Full Circle - Hardcover

Pamela Oldfield's books have been translated into Spanish, German and Russian. Her adult novels are described as a blend of historical fiction and family saga, each one thoroughly researched with the help of her husband, Joseph, who photographs and videos the various locations necessary for the backgrounds.

Louise is headstrong, impetuous, and very young for her 18 years. Although her mother and stepfather are hopeful she will eventually settle down into married life, they seek to give her thoughts a new direction by allowing her to take drawing lessons from Daniel, a local artist, unaware that Louise will now set her romantic sights on this intriguing man old enough to be her father. Temperamental, self-centered, and prone to hysterics to get her own way, she pursues Daniel with single-minded intensity, running off to be with him while her stepfather is in the hospital due to a heart attack and her mother is in Paris, nursing Louise's stroke-afflicted grandmother. Oldfield's particular forte is historical fiction set during the 1890s and 1900s in the English countryside, and this novel nicely showcases her ability to create characters who, while not always admirable from our modern perspective, are unflinchingly honest and courageous in facing the burdens of family life. Lynne Welch
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