Rumours by Freya North

Rumours is a delightful new novel by bestselling author Freya North.

Set in and around the quaint English village of Long Dansbury and Longbridge Hall the seat of the Earls of Barbary. The novel is peopled with a wonderful array of characters young and old.

I have read five of Freya’s previous novels and her latest does not disappoint. Stella is an art historian who has reinvented herself as an estate agent tasked with the sale of Longbridge Hall. Lydia is the Lady of the Manor growing old as the Hall crumbles around her. Xander is a lifelong resident of the village who grew up around the Hall. All are tied to the future of Longbridge and the village and as rumour spreads about what will happen and who the new owners will be so the cast of characters are brought together.

As always in a Freya North novel there are a number of unashamedly raunchy scenes, these she writes with style and panache, helping to bring alive the character growth and the growing relationship between the two romantic leads; Stella and Xander.

However there is much more to this novel than romance and raunch there are realistic portraits of the tangled web of village life, of the pain of love lost, of grief and the reality of growing older.

If you haven’t read Freya North before then start now, perfect whether you enjoy Jilly Cooper or Joanna Trollope, Freya provides the perfect slice of English life with a dash of spice.