"Standing before Feldstone Manor, site of so many happy memories, Rose Davenport feels nothing but dread. Her family's annual visit to the stately home was once brightened by her friendship with the earl's youngest son, William, but everything changed the day his elder brother was disinherited and William became heir to his father's earldom. From that moment, William made it clear he has no interest in continuing an acquaintance with Rose. Heartbroken, she sets out to prove that she will simply not be ignored--or outdone--by the arrogant future lord of the manor. When his elder brother marries for love, William's entire life changes in an instant. He does not have the same option to marry whom he chooses, and he must let go of the feelings he has harbored for his dear friend Rose. He steels himself against her annual visits, determined to keep his feelings for her a secret. But when he makes the hasty promise to marry within six months, he never dreams that his actions will lead Rose to impulsively undertake the same challenge."--
Grace Sinclair has been callously cast out of her home. Despite the vicar and his wife taking her in years ago, her unsurpassed beauty makes it impossible for her to remain in the vicar's household--with two daughters of their own about to enter Society, the vicar and his wife see Grace as nothing but competition. Thankfully, Grace's estranged Aunt Bell from London has agreed to care for her. But Grace soon learns her situation has just gotten much worse. It takes only a moment's acquaintance for Grace to ascertain that her aunt has married a detestable rake. And Aunt Bell, recognizing the danger of having her lovely niece too near her husband, gives Grace an ultimatum: the young woman has two weeks to find a man to marry, after which she will be turned out. With no experience in the art of attracting a husband, Grace quickly realizes that a worthy suitor might not be so easy to ensnare.--
A wealthy family tries--and fails--to seal themselves off from the chaos of post-World War II life surrounding them in this stunning novel by one of Germany's most important post-war writers. In East Prussia, January 1945, the German forces are in retreat and the Red Army is approaching. The von Globig family's manor house, the Georgenhof, is falling into disrepair. Auntie runs the estate as best she can since Eberhard von Globig, a special officer in the German army, went to war, leaving behind his beautiful but vague wife, Katharina, and her bookish twelve-year-old son, Peter. As the road fills with Germans fleeing the occupied territories, the Georgenhof begins to receive strange visitors--a Nazi violinist, a dissident painter, a Baltic baron, even a Jewish refugee. Yet in the main, life continues as banal, wondrous, and complicit as ever for the family, until their caution, their hedged bets, and their denial are answered by the wholly expected events they haven't allowed themselves to imagine. All for Nothing, published in 2006, was the last novel by Walter Kempowski, one of postwar Germany's most acclaimed and popular writers.
Can a single note change a life, start a romance, or drive two people apart? Waiting for the Post by Esther Hatch Now that Harrison Chase has finally made his fortune as a working man, he will risk it all to save his factory workers from starvation. In the middle of his charge to reverse the Corn Laws, his housekeeper helpfully mails a letter she finds languishing amongst his things. A six-year-old love letter. With no other choice, he rushes back to his childhood home on Christine Stone's estate. If he can't get his hands on that letter before she does, Christine will discover what a pitiful and pretentious fool he had been. The one thing he hadn't counted on was the mail being delayed. Now Harrison must decide which is worse-waiting with Christine as he not-so-slowly falls back in love with her, or leaving, knowing once she reads his letter he can never return. A Ring of Gold by Nichole Van Viola Brodure longs for something more from her life. So when that something more arrives in the form of a letter from the renowned Highland Poet, Ethan Penn-Leith, she seizes her chance. After all, Mr. Penn-Leith merits every swoon-worthy adjective Viola can muster. What woman wouldn't want to be in her shoes? But after journeying to Scotland and meeting the poet himself, Viola faces a difficult question: What happens if you don't want the thing you thought you did? A Rose by Any Other Name by Annette Lyon As an orphan whose only home has been the Foundling Hospital, Rose is tasked to work in the fine houses of Bloomsbury. She knows her duty-take care of the family upstairs and never forget her place. But her traitorous heart won't follow the rules, and she falls in love with Oliver Withey, a man far above her station. Though she feels like she's found a home in Oliver's arms, his mother has other plans for her oldest son-and marrying a servant isn't one of them. She'll do anything to keep Rose and Oliver apart, including making a devil's bargain that ensures they'll never see each other again. When a mysterious old woman appears, she seems to have answers to Rose's past. Could those long-held secrets hold the key to the future with Oliver that Rose longs for?
The Law of the Manor is the definitive work on the subject, providing detailed, up-to-date and comprehensive coverage for lawyers and also to those owning, managing, selling or buying historic houses and estates. It provides a modern description of the law associated with lordships of the manor. Principally concerned with the lands and rights of the lord, the book also considers rights that tenants of the manor can claim against him. These are put in context with a discussion of associated topics such as franchises and titles of nobility. The second edition has been updated to cover numerous developments in the law since 1998, in particular the Land Registration Act 2002 with a full discussion of the way manorial rights, including minerals, will cease to be overriding interests after 12 October 2013. The book includes changed made by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, the Commons Act 2006, the Hunting Act 2004, the House of Lords Act 1999, and the Legal Services Act 2007 as well as the relevant case law. New material has been included on escheat, rectorial manors and roadside verges. There is also greater coverage of legal authorities including over 50 decisions since the first edtition and a selection of useful precedents for the practitioner. Although the book is about the law of the manor in England and Wales, there is some reference to other jurisdictions, most notably the experimental extension of the manorial system to some American colonies. The text is arranged in five parts. Part 1 describes the context, summarises the history and analyses custom which is the basis of manorial law. Part 2 describes the lands of tenants and lords and the relations between them. Part 3 discusses rights and comprises a detailed commentary on section 62(3) of the Law of Property Act 1925. It covers rights of common, mineral and sporting rights, courts and remaining revenues. Part 4 sets the manor in the context of other institutions, namely the village, the church, towns and feudal relationships. Part 5 summarises and looks at the modern manor, its documents, conveyancing (with particular reference to registered land) and taxation, concluding with suggestions for reform. This work is for property lawyers, owners, managers, buyers and sellers of historic houses and estates, and surveyors concerned with rural matters.
