Ireland, 1846: Nell is working as a scullery maid in the kitchen of the Big House. Once she loved school and books and dreaming. But there's not much choice of work when the land grows food that rots in the earth. Now she is scrubbing, peeling, washing, sweeping for Sir Philip Wicken, the man who owns her home, her family's land, their crops, everything. His dogs are always well fed, even as famine sets in.
Upstairs in the Big House, where Nell is forbidden to enter, is Johnny Browning, newly arrived from England: the young nephew who will one day inherit it all. And as hunger and disease run rampant all around them, a spark of life and hope catches light when Nell and Johnny find each other.
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It is hard to tell a love storyand also the story of people falling apart.
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(Bloomsbury YA, 14 March 2024, e-galley, 432 pages, copy from the publisher via NetGalley)
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I'm a fan of the author. I wanted to read Where the Heart Should Be because it sounded like something I'd enjoy and it's different from her other books but still written in her verse-style which I always really enjoy. I wasn't sure how a verse-novel would suit historical fiction but the author successfully pulls this off. I loved the historical details, clearly well-researched and the characters especially Nell. I loved her. I also loved the forbidden love between Nell the scullery-maid and John, the son of a Lord. This is compelling narrative. I found this an emotional read. I was riveted. I'd recommend this.
