HF Virtual Tours: The Sumerton Women by D.L. Bogden

Title: The Sumerton Women
Author: D.L. Bogden
Format: ARC
Publisher: Kensington
Publish Date: April 24, 2012
Source: HF Virtual Tours

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You like stories about complicated families.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Orphaned at age eight, Lady Cecily Burkhart becomes the ward of Harold Pierce, Earl of Sumerton. Lord Hal and his wife, Lady Grace, welcome sweet-natured Cecily as one of their own. With Brey, their young son, Cecily develops an easy friendship. But their daughter, Mirabella, is consumed by her religious vocation—and by her devotion to Father Alec Cahill, the family priest and tutor.

As Henry VIII’s obsession with Anne Boleyn leads to violent religious upheaval, Mirabella is robbed of her calling and the future Cecily dreamed of is ripped away in turn. Cecily struggles to hold together the fractured household while she and Father Alec grapple with a dangerous mutual attraction. Plagued with jealousy, Mirabella unleashes a tumultuous chain of events that threatens to destroy everyone around her, even as the kingdom is torn apart…"

My Two Cents:

At its core, this story is really about family. What makes a family and how we interact with those in our family. Cecily is lucky enough to be taken in as a ward of Lord Hal and Lady Grace. She is put in a very good position where she may not have been if she was still with her own family. The fate of Cecily becomes inextricably linked with Hal and Grace's family even though they are not her blood family. Even though the book is told from a third person point of view, I thought it was sort of interesting to see how wardship sort of worked. It seems so many times, there is such a big focus on blood and blood relations that it was interesting to see that things didn't always happen that way. This is the first book that talked about wardship that I can remember reading!


While this book takes place during the Tudor era, there isn't much of the Tudors in the book. Princess Mary appears in the book and the events surrounding Henry VIII are discussed but no one appears in the book besides Princess Mary. This isn't a criticism but for someone looking for another tale of the Tudor court,  you aren't going to find it here. All of the different changes that were occurring in society definitely are present in the book. Reformation plays a huge role in this book. 

The family story is really the star of this book. It's the alliances they make, the secrets they keep, and the decision they choose. I do wish that I knew more about Mirabella's decisions and why she decided to do things the way that she did. She doesn't seem to think anything through!!!

Bottom line: historical fiction lovers will love this new take on such an infamous era in English history. 

Don't Forget to Follow the Rest of the Tour:

Monday, April 16th

Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Tuesday, April 17th

Review at Always with a Book

Wednesday, April 18th
Author Interview & Giveaway at The Maiden's Court

Friday, April 20th

Review & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Monday, April 23rd

Review at A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, April 24th
Author Interview & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, April 25th

Review at History Undressed

Thursday, April 26th

Author Interview & Giveaway at History Undressed

Monday, April 30th

Review & Giveaway at Bippity Boppity Book

Tuesday, May 1st
Review at A Novel Affair

Wednesday, May 2nd

Review & Giveaway at CelticLady's Reviews

Thursday, May 3rd

Review & Giveaway at The Muse in the Fog Book Reviews

Friday, May 4th

Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, May 7th

Author Interview & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Friday, May 11th

Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict