An Hour Unspent

Loved reading this! I wasn't sure what to expect, but this book is so much more than I first thought! So good!

What a lovely Christian historical fiction-romance novel set in London! Third in a beloved series but definitely works as a standalone. Tells the compelling story of Barclay, a reformed thief brought in to help the Admiralty during WWI, and his love interest Evelina, daughter of the clockmaker whose important work he assists. Draws you fully in as the best fiction does and leaves you wanting more when the last page is closed. 5/5

Pub Date 04 Sep 2018. Available on Amazon.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

I recently finished reading An Hour Unspent, the third book in the Shadows Over England series by Roseanna M. White. I’ve enjoyed all the books in this series, but this is probably my most favorite one so far! I’ve read several other books by this author (outside of this book series) and quite honestly, this is probably one of her best books ever!

The series continues during World War I. The main character is Barclay Pearce, the de facto brother/father to the “family” of former thieves based out of the Poplar neighborhood in London. (His “sister” Rosemary was the main character in A Name Unknown, and his other “sister” Willa was the main character in A Song Unheard. A very important note: you definitely want to read this series in order. It will make so much more sense that way. Do NOT read these books out of order!)

Rosemary and Willa had both been hired by the elusive V, an agent of the Crown, to help in the war effort against Germany. V now hires Barclay, and moves the family to the upper-class neighborhood of Hammersmith so that Barclay can more effectively do his work for the British government. Barclay is tasked with making contact with a Hammersmith clockmaker, who is working on a device that could be incredibly useful to the British government, in terms of their air force capability. As Barclay begins to work on his assignment, he meets and falls for the clockmaker’s daughter Evelina.

The author weaves a fascinating tale of Barclay and Evelina working through life’s challenges, which have been even more exacerbated by the war. I loved that many spiritual aspects were woven into this story. The characters learned to depend more and more on Christ as their dangerous journey went on.

There are SO many exciting parts to this book! I don’t want to spoil it, but needless to say, it was a fabulous read! The author has done a lot of research on WWI and it shows. I highly recommend this book!!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House (via Netgalley) for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Roseanna White excels at creating a perfectly atmospheric landscape enhanced by her obvious research. Detailed with rich characterization and a dash of suspense, An Hour Unspent concludes a fantastic trilogy. But while readers of the previous two books will be delighted to spend more time with friends they have already met and loved, new readers will have no difficulty falling into the brilliant story world.

I did not realize that this was a third book in a series when I requested it. Though I have been able to read Roseanna White's new Codebreaker series, and I am loving it, so I know that I will eventually get back to this book/series and read them in order, so that I can fully appreciate the story and plot line set up.