Solsbury Hill

By: Susan M. Wyler

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

The windswept moors of England, a grand rustic estate, and alove story of one woman caught between two men who love her powerfully - alli nspired by Emily Brontë's beloved classic, Wuthering Heights. SolsburyHill brings the legend of Catherine and Heathcliff, and that of their mysterious creator, into a contemporary love story that unlocks the past.

When a surprise call from a dying aunt brings twenty-something New Yorker Eleanor Abbott to the Yorkshire moors - and thefamily estate she is about to inherit - she finds a world beyond anything she might have expected. Having left behind an American fiancé, here Eleanor meets Meadowscarp Macleod, a young man who challenges and changes her. Here, too, sheencounters the presence of Brontë herself and discovers a family legacy they may share.

With winds powerful enough to carve stone and bend trees, the moors are another world - one where time and space work differently. Remnants ofthe past are just around a craggy, windswept corner. For Eleanor this means ancestors and a devastating romantic history that bears on her own life, on the history of the novel Wuthering Heights, and on the destinies of all wholive in its shadow.

©2014 Matt Taibbi (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

Rich Characters in the Moors of England.

Engaging main character unravels the mystery of her past. This historical romance weaves the known with the unknown until reconciliation.

Solsbury Hill

Any additional comments?

Source: I received a copy of this book from Audible in exchange for an honest review.

SOLSBURY HILL is a loose retelling of the Gothic classic WUTHERING HEIGHTS, set in modern-day Yorkshire. American Eleanor Abbott is summoned to England at the urgent request of her gravely ill aunt. Her aunt, the current owner of Trent Hall on Solsbury Hill, has secrets to spill, but she dies before they can be shared with Eleanor. With her aunt’s death, Eleanor inherits the estate and the ghosts that come with it. Shocking family secrets are hers to discover as the haunting Yorkshire moors have her in their grip.

This book is also about Eleanor’s difficult choice between two men and the family curse that may doom them. There’s her serious boyfriend Miles, and Mead, her aunt’s foster son. Actually, the decision didn’t seem that difficult to me, but I guess Eleanor had too much time to wander the moors and over-think things. Unfortunately, my least favorite character was Eleanor, who was wishy-washy and lacked appropriate responses to what happened to her.

I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Kate Reading. She did an excellent job with the different accents in this book – American, English, and Scottish – and with female and male voices.

SOLSBURY HILL was an entertaining light Gothic romance. I felt like it was missing the grand passion of the original WUTHERING HEIGHTS, but the mesmerizing moors and mysterious ghosts in the book held my interest. I was also curious to learn how Emily Brontë herself was connected to Eleanor.