The Brightest of Dreams by Susan Anne Mason

Welcome!  I hope you are having a restful Sunday.  This week I will be reviewing Turning Tide by Melody Carlson, The Sea Glass Cottage by Rae Anne Thayne, and A Forgotten Murder by Jude Deveraux.  We will see what other books I can fit into the schedule. What are you currently reading?

Dr. Barnardo

The Brightest of Dreams by Susan Anne Mason takes us to Derbyshire, England in the spring of 1919.  Quinten Aspinall has recovered from his injuries and is meeting with the Earl of Brentwood, his employer, to ask a favor.  Quinn found his mother in the infirmary of the workhouse where he learned his siblings were put in Dr. Barnardo’s Home for Children.  Dr. Barnardo’s shipped the children to Canada as indentured servants.  Quinn wants to sail for Canada to find his siblings and bring them back to England.  Lord Brentwood is agreeable if Quinn will also search for his niece, Julia Holloway who left with a Canadian soldier.  Lord Brentwood sweetens the deal by offering Quinn a tenant farm (free and clear) if he can convince Julia to return home.  This would allow Quinn to provide a home for his mother and siblings.  Things have not gone as planned for Julia.  She is working as a cleaning woman part-time at the local hospital and living in squalid apartment with a letch for a landlord.  Quinn, thankfully, arrives in time to save her from the landlord’s alternate payment demands.  He installs her at Mrs. Chamberlain’s boardinghouse to recover while he searches for his two brothers and sister.  Julia wants to return to England, but she receives news that makes it impossible.  Will Quinn find his siblings?  Can Quinn convince Julia to return with him to England?  

British Home Children (will be setting sail to Canada)

The Brightest of Dreams by Susan Anne Mason is the third novel in the Canadian Crossings series.  It can be read as a standalone if you have not read the other two Canadian Crossings novels.  If you have read Best of Intentions and Highest of Hopes, you will be delighted with this final story.  Grace and Emmaline are in included, so we get to find out how they are faring.  I thought The Brightest of Dreams was well-written with developed characters.  I can tell the author did her research for this novel. It is heartbreaking that hundreds of children were sent to Canada as indentured servants.  The working conditions for some of them were intolerable as we see in this story.  Quinn Aspinsall is searching for his two brothers and sister in Canada so he can return them to England.  He hopes that when his mother sees all her children once again, she will begin to recover.  The Brightest of Dreams is an emotional story that captures the time period beautifully.  Christianity is woven into the story making it an integral part.  The characters pray to God for help on their journeys and with their lives.  Quinn and Julia become a part of a charming church community that includes Mrs. Chamberlain and Reverend Burke.  My favorite phrase from The Brightest of Dreams is, “God’s timing was always perfect.”  It is can be hard to turn our worries over to Him and leave them in His hands.  The romance plays out sweetly and slowly which suits the time period and the story. The Brightest of Dreams allows us to glimpse into the past in this multifaceted novel.   I especially appreciated the epilogue.  The Brightest of Dreams is a story that draws you in and holds you until you finish the very last page.  

The Brightest of Dreams is available from Amazon* along with Best of Intentions (available on Kindle Unlimited) and Highest of Hopes.  Thank you for joining me today.  Tomorrow I am a stop on the Celebrate Lit Tour for Turning Tide by Melody Carlson.  It is the fourth installment in The Legacy of Sunset Cove series.  I hope that you have a lovely day.  Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader

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