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1862: Growing up in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, Eveline Stanhope feels trapped
Stealing Roses
What you need to know before your trail
Growing up in the small seaside town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight, free-spirited Eveline Stanhope feels trapped by the weight of expectation from her well-to-do family. Her mother and two elder sisters would rather she focus her attention on marrying well, preferably to the wealthy Charles Sandham, but Eveline wants more for herself, and the arrival of the railway provides just the cause she’s been searching for. Driven by the cherished memories of her late father, Eveline is keen to preserve the landscape he loved so much and becomes closely involved with the project. She forms a growing attachment to engineer Thomas Armitage. But when the railway is complete and Thomas moves on, will Eveline wish to return to the way things were?
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to the Isle of Wight
Authors on location – Meet Heather in the Isle of Wight here
The history of the Isle of Wight really comes to life with this novel. The author is a local one and has clearly researched the history and heritage of the island community.
The novel looks at the birth of the steam railway.
There is a great museum called The Isle of Steam Railway which you have to visit and this was a a major source of inspiration to the author. Mr Armitage in the novel is working on the railway and this is a source of excitement to everyone even if they are sick of the dirt and digging noises that come with it. At the start of the novel, the opening of the line to Newport is some two months away. The journey to Newport (where the fashions and cafes of the time are a source of aspiration to the girls of the family) will then take a mere ten minutes. It’s cleaner and quicker than taking the horse and carriage.
Will the railway be what the people want?
Destruction of our paths and woodlands and meadows!
“The walk along the river, so peaceful and beautiful, is all lost now; explosions, great scars across the meadows, the trees felled, a tunnel being gouged out of the hills and the countryside quite spoilt.”
“You want a railway. There is a price. But the countryside will mend.”
Trail Gallery
Booktrailer Review
This is a lovely atmospheric read. A lovely visit to the Isle of Wight at a time when the railways were being built. I love stories like this which take you back to a real point of history and then fictionalise the events around it.
Read TheBookTrail’s bookreview of Stealing Roses on the blog here
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Stealing Roses
Destination: Cowes, Isle of Wight, Cowes Author/guide: Heather Copper Departure Time: 1862
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