The Brideship Wife is a captivating story from Victorian England to Canada . Charlotte the main character is forced by her brother-in law is forced to leave her home in England and travel on a ship to Canada that is carrying brides for the New World. Charlotte wants to be independent but finds this difficult in the rigid social structure of Victorian England. Charlotte traveling in first class assists a doctor on the ship, meets a minister who is trying to help the natives with the small pox outbreak, befriends the women in sterrage who are traveling to the new world to meet husbands, work and to become independent.
This historical novel depicts the political and social injustice of the times. It is a novel of enduring, friendship, loyalty , love. and a desire for independence.
These Victorian women were one off the first era of women to fight and demand women have the same rights as men.
I received this wonderful book as an ARC digital copy for an honest review.

The Brideship Wife is a nice clean love story that tells of a girl, Charlotte, who is looking forward to a home and marriage. Due to some difficult circumstances, she is forced to leave London to go with the brideship sailing for North America, While on the ship she meets John, a man she soon falls in love with.. John's father becomes ill, and he must return to England.. Charlotte is traveling with her sister, who has her own troubles, continue on to Victoria. It's an interesting story I enjoyed reading and will enjoy again and again.

Publisher's Description: Tomorrow we would dock in Victoria on the northwest coast of North America, about as far away from my home as I could imagine. Like pebbles tossed upon the beach, we would scatter, trying to make our way as best as we could. Most of us would marry; some would not.

England, 1862. Charlotte is somewhat of a wallflower. Shy and bookish, she knows her duty is to marry, but with no dowry, she has little choice in the matter. She can’t continue to live off the generosity of her sister Harriet and her wealthy brother-in-law, Charles, whose political aspirations dictate that she make an advantageous match.

When Harriet hosts a grand party, Charlotte is charged with winning the affections of one of Charles’s colleagues, but before the night is over, her reputation—her one thing of value—is at risk. In the days that follow, rumours begin to swirl. Soon Charles’s standing in society is threatened and all that Charlotte has held dear is jeopardized, even Harriet, and Charlotte is forced to leave everything she has ever known in England and embark on a treacherous voyage to the New World.

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When I first started reading it, I thought it would just be another historical romance story. There is romance but so much more. I fell hard for the main characters Char and her sister Hari. Char is a survivor. The way that the author weaves history thru the book is pretty amazing as well. There is information at the end of the book on how she came about writing the book and researching that I found very interesting.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #SimonSchuster for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. The book will be released on May 5, 2020.

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. (Thank you!) This novel is currently set to be published in May of 2020.

"The Brideship Wife" takes us on a journey of a rarely discussed topic in Canadian history; the transport of women from Britain to British Columbia during the 19th century for prospects of marriage and land settlement. Growing up in Canada I had heard of the French "filles du roi" of the 17th century, but I did not realize that England had attempted something similar nearly 200 years later. The topic of the story pulled me in from the beginning as the historian in me wanted to learn more.

As a novel, I found that I liked this story overall, but the pacing felt dreadfully glacier. Interesting things were happening, but I often found my interest waning. The characters were bland and cliché, fitting succinctly into their black and white boxes with no morally grey areas, but the events themselves held some kernel of truth and you could tell that Howard did her research prior to writing. This is a good read to get a broad idea of the lives and stories of brideship wives, but I think there are better 19th century period novels that have been published.

The Brideship Wife follows a young girl named Charlotte in the late 1800's who leaves England when she is caught in a scandal with some very rather powerful political figures. She boards a ship bound for Victoria in the new British Colony that is now Canada. The ship holds many women who have been sent to the new colony to become wives or hopefully find a better life than what they had in England.
I did enjoy the book. I"m a sucker for a happy ending so I liked that this one had a relatively happy ending. I think it was also realistic about events that happened during the late 1800's. Women's roles were very much defined by their husbands and controlled by the men in their lives. Taking a woman who didn't have a lot left to her name provided her with some interesting obstacles.
This book definitely felt well researched and well told. It was very interesting to be reading about Canada before there was technically an official Canada. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I definitely know of a lot of the places that were mentioned in the book. I realized about half way through the book how frustrated I was with some of the events that were happening but I think overall, the characters were well written with a very likable main character as well. I enjoyed it.

This book is historical fiction. That is that though fiction it is based on actual events. There were ships leaving Englad called Brideships. This ships had as passengers women from all walks in life that during to circumstances had little or no money. The ships would these women half way around the world to Victoria.
Charlotte and Harriet are sisters. Harriet has made a nice marriage and is a member of high society. Charlotte has not married yet and her sister and brother-in-law are trying to find her a suitable spouse. Since she does not have a dowry she is not in the running to make a great marriage.
After being almost raped by a high society man Charlotte and her sister are sent packing by her sister's husband. That is how they ended up on the Bridesmaid shop going to British Columbia.
This story of Charlotte and Harriet tells us many things. One remarkable thing was that a lot of the women going on the ship were just going to start a new life. Whether the got husbands or not. It was a time to gain freedom. To be able to be independent and make a new chapter in their story.
Intriguing, educational and dramatic!

I love the main part of the story and wish we had left England sooner to give it more time to flourish. In fact, Id have happily spent more time with Charlotte and Harriet than anything to do with Charles and George who enraged me endlessly. As did some of the other ship passengers. Briefly touching on themes of colonialism and empirialism, I do wish the author spent more time the with First Nations story and how new beginnings from those who were marginalized and outcasts in their society meant taking so much from those people. So I guess it's a sign of a book worth readingwhen you wanted it to be longer, Fuller bc there was so much story to be told. Thank you to S&S and NetGalley for the arc and I'll be looking for more from this author and reading up on the brideship story as well

From the rigid social circles of Victorian England, The Brideship Wife takes us on a journey through a time when politics favored men and women were little more than trinkets to be bartered. I was not aware of this "brideship "history . Charlotte was likable, and amazing that at 22, she and the other girls evoked on an adventure of this magnitude--single, sailing around Cape Horn, docking in British Columbia without home, jobs, or any prospects. And yet all of it was pretty mundane. Everything just worked out.

I did not think i was Going to enjoy this novel , but I was to give feedback on it so I kept reading.
It was slow at the beginning for me. But as I got to know the characters, I started to enjoy it.
Th book is based on history and some of the events actually occurred. It it’s basically the story of two sisters who resided in England in the mid 1800’’s. They travelled together on a ship across the Atlantic ; one sister to start a new life.
This was a mixture of history and fiction based on that history.
I throughly enjoyed the book.

The Brideship Wife by Leslie Howard chronicles the story of two sisters, Charlotte & Harriet, from the late 19th century England. At this time in history a woman had minimal rights. It was the duty of a young woman to marry well so her husband could support her. Harriet had done this. Charles was an up and coming politician in line to inherit his uncle's seat in Parliament. He had taken Charlotte in because their parents were dead, but it was now time for her to marry and they wanted her to marry George, one of Charles's colleagues. Things did not happen as planned, and Charlotte ended up on a ship headed to British Columbia with women from all stations in life sent to marry and bring British culture to western Canada.

The story is filled with perils of the trip, tragedies & triumphs, heart break, love lost and regained, and separation of the classes. It is the story of women who stood strong and made their own way. It brought to life a part of North American history I did not know.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. In the about the author section at the end of the book it says that it is the debut book by this author. I also like that this author is from my home country of Canada. I look forward to this author putting out more good books,for sure.

As I read this book, I vacillated between thinking it was it was quite good and being quite disappointed in it. It starts off with a lot of info dumps, because obviously it's super important to know all about the main characters' lives and what their parents' marriage was like. The main character is the common cliche of a woman with today's sensibilities living in the past. I thought for sure she would get a bee in her bonnet about settling the wilderness of Western Canada and decide to ship out, but the way she reached this decision was a lot more interesting that I had assumed, so I was impressed for a bit.

Then comes the time on the ship. The description I read of the book led me to believe that it's mostly set in Canada, but more than half of the book takes place before they ever land in the New World. A lot more took place on the ship than I thought truly necessary. I was always interested in finding out what British Columbia would hold and had to wait a long time for any answers. It's not until 63% that we finally reach our destination and get off the boat for good, making this far more of a book about a boat ride than about people settling the Canadian wilderness. There's nothing inherently wrong about a book taking place aboard ship, but I wish I had known from the beginning that the word "ship" in the title was going to be much more important than either "bride" or "wife." I constantly wished we would just arrive already so the story could actually get moving.

Once we do land, the story finally gets going, but some of the main character's choices made little sense to me. I can't put them here without risking spoilers, but she turns proposals down (isn't the whole point here to become a wife?) and whenever someone hits on her or appears to possibly be hitting on her, she thinks to herself how much she isn't interested, before she even remotely gets to know them. I'm all for being choosy but the ratio of men to women is insane in this time and place (one of the other brideship wives gets proposed to the moment she's off the ship) yet our main character goes on no dates nor has any romance at all once she reaches Canada. I was so lost in the last 40%. It was like the main character just wanted to get to Canada and she was never planning on marrying anyone there, even though that was supposed to be the whole reason behind the endeavor. It made no sense. Until the end, where a completely ridiculous thing happens that makes everything up until then make more sense from a writing perspective. Obviously the writer knew this super unlikely thing would happen, but how did the main character know? Color me confused.

I was very put off by the ending, but there were enough interesting things that happened throughout the book that I didn't regret reading it. I just really wish the synopsis/description had been more clear that it's much more about crossing the Atlantic than it is about settling Canada.

This novel is based has been meticulously researched and has real people interspersed with fictional characters. The characters are well defined and believable. Charlotte is a gentlewoman who is left without a dowry with which to marry so she lives with her sister and her husband. They pick out George a member of parliament who tries to rape Charlotte. While Charlotte is able to get away she can’t tell anyone because George threatens her that he will say that she tried to seduce him. During the Victorian times the women had no rights or recourse. Charlotte is forced to leave England for British Columbia with a boatload of women needed to colonize the country. Harriette her sister is forced to go with her. Her husband wants to get rid of her because she has not given him an heir. The story is about their journey to British Columbia and all the people they meet. I don’t want to give away the plot. The story is about women in mid 19th century, their rights or lack there of, independence, survival, relationships, the treatment of the native people and love. It is a very good debut historical novel . Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via @netgalley for an honest review. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, I usually learn new things reading them. The Brideship Wife is based on the history of the British bride ships. Well researched and beautifully told, these women risked everything for freedom. *The map at the end of the book shows just how amazing these trips were- the ships sailed from England to the western coast of Canada (British Columbia) and since the Panama Canal hadn't been dug the journey was even longer having to sail around South America.

The concept of bride ships was a new one to me, so I found the premise interesting when I requested a copy from NetGalley and the publisher.

I found it to be an enjoyable and educational read. I was quite pleased to read the author notes at the end and find the topic matter deeply researched. The story was easy to read, beautiful and well-paced, in fact, I read it in two sittings. The politics of the day was well carried into the story, social expectations and norms were as well.
I think there could easily be a sequel to The Brideship Wife, and if there is, I'd gladly buy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity.

Charlotte Harding needs to find a husband, she knows that, but she isn’t really all that crazy about the man that her brother-in-law Charles would like her to marry because it benefits him more than it does her. She would like to marry for love, but her older sister Harriet also wants her to make a good match.
This a well written and researched book about the Brideships bringing women from Victorian England hopeful for a new life in British Columbia’s (Canada) rugged landscape.

This was a good very read for me. It was highly engaging, and Charlotte Harding was an easy character to like and even admire her tenacity. She had a lot going for her, even though, seen through the lens of the social classes of England, she was just a penniless spinster. In British Columbia, she saw all the opportunities that were being given to her, and she didn’t hesitate to grab a hold of what she saw as an adventure.

It was wonderful to find out something new historically about the country I am proud to call home.

My gratitude to Simon and Schuster Canada and Net Galley for a copy of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

This beautiful historical novel evolves around a young British woman, whose parents have both passed away leaving her without a dowry and therefore not likely to be married. The higher class people during this era would not marry her as she had nothing to offer them. At this time marriage was seldom one of love, but mostly of need for money, land or prestige. After a traumatic event Charlotte and her married sister Harriet boarded one of the Bride Ships traveling to British Columbia, Canada to start a new life and find a husband. This book is well researched and is filled with many facts of the bride ships and of Canada’s history, some of these wonderful but many sad and horrendous. Throughout the book Charlotte shows the braveness and willpower to step away from the things that a woman of her class is expected to do and to start a new life for herself. There are many well thought out characters who bring their own stories to this book. I enjoy fiction centred around Canadian history and this is one of the better ones. A wonderful book that will enthral you with the facts and fiction both. A nice twist thrown in to add some mystery and just the right amount of romance to make this a book that many will enjoy. Thank you NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Canada for allowing me to read the advanced copy of this book.

I enjoyed The Brideship Wife. The grit of Charlotte was perfect and not so over-the-top that it was contrived. She faced adversity and pushed through; who starts over in a new country nearly penniless with a scandal behind her? Charlotte did.

There was just enough heartache and not so over-the-top that it was depressing. The death of Charlotte’s sister was especially moving.

The love story and its struggles were very well done and not so over-the-top as to be eye-rolling.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Brideship Wife. It was very interesting to learn about this subject matter, and I was compelled to research it further.

THE BRIDESHIP WIFE is one of those historical fiction books that instantly transports the reader to a different time and place, seamlessly, allowing the tale to unfold as pages turn ever more rapidly. I thought I’d just begin to read this book for half an hour... a few hours later I finished it and couldn’t remember deciding to read it in one sitting. How did I get so lost in its tale? Our protagonist, a spinster at 22 with no money to her name, is not that unusual a starting point for a tale. Nor is her predicament, a lack of family support. But her various solutions are intriguing, a brideship to the New World, in this case, Canada, and an interest in things other than ‘Society’ make this a fascinating tale. I really never put this book down once and could have kept on reading. Author Leslie Howard offers interesting details of her own that drew her to the place and period, as well as a bibliography for more info, if desired. I loved this book. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I cannot gush enough about this book!!! What an incredible read full of true life events and strong female characters!!! This book changes the way I look at British Columbia and Victoria and Vancouver!!!! I loved the strength of Charlotte and the grieved the loss of Harriet. This book painted such a vivid picture of the life of women before the suffragettes and the daily struggles that we take for granted. And to include the native history brought the whole book up a notch!!! A truly book read and a stunningly captivating debut novel.