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1914: Life as a ladies maid is going to take Pearl Gibson into a life she never could have imagined…
The Echo of Twilight
What you need to know before your trail
In 1914, despite the clouds of war threatening Europe, Pearl Gibson’s future is bright. She has secured a position as a lady’s maid to a wealthy Northumberland aristocrat, and she gets to travel to grand houses and live a life that she could only have dreamed of
Her new life with Lady Ottoline Campbell is usual to say the least, for Pearl flourishes under her wing. She sees a side to her that others don’t and gets to travel with her to her Scottish estate. However, Ottoline has secrets that Pearl is yet to discover.
This strange but intimate friendship with her employer will develop and change as violence erupts on Europe and war affects everyone’s lives. Pearl and Ottoline might be from different classes but there are some things that blur boundaries
Travel Guide
London
Where Pearl first starts out life with Ottoline and steps out with Stanley. Her early life as a maid is fraught with difficulties but despite her nerves, she never falters and her determination to do a good job and be accepted is admirable.
This is where life really changes and where she even spends time working in Selfridges department store. Soceity was changing for women and women had just got the vote. Women wanted more independence and this was a time for change in more way than one. When war comes to the city, it is a time of hardship and the gap between the haves and have nots alters dramatically. The men go to war and the women left behind have a lot to grapple with in this tilting world.
Northumberland
Birling Hall, a jewel in the crown – in Ottoline’s Northumberland estate. Not far from Warkworth castle and the stunning Northumberland countryside. This is also the author’s birthplace so it’s even more enchanting to visit both through Pearl’s eyes and those of the author.
Birling Hall is fictional but there is a Birling settlement just north of Morpeth where it would be in the novel. Approach it over the river Coquet in a horse and carriage if you can…
Belsay Hall which is real – might give you a flavour of the opulence and elegance that Pearl would have experienced.
Delnasay – Boat of Garten
The Scottish estate where Ottoline takes Pearl and where much of the action unfolds. This is the lush estate where Ralph Stedman lives in a cottage on the estate’s “10,000 acres of rivers, woods, hills, and fields.” He is a painter and it’s easy to see why with so much inspiration from nature.
“As I gazed out across the glen, the river, beyond the alders and groves of silver birch to the mountains, the peace was overwhelming, newly extraordinary, deeper and more powerful than anything I’d known. And with it came a sense of belonging, a sort of contentment and connectedness. And I thought, even if nothing else happened in my life, this was enough: this sky, these hills, those high-up purples and blues, that dark bird’s wing, those feathery clouds and him.”
Tomintoul
“We were almost at the top of the hill , the lofty strip of houses known as Tomintoul and I stopped, turned and stared back toward Delnasay, its grey slate rooftops poking up from the evergreen trees. I followed the meandering line of the river through the sleepy glen to the whitewashed cottage where smoke rose up from a chimney.
Streetview Maps
E) Northumberland - the bridge to Birling..
F) Scotland - The Boat of Garten train station
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer
Think Downton Abbey, Upstairs Downstairs mixed with Monarch of the Glen and you have some of the flavour of this historical read. I loved it, it took me away to these gorgeous estates and allowed me to imagine I was relaxing with the lady of the manor whilst getting waited on when really I was in a cafe on a rainy day.
The story is an epic one as you follow Pearl through her life as she meets Ottoline and travels with her. Through thoughts and flashbacks you learn more about Pearl and her backstory. I felt very close to her and was intrigued by her relationship with Ottoline.
There was an awful lot of mystery and something lurking in the background in this story. I felt Pearl and I discovered the world around us at the same time and I felt her thrill of going up to Scotland and getting to live like a lady for a while. She was a good narrator and her weaknesses made her even more personable than she as at the start. I was fascinated with Ottoline and could imagine her taking such delight in going against the grain. She and Pearl’s relationship was a fascinating one and just goes to show how two women – one from upstairs and one from downstairs – can suffer and go through the same worries and dramas.
The writing was as lyrical and as sweeping as the story. The settings were stunning – I particularly loved how Judith wove in her personal home of Northumberland and even Fenwick gets a mention! There was a lot of detail, research and care and attention in this story and the overall result is a sweeping historical drama
Loved the story, Pearl and Ottoline and ooh the mysteries of those grand houses!? The gorgeous cover wraps this up nicely.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Echo of Twilight
Author/Guide: Judith Kinghorn Destination: London, Warkworth, Northumberland, Boat of Garten
Departure Time: 1914 onwards
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