Why would her practical-minded grandfather leave her a property in ruins? Why are the neighboring plantation owners, the Davenants, so eager to acquire Peverills? The answer lies in the past- a tangled history of lies, greed, clandestine love, heartbreaking betrayal, and a bold bid for freedom. When Emily accompanies her cousin and his new wife to Barbados, she finds Peverills a burnt-out shell, reduced to ruins in 1816, when a rising of enslaved people sent the island up in flames. Rumors swirl around the derelict plantation people whisper of ghosts. But when her grandfather dies, Emily receives an unexpected inheritance: Peverills, a sugar plantation in Barbados-a plantation her grandfather never told anyone he owned. Everyone knows that the family’s lucrative shipping business will go to her cousin, Adam, one day.

Scroll down to read more about this book.Ī brilliant, multigenerational saga in the tradition of THE THORN BIRDS and NORTH AND SOUTH, New York Times bestselling historical novelist Lauren Willig delivers her biggest, boldest, and most ambitious novel yet-a sweeping Victorian epic of lost love, lies, jealousy, and rebellion set in colonial Barbados.īarbados, 1854: Emily Dawson has always been the poor cousin in a prosperous English merchant clan- merely a vicar’s daughter, and a reform-minded vicar’s daughter, at that.

Or perhaps you’re a mystery novel enthusiast who wants to dip your toes in historical fiction? Willig does a great job combining genres to give every reader a little of what they are looking for. This book is ideal for historical fiction fans who are tiring of the plentiful WWII novels and are looking to read about a different era in history. Willig’s protagonist, a woman who inherited one of those sugar plantations from her grandfather, must uncover why she was given this seemingly derelict plantation and why the neighboring plantation owners are so eager to acquire it. Although Barbados is now known as a vacation getaway, at that time it was covered in sugar plantations and operated off slave labor. In The Summer Country by Lauren Willig, we travel to Barbados circa mid-1800s. I am so happy that I get to feature her again for her latest gem, The Summer Country. HBL Note: It seems like just yesterday when I read and reviewed Lauren Willig’s previous novel, The English Wife.