If you read and enjoyed A Moment in Time, which I reviewed way back in January, then you may like The Innocent, which takes place around the same time period, also in England and Wales. The main female character, Eleanore or Elf, spends nine years in a convent living a very happy and comfortable life there with the nuns while she learns all about her faith in preparation to take her final vows. However, she is forced to leave the convent when her brother, the last male heir to her family’s estate, dies without children and decides to make his beloved sister his heir rather than his wife or her family. She doesn’t go without a fight, even protesting against the king himself, so determined is she to become a nun.
I knew when I picked this book up that the plot would involve something more beyond removing a young woman from her convent and marrying her off. For a short period of time, it looks as though there is going to be no conflict beyond this. But if you have read any book by Bertrice Small, you know that she never lets anything be as simple as that. There is usually a happy ending, but it doesn’t come without frustration, struggle, or some other barrier. In this case, there is evil lurking in Elf’s life, someone believes that the young, innocent woman has done her wrong, and she will not stop her vendetta until Elf is dead. You’ll need to read to see how Elf overcomes those who seek revenge on her and what becomes of the estate that has suddenly been put in her charge.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 