Mrs Bates of Highbury by Allie Cresswell @alliescribbler @rararesources #BookReview #SpecialOffer

Happy Sunday book lovers!

Delighted to be part of this blog tour and share with you today my review, thank you so much to Rachel for my invitation!

The new novel from Readers’ Favourite silver medalist Allie Cresswell. 

Thirty years before the beginning of ‘Emma’ Mrs Bates is entirely different from the elderly, silent figure familiar to fans of Jane Austen’s fourth novel. She is comparatively young and beautiful, widowed – but ready to love again. She is the lynch-pin of Highbury society until the appalling Mrs Winwood arrives, very determined to hold sway over that ordered little town.

Miss Bates is as talkative aged twenty nine as she is in her later iteration, with a ghoulish fancy, seeing disaster in every cloud. When young Mr Woodhouse arrives looking for a plot for his new house, the two strike up a relationship characterised by their shared hypochondria, personal chariness and horror of draughts.

Jane, the other Miss Bates, is just seventeen and eager to leave the parochialism of Highbury behind her until handsome Lieutenant Weston comes home on furlough from the militia and sweeps her – quite literally – off her feet.

Mrs Bates of Highbury is the first of three novels by the Amazon #1 best-selling Allie Cresswell, which trace the pre-history of Emma and then run in parallel to it.

My Thoughts

This book is not my usual reading taste, but I found it utterly charming! I have not read a Jane Austen book in over 20 years, nor do I have the desire to… and I have no idea if I’ve ever read “Emma”…. this book takes place 30 years prior to the start of “Emma“ and revolves around Mrs. Bates…. i’d imagine if you are a big Jane Austen fan and love “Emma“ then you will absolutely love this book, but even though I have no idea the connection these characters have to the Jane Austen story I truly found this a delightful read!

Mrs. Bates and her two daughters are forced to rediscover and reinvent themselves after the passing of Mr. Bates… not only have the ladies lost a husband/father but they also are losing their home…. I was enchanted by these three ladies whose lives were so different from my own… when you don’t read many books that take place during this timeperiod You forget all the rules of society…. The dress, the speech, the courtship, it was fun to revisit this part of history…. all three ladies also have a love interest, so that was quite interesting watching them all navigate themselves through the societal ins and outs, dos and don’ts.

Absolutely recommend if you are Jane Austen fan and I’d say it’s safe to say you will enjoy this even if you aren’t!

Purchase from Amazon UK –  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mrs-Bates-Highbury-prequel-inspired-ebook/dp/B07GJM2K4W

Author Bio –

Allie Cresswell was born in Stockport, UK and began writing fiction as soon as she could hold a pencil.

She did a BA in English Literature at Birmingham University and an MA at Queen Mary College, London.

She has been a print-buyer, a pub landlady, a book-keeper, run a B & B and a group of boutique holiday cottages. Nowadays Allie writes full time having retired from teaching literature to lifelong learners.

She has two grown-up children, two granddaughters and two grandsons, is married to Tim and lives in Cumbria, NW England.

You can contact her via her website at www.allie-cresswell.com or find her on Facebook

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/alliescribbler/

@alliescribbler

For the duration of the blog tour, Allie Cresswell has five hard copies of Game Show and five hard copies of Tiger in a Cage, all signed, available for £5 plus p & p to UK addresses. If you are interested then please get in touch.

Have a lovely day! Berit☀️✨