Monday Give Away
I did promise you more old houses and family secrets, didn’t I? This week’s book up for grabs is Rachel Hore’s A Place of Secrets
Here’s the official blurb:
A runaway bestseller in Britain with over 100,000 copies sold, a riveting historical mystery in the tradition of Kate Morton
Auction house appraiser Jude leaves London for her dream job at Starbrough Hall, an estate in the countryside, examining and pricing the manuscripts and instruments of an eighteenth-century astronomer. She is welcomed by Chantal Wickham and Jude feels close to the old woman at once: they have both lost their husbands. Hard times have forced the Wickham family to sell the astronomer’s work, their land and with it, the timeworn tower that lies nearby. The tower was built as an observatory for astronomer Anthony Wickham and his daughter Esther, and it served as the setting for their most incredible discoveries.
Though Jude is far away from her life in London, her arrival at Starbrough Hall brings a host of childhood memories. She meets Euan, a famed writer and naturalist who lives in the gamekeeper’s cottage at the foot of the tower, where Jude’s grandfather once lived. And a nightmare begins to haunt her six-year-old niece, the same nightmare Jude herself had years ago. Is it possible that the dreams are passed down from one generation to the next? What secrets does the tower hold? And will Jude unearth them before it’s too late?
Have you noticed that there are a lot of appraisers in novels? Also curators, antiques dealers, grad students, art historians, grad student art historians, and other people who deal with art and antiques. Which makes sense in books dealing with history, artifacts, and secrets.
For a chance to win my copy of A Place of Secrets
— If you were a heroine in a novel and could be anything you liked, what would your profession be?
The winner will be announced on Wednesday.
I would definitely be an explorer/archaeologist.
I would either be a librarian, or an old and rare book specialist/dealer/appraiser….
(and I guess I’ll need this book as much as last week’s book!!!! Starting a list, right away!!)
Definitely a librarian or a reporter.
I’d like to go for rich and famous…how about opera star? I’d make a great diva!!!!
I would be an architect.
A Detective….
I’d be a historian, something I’ve always wished I could be and that my oldest daughter has attained.
I’d run an animal sanctuary.
An accountant. They almost never get to be heroes/heroines.
Opera singer
Librarian, or similar, as well.
Historian with some super obscure specialty.
Marine archaeologist!
I think I’d be an actress! I’d love to be in that works, at least temporarily or in someone’s imagination!
I would have a small shop and sell unique items hand-made by local artisans, and probably coffee and baked items, too:)
I’d be the first female newspaper editor of whatever paper for my city or town. I’d investigate or push stories that were hard hitting, break up crime rings and tell the truth about politicians. I’d like the Victorian or World War II era, or maybe even during the Civil War. I’d be the first to wear pants and either ride a horse to work or drive a snazzy car…red with just two seats. And I’d go to the best parties to learn all the best gossip because sometimes in those little tidbits there is a gleam of truth!
Art Historian or writer. In my fantasy world (which resembles either a Mary Stewart or Elizabeth Peters novel — oh, and certain Phyllis Whitney or Elsie Lee worlds), I am also good in my field — I’m trying not to be greedy with “brilliant” — and employed. 🙂
I would love to be a solciite that secretly dabbles in solving mysteries.
*socialite
I would run a combination knitting and tea shop – gives one tons of scope for imagination. I’d be baking scones when I wasn’t knitting.
I’d want to be an investigative reporter (like Nellie Bly!).
I would like to be a librarian or a writer. Anything that includes book reading or writing.
I’m a librarian at an art museum, do I think that would also be my choice for a heroine profession!
If I could be anything I’d be a librarian.
I think it’s time that musicologists are in more books. The only one I know of is a fairly recent book by Donna Leon. There would be lots of clues of old music manuscripts.
I think being an art restorer would put me in contact with all sorts of people.
A detective probably or a historian
A chef
A book store owner
If it was current (ish) in time, an archeologist making an exciting discovery which leads to a world-wide adventure or a someone who works at a big cat sanctuary. If it was set in the future – the captain of a spaceship (something along the lines of Captain Janeway from Star Trek Voyager without the being stuck in a far-flung bit of the galaxy).
I would be an historian or librarian. Would love to be a writer, but I don’t have that talent.
I would be a detective/crime scene investigator specializing in the history of crime and historical profiling. I would be working for Scotland Yard investigating old historical cold cases because new information or new crimes warrant investigation into the past. Classic past meets present story line. Pretty much my dream job as I earned my degrees in criminal justice and teaching history. Too bad it is just a fantasy…lol!
I’d be one of those eccentric theatric types–one who was known for her flamboyance and surprising good sense, like Jo March meets Lady Julia Gray meets Vespasia Cumming-Gould. Someone like that.
I would be a water sports attendant (someone who rents out the non-motorized water craft at the beach) at an ultra luxurious beach resort.
I would be an archeologist.
It’s so hard to pick! I might be a Shakespearean actress who used to be a high class demi-rep. Or I might be an Oxbridge don (a historian or a philologist.)
I’d be an archaeologist, or maybe a book reviewer, or perhaps an actress. It’s hard to pick just one!