Regaining love!

Remember When: Clarissa’s Story (Ravenswood #4) by Mary Balogh       

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Eighteen year old Matthew Taylor is shocked when his best friend Clarissa Greenfield, all of seventeen, tells him she’s going to marry Caleb Ware, Earl of Stratton.
Fast forward thirty years. Clarissa Ware is now fifty and  Dowager Duchess of Stratton. Some years ago the family was dealt a stunning blow when the Duke brought his mistress to the village installing her in the Inn as a widow looking for somewhere to settle down. Prior to this Caleb had kept his parliamentary life and country life separate. His son Devlin confronted him in front of the villagers at the local ball. 

Matthew’s always felt rejected by his family and now his secret love and friend will be out of his life. Clarissa words cut.

Clarissa has now been a widow for six years. Having done her duty she decides to retreat to Ravenswood to think about her future.

It is here she is reacquainted with Matthew after thirty three years. In the interim Matthew has travelled to far off lands, found his passion, and peace.

He is a talented wood carver. His descriptions about discovering the beauty of sculpture as he gazed at Michelangelo’s  Pietà in Rome is quite beautiful.

Naturally Clarissa’s family send various members to visit her, trying to determine what’s going on with their mother.

A heart felt story of loss, of acceptance, of searching for a future; of families reacquainted, and of finding love and forgiveness in later years. The tale has a gentle quality, although it’s unashamedly confronting. It is like floating down a river becoming occasionally entangled or foundering for a while on the shoals but being drawn inextricably on.

I really enjoyed it.

A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.