The Snow Angel
Romance is afoot as we escape into a snowy winter in the 1850s. At that time in history, it was not deemed appropriate for an unmarried woman to be alone in the company of a man without a chaperone. However, Rose Northwood seems blind to the special interest shown by a handsome stranger whose presence in the locality intrigues many. Despite being a vicar’s middle daughter, Rose appears to ignore societal expectations on numerous occasions, demonstrating a wilfulness that would in reality have seen a female of her social standing shunned by society.
Rose does possess caring attributes that she utilises to nurse a teenage boy to health after she discovers him unconscious in the nativity crib of her father’s church. Despite her coaxing, the lad has little memory of recent events, but she is determined to find his family and restore him safely to them. Her repeated exposure of them both to unnecessary risks, without even informing her loved ones of her intentions, therefore left this reader annoyed at her character’s behaviour and undermined any empathy for her latest predicament.
However, Rose appears to relish each sticky situation, bouncing back into the bosom of her family with renewed enthusiasm and bringing delight along with envy to her stay-at-home sisters, Marianne and Emily, whom she regales with highlights of her experiences during these unpredictable absences. Her mother’s continued withdrawal from family life following the death of her only son Felix a couple of years earlier, alongside her father’s parish involvement, distance them both from their middle daughter’s escapades. But this does demonstrate a surprising lack of parental interest. Altogether, the storytelling comes across as a series of exciting events that are thrown together with scant attention to authenticity.
