The Fallen Woman

Jane Saville is a watercolour botanical artist, she has an older sister Charlotte who's her mother’s favourite and she will do anything to protect her and she decides to send Jane to Wiltshire to ensure her sister makes a good match and get her out of their way. Jane works as a housekeeper for a kindly older gentleman at Cathedral Close, but other than her employer she doesn’t have any friends and people openly talk about her in public.

Despite being the heir to one of the richest families in England, Guy Attwood is a pomologist or a scientist at the Royal Kew Gardens who specializes in the study of plants and the cultivation of fruit trees. Guy is the champion of the humble apple, and he’s hunting for a rare one. Guy's a close friend of King George V, and want's the apple to be a gift to him and rename it after the new sovereign at his upcoming coronation.

Guy and Jane meet, two people who understand each other and could talk for hours and not get bored. Guy is being pressured to get married and produce offspring and Jane has her responsibilities and job, and she questions why he would be interested in a plain Jane like her. Their budding new friendship and possible romance is rocked by jealousy and greed, misunderstandings and others selfishness, duty and family, treachery and secrets and lies.

I received a copy of The Fallen Woman from Penguin Random House Australia and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I've been a big fan of Fiona McIntosh’s historical fiction since I read the Nightingale ten years ago and she has the gift of writing stories that make me feel a connection to the characters and the fascinating subjects she uses as a bases for her novels and their locations.

Set in the London, the Cathedral City of Salisbury and the English countryside, Ms. McIntosh takes you on a heart-warming literary journey and she's visited these places herself and it shows. You will cheer on and want the best outcome for Guy, Jane, young Harry and William’s characters and dislike a couple of others and how they treat Jane.

A homage to England and all things British, friendship and found families, righting wrongs and most of all finding love and an elusive apple and five big stars from me and I highly recommend.