Description (from cover):'1891: The rich, aristocratic Fairbairn family have occupied Lochlee Castle in Argyllshire for the past five hundred years, and their current head, the Earl of Rothbury, is celebrating joyous times with the engagement of his second daughter, Laura. Jointed by his wife, two sons, and eight other daughters, all looks set for a happy future for the Fairbairns, until young Eleanor spots a sinister-looking man cursing the family, wishing them all appalling unhappiness, under the nearby Rowan tree--an ancient tree believed to hold magical powers.
Soon it seems the whole family is doomed, with tragedy and heartbreak around every corner. Can the surviving Fairbairns show bravery in adversity and carve out happy and successful lives, against all odds?'
My thoughts:
I picked up this book for its relevance to Downton Abbey, but I was a little disappointed in this book. It was very predictable and I saw every supposed twist and turn from miles away. I hate books that are so very obvious and this one was very much like this. It is pretty obvious from the book description that this family is cursed by a enemy of the family, but it was so predictable as to how things occur and ended. I would have been nice to have at least someone have a happy ending. Of course, this was not the case.
This book was a little dour and depressing. Every time you turn the page something awful is happening, as part of the so called "curse", but after a while, it was like do these people ever get a break? It was a little too excessive and really almost made me hate it. Thank god it was only 200 or so pages, so it made for a quick read and I was glad when finally finished it.
I understand that the family was cursed and the author had to show how the curse actually effected the family, but it was way too excessive and made for a depressing read. Definitely not something I wanted to read to escape from the real world as it was bleak and very sad at times. I prefer to have a little sunshine in my books instead of spending the whole book feeling sad.
Overall Rating: 1.5
Title: The Fairbairn Girls
Author: Una-Mary Parker
Series: N/A
Publisher: Severn House
Publication Date: June 1, 2014 (Reprint)
Pages: 208
Genre: Historical Fiction
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
