Goodnight, Sweet Prince: AND Wild Strawberries by Emma Blair

This is the conclusion to the tale of a family which owns a distillery, begun in the rather better Flower of Scotland. One of the more interesting characters, Andrew, survived WW1 and is running the family firm which he never expected to inherit. He hopes that his own son Drew will take an interest when he is older. We also meet familiar characters, such as a war-blinded man and his wife, as well as new characters. Expect some strong language in context.

One interesting aspect is a look at the bondage system of labour. A farm worker would be hired for a year and was expected to bring a woman with him. She would keep his cottage and do field work. This woman, a bondager, would be made available for hire by her family from the age of thirteen or so, after which she was on her own. She was not paid and got nothing but her keep, unless the labourer chose to marry her later. The labourer was not made responsible for any children she had, and she was unable to refuse his advances or those of the landowner. She could be cast off at the end of the year. The distillery family is shown as unaware of the medieval bondage system and when they learn that it still exists, astonished and disapproving, taking steps to improve matters.

We also see what happens when a well-off woman goes quietly batty after a stillbirth. There's heavy drinking of whisky, but we come to understand that it may not be good for your health. The book builds to WW2 but as in the first book, life is not represented that well, because we hear very little about rationing of anything from food to clothes to petrol. Men up to forty get the dreaded call-up and some of our characters become pilots. The action stays in Britain.

The author was a man writing under a woman's name, which shows in the frequent immersion in the male viewpoint which is less usual in social history romance.

Dickinson has created a wonderful, and quite believable, mystery imbued with humanity and sympathy. The sense of period, time and place are excellent; the characters and story are realistic and interesting. There is a quiet humor to Powerscourt, along with his relationship with Lady Lucy, the provide balance to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am happy knowing I have the rest of the series ahead of me.