Beyond the Shadowlands

By Georgina Fleming

An historical romance set in 19th-century Devon. Consigned to a lunatic asylum in 1867 by her husband, Alice Brennan escapes and is accepted into a gypsy troupe of performers. Slowly Alice begins to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844290638
• ISBN13: 9781844290635
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Knight Paperbacks
• Weight: 3.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Victorian woman's journey to survival.

This is novel of romantic suspense. It is also a story of a woman's coming of age. Alice escapes from the asylum where her adulterous husband, Edward, has had her committed. Charlotte, Alice's sister, has seduced Edward and is well on her way to taking possession of Alice's life and family. Alice has three young children and has just given birth to a son in the asylum. It is obvious to Alice that her child will be taken from her if she remains in the asylum. Edward has told their children that Alice has "gone to someplace beyond the shadowlands - where no one and nothing can reach you". He is taking away her reality and transforming her into a bedtime story. Alice and her infant are able to escape with the aid of her old nurse, Milly, and a fugitive Chartist, Luke Durant. They find refuge with a travelling gypsy theater troupe. There is a very dark family past that Alice has repressed for the protection of her sanity. If she is to survive the machinations of her husband and sister her turbulent past has to be faced and conquered. This is a very complex novel that works on every genre level, romance, suspense, bildungsroman and gothic. Recommended.