The Lady of Bolton Hill

United by a passion for music, Clara Endicott and Daniel Tremain were the best of friends despite their wildly disparate backgrounds. Clara, the daughter of an influential minister, is a glittering but refreshingly unpretentious child of Baltimore's elite, while Daniel is a native of the tenements, destined for a future in the steel mills but with a drive to escape his upbringing and prove worthy Clara's affection. After a tragic accident derails his youthful dreams, Clara is shipped to England with the hope of discovering her passion and purpose in life, leaving Daniel to transform his family's tragedy into a springboard for advancement, marrying his thirst for vengeance with the drive to exceed his antecedents and prove worthy Clara's world. While in England Clara discovers her passion -- illuminating the darkest struggles of the working classes with the power of her pen -- and when her expose see her unceremoniously sent back to America, she and Daniel are reunited. After more than a decade apart, Daniel and Clara couldn't be more different -- but the connection and passion that simmered between them as teens remains unchanged, flaring to life once again after their first encounter. But as much as Clara would love to rekindle her relationship with her oldest friend, Daniel's stubborn, unrelenting obsession with revenge no matter the cost threatens to derail her most cherished hope. While Clara's passion for justice collides with Daniel's pride, an unseen enemy emerges, ready to strike. Can Daniel relinquish his hunger for revenge before he loses his truest friend, or will the hope of a future with Clara be ripped from his grasp forever?Perhaps the best way to describe Camden's debut effort is intense. From the heady days of Clara and Daniel's early friendship to Clara's unceremonious deportation from England, Camden hits the ground running from the novel's opening pages. I loved the fact that Clara and Daniel's romance grew out of a childhood friendship. The intensity of their relationship, the way in which they "click" lends their budding romance an intensity and spark rarely seen in fiction of this ilk. Daniel is very much a hero cut from the same cloth as Darcy and Thornton of classic literature fame. Speaking of Thornton, this novel bears a striking resemblance in subject matter and romance to Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South. Much like the mill owner John Thornton, Daniel rises to society's highest levels with a hard-edged grace, consumed with validating his newly-acquired position. And like Thornton, Daniel meets his match in the form of a social-justice minded, independent and unconventional woman who refuses to surrender to a love built on a foundation of vengeance and anger.Bolton Hill's greatest strength lies in its insistence on pushing the boundaries of historical romance -- this is a novel infused with heated romance, weighty social issues, and high adventure. And therein also lies the novel's biggest weakness. Clocking in at a relatively slim 320-odd pages, there's almost too much going on to do any of the multiple, and equally potentially strong, storylines the justice they deserve. Roughly half the novel focuses on everything from the challenges facing female journalists in the Gilded Age and workers' rights, labor riots, and industrial rivalry while the second half features an expansive opium smuggling operation headed by a sinister Professor Moriarty-type figure whose brilliant, teen-aged lieutenant (think a 19th-century James Bond type) has Daniel's downfall in his sights. Camden has a appealing voice and intelligent, articulate prose that kept me rapidly turning pages. And while I appreciate the novel's reach it simply isn't long enough to do full justice to its characters or the multiple storylines.Don't let Bolton Hill's gorgeously-rendered cover fool you -- yes, there's a romance (and oh, some of the moments Daniel & Clara share!), but there's adventure, danger, and an organic spiritual thread wrapped up in the pages of Camden's debut. In particular I liked the character of Daniel -- his strength, intensity, loyalty to his family, and whole-hearted adoration of Clara, though his spiritual arc felt a bit truncated (again, due to length limitations). With the promise of a tighter storyline, Camden's crisp prose and fearlessly fast pace mark her as an author to watch. And that teen-aged, villainous protege I mentioned earlier? He makes a most welcome return later this year in Camden's third novel, Against the Tide.

I admit, I judged this book by its cover- I’m guilty! Though the cover of the book is quite pretty, it led me to believe that this was going to be the typical inspirational, historical romance – all of the conflict would stem from a big misunderstanding, it would be resolved a few hundred pages later, and they live happily ever after. So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when the main character, Clara, is an investigative journalist, right around the time when there were female journalists, but not many. This particular journalist is intent on bringing the truth to light and using her words to do so. Early in the story, she is in jail, no less! The opening of the story had me hooked from the beginning.The plot was in no way ho-hum, but rather kept along at a nice pace. It wasn’t just the typical lady meets gentleman story – in fact, Daniel Tremain is not much of a gentleman at all, but rather a big of a roguish character. Being a self-made man, he knows firsthand the hardships of the working poor. The struggles between Clara and Daniel were out in the open and all the more potent because of that. The relationship between them was endearing and rang true for me. I love how they had true, realistic internal conflict within themselves and not just with each other and outside conflict. There were so many aspects to admire - Daniel’s rocky path to forgiveness, Clara’s steadfast loyalty and their conflict over her beliefs.I also really enjoyed the relationship between Clara and her brother, Clyde – I think he deserves his own story and would love it if one was ever written about him. The other secondary characters, Daniel’s sisters, Kate and Lorna, and especially Alexander Banebridge, were all fleshed out very well and added a lot of depth to the story.What kept me from giving that fifth star was the fact that at times I didn’t feel a very strong sense of place. I’m a reader who likes description of place and setting and at times, that just wasn’t there for me. Some of the dialogue didn’t seem like it was “back then,” but rather would have suited a more contemporary story. I also felt that some of the decisions Clara made, while they propelled the plot, did not always come across as realistic. The second thing was the spiritual aspect of the story - one reviewer mentioned that Clara suddenly turned into "Super Christian," and I find that I have to agree. It became very in your face at times, versus the other times where it weaves in and out of the story more organically.Overall, it was a very enjoyable story with a compelling plot, an endearing romance and stand-out characters. I’m really looking forward to reading the rest of Bane’s story in Against the Tide!

As usual, the book is crafted so well in the use of the English Language and in the workings of the storylines.There is an unsatisfying omission for me in that the character of Forsythe, who caused so much grief, was left being able to still take advantage without showing any feelings for others or any repentance. I was hoping for that throughout. It seemed to be a contradiction to Clara’s successes in risking her future from standing by her beliefs with respect to the two main male characters in the book.

The prologue, set in 1867, is dramatic and very well-written. It introduces Daniel Tremain, a sixteen-year-old working boy in the United States who suffers a terrible tragedy; it also introduces his best friend, Clara, who shares his passion for classical music although her background is much higher class than his.The rest of the story takes place twelve years later. The historical settings felt real, and the dialogue came across as authentic. I liked Clara, and found Daniel believable if rather hard-headed and materialistic. I was less convinced by the other, more minor characters.However my biggest problem with the book was the sudden development of a completely different sub-plot, part way through. It involves some opium dealers, and a particularly unpleasant and amoral teenage boy known as Bane. When the two storylines combine, the book descends into melodrama… oddly mixed with evangelism.The resolution of the story’s climax feels bizarre, and that's writing from the perspective as a Christian who has no doubt that God can do anything. For those without faith, approaching this as a historical fiction book, the ending would seem unrealistic and contrived in a ‘deus ex machina’ style.So I can’t give this any more than three stars, despite it being very well-written and with a great sense of the historical context. I'd say it's worth reading, and very interesting in places, but I’d have liked it better (and believed in it more) if the story involving Bane had not been there at all.

I've read three of Elizabeth Camden's novels and, so far, I think this is probably my least favourite. Given that it's her debut novel, it makes sense that it isn't quite as strong or well-written as her later books. Her writing voice is quite different and more mature in her later novels.I honestly think that the opening chapters of this book--involving Clara and Daniel as teenagers, and then Clara imprisoned in London--were the strongest in the whole story. They sucked me in and intrigued me immediately, but the ensuing conflicts weren't quite as intriguing as the opening ones. The suspense and mystery in this book definitely kept me turning the pages, and I won't deny that the story is compelling, but the opening chapters were definitely the strongest out of the entire book.I definitely enjoyed the details about Clara's work as a journalist and the issues with the labour unions, which I haven't come across much before in other novels from this time period. Female journalists certainly weren't all that common at this time, especially ones who delved into gritty issues like the ones Clara wrote about. Labour unions and child labour might not be the most romantic historical details to discuss in a novel, but they were interesting to read about.While the villain of the story is disconnected from the other characters for the majority of the plot (which is initially a little confusing), he becomes more prominent towards the end of the story. I actually read the sequel to this book, Against the Tide, first, and I remember wondering how much of Bane's backstory is dealt with in the first book, since I found the details in the sequel to be rather vague. They're still pretty vague here, to be honest, and I think I probably prefer Against the Tide to this book. The second book goes into a lot more details about the opium trade, which I found fascinating.I think what didn't work for me was the spiritual side of the book. Clara just seemed too pushy towards Daniel (and eventually Bane) to become Christians. I totally understand her concerns about marrying someone who doesn't share your faith (my husband wasn't a Christian when we started dating) but she seemed to approach the issue from a very simplistic manner, almost as if Daniel just needed to be told about Jesus in order to change his mind. It seemed to me that it wasn't that Daniel didn't understand how salvation worked--he just didn't think he needed anyone to save him because he thought he was in control of his life. I guess maybe it's just a personal thing, having been in a similar position to Clara--I would never have been as pushy as her, and probably would have tried to bring about more organic, realistic conversations about faith, rather than just constantly telling Daniel why he needed to become a Christian.In spite of these complaints, Daniel's eventual conversion to Christianity felt a lot more realistic than Bane's change of heart. Daniel needed time to come to his own decisions about God and the role he would play in his life, and the gradual changes Daniel made over the course of the book felt believable considering his past attitudes. Bane, on the other hand, shows no signs of wanting to escape his criminal lifestyle until Clara challenges him, and his turnaround felt far too quick for me to believe it genuine. Perhaps if there had been some hints that he wanted to escape his life of crime but couldn't, I would have found this part of the story more realistic.On another note, I would love to read a book about Clara's brother, Clyde, who works as a doctor for various Native American tribes in remote locations. His disconnect from his family's lavish lifestyle and society's treatment of him definitely intrigued me. I think he's more my kind of hero than either Daniel or Bane! I hope Elizabeth Camden decides to give Clyde his own story some day.Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book and I think I'd give it 3.5*. The storyline was certainly interesting and compelling, especially the suspenseful parts, but the spiritual side didn't feel very realistic and was more in-your-face than I usually like in my Christian Fiction. I'm not sure if I would have been so eager to read more of Elizabeth Camden's work if I'd started with this book. Against the Tide contains much stronger writing, and The Rose of Winslow Street is by far my favourite of her books so far.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I don't read many historical novels, but I'm glad I took a chance with this one. Daniel was a great character. His anger and unforgiveness made me look inward because it's easy to be disgusted when you see these unsavoury traits in other people and forget that you are not a saint yourself. I don't want to give the plot away, but I was really rooting for Daniel and Clara to just get together already and stop being silly. Seriously I wanted to SHAKE THEM BOTH. The only reason I gave the book four stars instead of five is because there were constant detours to this other character, who I understand stars in the next book, Rose of Winslow Street. But to be honest I didn't care about him. I just wanted to focus on Daniel and Clara. I mainly just skipped over those parts. Thank you Elizabeth Camden for such a sweet, romantic, suspense-filled faith book. I really enjoyed it. And the cover is beautiful too!

This i a an amazing author, her writing keeps me awake, and this is a true story of what redemption means and how we can forgive because we have been completely forgiven in Christ's sacrifice on the cross.It is a page turner, so much suspense and I had to put it down when I felt I needed to take a small break for all the action; ( just like putting the TV on mute when the scene is a little too scary).Beautiful read,I read it after: Against the Tide" but it could be book 1 so if you have a choice, read this book first