Historical fiction often features the young and dashing, making their way across battlefields and through treacherous courts. And those are entertaining and a great read! But we are offered relatively few books in the genre with an older protagonist, one who might offer a different kind of wisdom and bravery. This week we are chatting about Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen, a heartfelt and touching novel that I think is a fresh choice in historical fiction!
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure, Rhys Bown
Surrey, England, 1938. After thirty devoted years of marriage, Ellie Endicott is blindsided by her husband’s appeal for divorce. It’s Ellie’s opportunity for change too. The unfaithful cad can have the house. She’s taking the Bentley. Ellie, her housekeeper Mavis, and her elderly friend Dora—each needing escape—impulsively head for parts unknown in the South of France.
With the Rhône surging beside them, they have nowhere to be and everywhere to go. Until the Bentley breaks down in the inviting fishing hamlet of Saint Benet. Here, Ellie rents an abandoned villa in the hills, makes wonderful friends among the villagers, and finds herself drawn to Nico, a handsome and enigmatic fisherman. As for unexpected destinations, the simple paradis of Saint Benet is perfect. But fates soon change when the threat of war encroaches.
Ellie’s second act in life is just beginning—and becoming an adventure she never expected.
Why You Should Read This…
I have read several books from Rhys Bowen- the Her Royal Spyness series is one of my favourites. However, Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure ended up being an entirely different type of book in the best way.
I will admit, I was immediately angry upon reading the first page. Ellie’s idiot husband states that he is divorcing her out of the blue and is irritatingly smug about the whole thing. However, Ellie handles it much better than most of us would have, and her don’t-look-back approach really carries us forward. What should be a really heavy and quite possibly dark novel is one of the lightest that I’ve read in a while, and Bowen shows her skill as an author. (I cannot overstate how much I hate Lionel, the husband- with any other author, I would have stopped reading out of irritation but Bowen makes Ellie so endearing that I couldn’t put it down.)
I also loved Mavis and Dora, her former housekeeper and her fellow villager. Sure, Ellie could have gone on this journey by herself but I loved the focus on female friendship and stories. While many historical fiction novels focus on romance, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, I love that platonic friendship is featured. Their group made this an entirely heartfelt and lovely novel that I didn’t want to put down.
Is Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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