The House At Silvermoor by Tracy Rees

Set during the turn of the 19th into the 20th Century the author introduces us to Josie and Tommy who live in the neighbouring mining villages of Arden and Grindley in Yorkshire.  We get to follow them through several years of their lives taking them from little more than children through to adults.  In a nutshell that is the basic premise of the book - a coming of age tale for two disparate youths who paths cross one importune Sunday and change their lives forever. 

Wow, that sounds really quite harsh and I did enjoy the book, enough to give it 4 stars after all.  However, I did have quite a few issues with it along the way.  The main one being that none of the characters bring anything new to the table at all and the vast majority of them are either subservient to their masters and accept their lot with nary a peep or they are either a Victorian Vaudeville Villain or overtly philanthropic; there is no middle ground, no nuance.  Even our main protagonists Josie and Tommy are stereotypical dreamers constantly getting in to scrapes of their own devising.  I was not convinced that this was an accurate reflection of the Victorian mining villages as their is no sense of pride in the work, just a daily drudge and grind and, coming from a mining family on my mother's side it was always imbued in me that it was a very hard life but one you could take pride in.

I did enjoy reading Josie and Tommy's story though, but for me it was more a historical fantasy than a historical fiction.  The writing is undeniably good and despite all my reservations Ms Rees certainly pulled me in and kept me hooked - admittedly it took about 150 pages before I really became absorbed as this is definitely a slow burner.  I even found myself wanting to know how things turned out for them and their plans to escape England to, of all places, Colonial India.

The author allows Josie and Tommy to tell their own stories but their voices didn't feel that different on the page and if it hadn't been for their very different storylines - Tommy and his loving family and life down the pit, Josie and her estrangement from her family and eventual life in service - it would have been hard to tell them apart.  I will admit that my interest was piqued by Josie's time in service in York and was quite saddened at how little time we spent in that glorious city's snickleways.

It may take a while to hook you but it is definitely worth persevering with.  An enjoyable read that gives you a sense of satisfaction when you complete it; even if it does have a very open ended finale.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM AMAZON.CO.UK