The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill

3.5 stars, more if you really like inspirational historical fiction; less if you're not particularly fond of the genre. Julie Klassen creates an ensemble set of characters in the fictional village of Ivy Hill, not too far from London, in the 1820s. Jane Bell is the innkeeper, a young widow who marri......more

3,5 stars rounded up to 4 A nice, cosy, character-driven Regency-story with a protracted narrative, which still works if you happen to be in the mood for it. As mentioned, the plot is superslow and stretches over to the end of the book and beyond. Quite a few storylines remain unresolved and you need......more

Slow and steady. That may not sound like a compliment for a book, but I do mean it that way. This isn't a fast-paced, gripping kind of story that you start reading and can't stand to put down until you've sat reading for hours and finally turned the last page with a sense of relieved satisfaction. Ho......more

I have a confession. I called this book Ivyford for the majority of the time I spent reading it because it reminded me of a wonderful mix of Gaskell’s book Cranford and Jan Karon’s Mitford books. Can you imagine my delight and surprise, once I completed this charming gem, when I read Klassen’s autho......more

2.5 ⭐ ”Village life is like an ivy vine climbing a great oak. You cut off the vine at the root, and all the way up the tree, the leaves wither. We’re all connected.” This book was very nice. I’ve been trying to find a better way to describe it, but really, it was just very nice. The setting was nice, t......more