The Summer of Living Dangerously

Julie Cohen

Headline Review, Mar 2012

Alice Woodstock finds the present uncomfortable, so takes a job as a costumed interpreter at Eversley Hall where it’s 1814 and she can revel in the life of a Regency miss—albeit in the role of poor relation.

The recent past is a different matter. My sympathies are firmly engaged by what Alice has gone through as she struggles with her feelings for James Fitzwilliam, owner of Eversley Hall and a typical Regency romance hero, and ex-husband Leo Allingham, who turns up (not unreasonably) at his sister’s wedding, reminding Alice of all she’s trying to forget. Alice brings her own touch to historical re-enactment but is constantly dragged back to the present by family dramas and an annoyingly persistent ex-husband. Julie Cohen does a wonderful job of empathising with this damaged but humorous and valiant heroine.

Our Opinion: A page-turning read that will make you laugh and cry.

Our Classification: Keeper Shelf

Reviewer: Sue Moorcroft