A Year at Marshywood by debut author Marina McLune is an engaging, uplit story of true love and family life.

A Year at Marshywood by Marina McLune

Genre/Categories/Setting: Fiction (satisfies the 50 year benchmark for historical fiction), Family Life, Sweet Romance (closed door), Coming of Age, Racism/Prejudice, England

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary of A Year at Marshywood:

Thanks @BookSirens and the author for a complimentary e ARC of #AYearAtMarshywood upon my request. All opinions are my own.

In 1979, nineteen-year-old Amanda and her mother and father move from London to a rustic cottage in rural Sussex.  She loves being surrounded by nature and is eager to find work. It’s a bittersweet move because she misses her best friend, Samantha, and worries about her budding romance with Sam’s handsome cousin, Mark. Shocking events take place in the summer when Sam and Mark come to visit Amanda. Will this ruin her chance for romance with Mark? Is there another path to happiness for Amanda?

My Thoughts:

Substance

My favorite women’s fiction/romance stories have substantial substance. Romance is only one element of this heartfelt story of complicated family drama, friendship, and racial tension. We do get our expected HEA in a friends to lovers trope, but it’s hard won.

Main Character

Amanda is a strong, earnest, kind, and likeable main character whom you will cheer for as she strives to build a meaningful life and chases her HEA.

Debut

I often have a special fondness for debut novels, and I love discovering a new author I can support. There’s much to appreciate about this author’s careful character development and strong sense of place. Chaste romance is my preference and I enjoyed the old-fashioned feel of this story (closed door, no profanity). Engaging from the first page, I enjoyed the careful buildup to a later dramatic turn of events. I look forward to reading more by Marina McLune!

Themes

Thoughtful themes include coming of age, finding true happiness, rural life, family expectations and drama, prejudice and racism, inter-racial relationship, and friendship.

Recommending A Year at Marshywood

I’m enthusiastically recommending this heartfelt story for fans of family drama and chase romance, for readers who appreciate a rural English setting and strong sense of place, and for those looking for uplit women’s fiction with an independent and likeable main character. Also recommendable for YA readers.

My Rating:  4  Stars

More Information Here

Meet the Author of A Year at Marshywood, Marina McLune

---

---

QOTD:

Is this debut on your TBR?

---

---

Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

---

---

Let’s Get Social!

Thank you for visiting and reading today! I’d be honored and thrilled if you choose to enjoy and follow along (see subscribe or follow option), promote, and/or share my blog. Every share helps us grow.

Find me at:
Twitter
Instagram
Goodreads
Pinterest

---

---

***Blog posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.

I purchase or borrow from the library all books I review unless explicitly stated that the book is free (arc)

Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website receives all credit for book covers and author photos.

© ReadingLadies.com