Friday, January 17, 2025

THE ELSINGHAM PORTRAIT by Elizabeth Chater









THE ELSINGHAM PORTRAIT
by Elizabeth Chater
4****

I received my copy of "The Elsingham Portrait" from LibraryThing, in return for a review.

I enjoyed the story, but was a little let down by the romance part of it. Kathryn falls in love with John's kind eyes, and John falls in love because she is not his real wife, Nadine. Is this right or am I missing something?

Okay, so the premise of the story is Kathryn goes back in time, into another woman's body, Nadine Elsingham. She must try to convince the man who is now her husband that she is not crazy, and he shouldn't send her away. All the while she is trying to escape Donner, who may be a witch and had Nadine under some spell. 

The story was a fun read as far as the adventure and all the events that Kathryn had to go through. The characters were likable (except for Donner and Adrian, of course). You felt pity for John. But I wanted more time between the two main characters. He was only in her presence 4 or 5 times. And John, thinking she was Nadine, was mean and rude. So where and when did they fall in love?

There were also a few errors in word usage throughout the book. Example: "At least you are remarkably consistent. Those are the dates you quoted me last night. There is no coherence in your story...."

Doesn't coherence mean consistency? To have no coherence would mean that she didn't stick to her story.

Overall, if you can overlook some errors and the fact that the romance is not really a romance then you will enjoy this book. It is a fun read and exciting. The action is almost non-stop. 

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