The Swan's Nest

Author: Laura McNeal

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Date Published: 2024

Book Length: 320

Star Rating: 4**** I liked it a lot and recommend

About Book: On a bleak January day in 1845, a poet who had been confined to her room for four years by recurrent illness received a letter from a writer she secretly idolized but had never seen. "I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett," Robert Browning wrote, "and I love you too. "Elizabeth Barrett was ecstatic. She was famous for her poetry but completely cut off from the kind of international travel that Browning used to fuel his obscure, unsuccessful, innovative poems, one of which was written from a murderer's point of view. They began an affectionate correspondence, but Elizabeth kept delaying a visit. What would happen when he saw her in person? What was Robert really like? Could she persuade her father and brothers that he was honourable, even though she had never met his family? And what would happen if she gave in to Robert's wild proposal that they go to Italy and see if the sun could cure her?

My Thoughts: The Swan’s Nest by Laura McNeal is an historical romance book set in Victorian times and is so eloquently written that I could almost feel and touch the Victorian era. There were a lot of players in the book, and at times I did lose track of them. But there was a beautiful love story intertwined throughout full of hope and fear.

The love story picks up the pace about 2/3rds of the way through and I was routing for Browning and Barrett, victims of their times. McNeal writes it beautifully taking care with the period that has you transported back.

In conclusion a wonderful love story set in Victorian times a must if you love history and romance.