutely determined not to fall in love.  The family home Stonewright Manor belonged to Charity's grandfather before he moved the family to Philidelphia for his health Her father insisted that the Manor was never sold and the fabled Stonewright family fortune is still hidden in the house passed down from the family founder and Pirate. 

Charity has moved into the home alone and is searching for the treasure. Edward arrives with his sister determined to get to the bottom of the ownership, sell the home and go home to London. Hild is ready for adventure before she goes back to London and participates in her first Season and marries an acceptable man. 

Charity reluctantly agrees to let the Archer family stay at the home on the cold and stormy night they arrive. She agrees they can stay for the night but MUST leave in the morning. Edward on the other hand can't leave an impoverished young woman without protection even if he is there to sell her home. Like every romantic heroine Charity eventually lets him "save" her by hiring servants, (including a middle-aged chaperone) and stocking the home. I suppose it's hard to be an independent woman in 1817. Meanwhile, she is utterly charmed by Hild and they become close friends. 

While Edward and Charity are investigating the murky ownership of the home Charity's only relative a cousin a 30is ship captain  (I have forgotten his name so he shall now be known as Captain Stonewright) arrives and is very mysterious about the purpose of his visit, how long he's staying and if he's friend or foe. By the end, as we might expect Edward and Charity are in love the mystery of the ownership of the home is resolved as being the property of Charity and they find the pirate treasure. What I really loved about this book is the unexpected parts. 

Most books of this ilk are light and airy without putting historical ugliness in the plot. Usually, books like this ignore things like poverty, child mortality, and the plight of women. While this book did not address those issues in-depth they do explore slavery. The Charleston South Carolina of the early 1800s was very much a slave state and a slave city. The Archer siblings from England are appalled as is Charity since she grew up in Philadelphia. We soon find out that Cousin Archer is not a villain but a Captin helping enslaved people escape to freedom and using the old family home with secret rooms and passages to hide enslaved people until he can get them on his ship and to safety. 

Charity also considers her future as a woman with Edward. He is set on returning to England and she points out that if she goes with him she is no longer an independent woman (now with a considerable fortune). She will be in a country where she knows no one and can be cut off from her own funds. In the end, she chooses love and I have mixed feelings. On one hand, choosing love is the point of this book, but Edward never seriously considers moving to the United States with her. His dreams, ambitions, and family are too much to give up,, yet it's expected that her ties can be severed. I can understand that he wouldn't want to live where enslaving people is a fact of life but they could easily move North. But I also appreciate that by marrying Edward she is no longer an orphan and will be welcomed into the warm and large Archer family which are in England. 

I'm glad the author explored a few of the issues Charity would face and even if they couldn't be resolved perfectly at least she considered them.