historical romance – Heart Full of Books

A Sky Painted Gold is the story of Lou, who sneaks into the mansion house across the lake to escape her small-town life, until the glamorous Cardews arrive and she becomes their new fascination. Set in the late 1920s it’s the UK’s glitzy YA answer to The Great Gatsby.

First of all, Lou is an incredibly relatable character. Her sister’s just gotten married, and she’s feeling pretty lost, so obviously she gets completely swept up by the secrets and hidden desires.

I really adored the settings how they could become claustrophobic crucibles at some times and magical expanses of freedom. The atmosphere was addicting, and really pulled me through the entire story. It never lost a sense of the Cornish countryside vs. the smog of London divide, and I enjoyed seeing how Lou acted differently, and how she explored new aspects of herself, in each setting.

Romance is possibly the main thread of A Sky Painted Gold, except no one is with who they’re supposed to be with! Who doesn’t love a good masquerade ball though! I adored this scene, because it was the perfect opportunity for truths to be revealed and scandals to cause ripples! However, I was pleasantly surprised that the romance resolved relatively with little complication that there was an F/F thread. I guess I was assuming the worst of these people, but it turns out they were just nice at heart, and I don’t know about you guys, but that made my heart sing.

Overal,, I’m giving A Sky Painted Gold 3.5 stars. I was drawn in; I loved the characters, and the world, and the writing was beautiful too. If you’re in need of a slower paced, yet addicting, summer read, I would definitely recommend this one!

I haven’t read a lot of historical fiction, but if Laura Wood writes any more, I’ll certainly be reading it!

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Hey everyone! Something very exciting for today’s post – Sophia Bennett joins us for the penultimate stop on the Following Ophelia blog tour to talk about her favourite historical couples. Romance was one of the strongest elements of the book, so we can’t wait to hear what inspired Sophia for Ophelia’s love story.

(Check out the banner on our blog to find out where Sophia’s stopping next!)

Thanks for having me, Bee and Maddie, and thank you for your review of Following Ophelia. I loved it!

It wasn’t until my seventh book, Love Song, that I wrote a proper romance. I’m interested in girls who make things or do things and they never (not even in the romance) rely on a lover to sort their lives out. But there is something wonderful about love.

I’m lucky that I ended up with my soulmate – someone I trust absolutely, and who makes me laugh every day. He also put up a light for me yesterday, but knows that I could perfectly well have put it up myself, if I didn’t happen to be gardening. He is awesome. It took a while to meet him though. We didn’t marry until I was thirty-nine.

Before that, I experienced all the ups and downs of love. I want my readers to feel the heady thrill of lust, the joy of feeling a connection – but I don’t want them to think that automatically means ‘happy ever after’. It’s usually just the start of a roller-coaster, so I wanted Mary’s experience in Following Ophelia to follow mine a little bit. She’s only just started on the journey of love. I have more to write, and she has further to travel.

It’s been fun setting her story in the 1850s, with all the complications of class, money and sex the Victorians experienced. Here are some of my favourite couples from history and legend, whom I got to know while researching various books. It’s not always easy being in love.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert – from Following Ophelia. I’ve always loved the strong connection between Victoria and Albert. Albert is underrated, I think. He was highly intelligent, curious, and passionately supported the arts. We have his energy and support to thank for the V&A Museum, for example.
Victoria became boring and distant after he died, but she was quite different while he was alive. (Check out Daisy Goodwin’s fantastic TV series about them if you haven’t already seen it.) If only he’d lasted longer than 1861 …
Persephone and Demeter – from Following Ophelia. I had to research this Greek legend for the book, as Mary takes on the name and inspiration of Persephone. She was a daughter of Zeus and Demeter, stolen by Hades and taken to the Underworld.
Demeter, the goddess of the Harvest, desperately searched the world for her missing daughter. Eventually, she found her and begged for her return. But there was a catch, involving 7 pomegranate seeds … It’s a tragic story, driven by a mother’s love. I won’t spoil it if you don’t know it, but there’s nothing like a Greek legend for drama. And isn’t this statue of mother and daughter unusual and beautiful?
David Bowie and Iman – from Love Song. It can’t be denied: they look incredible together. This could have gone so wrong, the pop star and the supermodel, but as she said, she married David Jones, not David Bowie.
They kept their relationship fairly quiet – no big Hello spreads – but I never saw them look anything less than deeply in love. He always seems so utterly entranced by her company.

It might seem odd to have them as a historical couple, but when David died last year it felt as though a special period of history had come to an end. RIP David. We still miss you.
Sah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal – from Beads. He loved her so much he built the Taj Mahal as her monument. That says it all, really.
Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé – from Threads. Researching fashion designers as I did for the Threads series, I became fascinated that so many of them – almost all, in fact – had a brilliant business manager by their side, who was often their lover too.
It takes a combination of creative flair, passion and cold business sense to make a fashion house work, and very few individuals have that in one package. Yves needed Pierre, and Pierre needed him. They were so lucky to find each other. If you’re a creative person, it really helps to fall in love with someone who appreciates and supports what you do!

After getting all flustered by how adorable all these couples are, you’re probably dying to read Following Ophelia, right? Check out our review, Following Ophelia‘s Goodreads and find Sophia Bennett on Twitter!