The Secrets of Saffron Hall
In 1541, in a tower in her home in Norfolk, England, Eleanor pens a shaky note in her prayerbook pleading for aid for her daughter, who did not survive her birth. In the present day, Amber, who’s returned to the family home of Saffron Hall to help her grandfather catalogue books, is captivated when an early modern prayerbook is discovered in the tower. Grieving the loss of an infant daughter herself, Amber is drawn to Eleanor’s mystery and sets to deciphering the coded message and, hopefully, helping Eleanor and the soul of the infant Mary find peace.
Amber’s story is told with warmth and emotional nuance, and her journey toward healing, with the help of her best friend Becky and husband Jonathan, has a satisfying resonance. It’s Eleanor’s story, though, that is gripping. Married at seventeen to a wealthy Norfolk merchant, Eleanor matures into the lady of the manor and becomes a skilled grower of saffron, a spice more costly than gold. Eleanor’s crops enrich her husband, Greville, and encourage his ambitions to be noticed at the court of Henry VIII and his new queen, Catherine Howard. But readers who know the fate of Henry’s short-lived fifth wife can see what’s coming for Greville, and when disaster strikes, Eleanor does what she must to ensure the survival of her household and her remaining children.
The intertwining stories and building suspense are handled well, and the details of medicine making and saffron growing are intriguing. The ongoing dissolution of the monasteries, and Eleanor’s part in helping residents of the nearby priory, lend an especially strong historical grounding as well as a heady dose of drama. The characters are convincingly drawn, the world textured and developed, and the story fascinating. Readers will enjoy this engrossing debut.
