Downton Abby Withdrawal Cure

Downton Abby is over for the season.

If you are suffering withdrawal symptoms I can recommend some reading material to feed that need to go behind the scenes of the rich and those who serve them.

 

Olivia Newport has written two delicious, historical books that take place in the United States. Set in Chicago Illinois on the prestigious Prairie Ave. in the 1890’s, pre Downton Abby time frame.

 

The first in the series is The Pursuit of Lucy Banning.

 

 

Lucy Banning may live on the exclusive Prairie Avenue among Chicago’s rich and famous, but her heart lies elsewhere. Expected to marry an up-and-coming banker, the son of family friends, Lucy fears she will be forced to abandon what matters to her most—her work at the orphanage and the classes she is secretly taking at the newly opened University of Chicago.

 

When she meets Will Edwards, an unconventional young architect working on plans for the 1893 World’s Fair, Lucy imagines a life lived on her own terms. A new young maid brings her own secret to the Banning household, and Lucy must choose between deeply held values.

 

Can Lucy fine love and live out of her compassionate heart?

 

The second in the series The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow focuses on the lives of the servants.

 

The whole world is coming to Chicago.

 

Charlotte’s whole world is coming down around her.

 

While the rest of Chicago focuses on the enormous spectacle of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, Charlotte Farrow’s attentions are entirely on one small boy—her boy—whom she has kept a secret from her wealthy employers for nearly a year.

 

When the woman who has been caring for her son abruptly returns him to the opulent Banning home, Charlotte must decide whether to come clean and face dismissal or keep her secret while the Bannings decide the child’s fate. Can she face the truth of her past and open her heart to a future of her own? Or will life’s struggles determine her path?

This compelling story of courage, strength, and tender romance captures the tension between the glittering wealthy class and the hardworking servants who make their lives comfortable.

 

These two books come from Olivia’s Avenue of Dreams Series. I thoroughly enjoyed both books and hope that there will be a third in the series.

 

Olivia is a versatile writer so if historical fiction is not to your taste then you must read her first book in the Valley of Choice series.

 

Accidentally Amish is the story of Annie Friesen, a software creator, living in Colorado Springs.

Annie makes some huge life changing choices; I’m not going to spoil it for you. You must pick up this book and enter a world were simplicity is not as easy to grasp as you might think.

 

The second book in this series In Plain View comes out in June 2013 and I’m hungry to read it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stop by your local bookstore, pick up these wonderful stories, fix a cup of tea and settle in for a good read.