Charlotte's Angel, Inspirational Australian Fiction review

Book description:

A child growing up in uncontrollable and awkward circumstances, Charlotte Plumb must learn to strive for more than the legacy her mother leaves her.

Thomas Douglass, is a strong, determined and caring young man. Rescuing Charlotte drives him, but how can the children of ex-convicts find love?

With sadness and grief, joy and new birth, mystery, murder and romance the Douglass and Plumb families will intertwine over twenty years.

Note: Charlotte's Angel continues the Douglass family saga begun in the much-loved Mary's Guardian.

My review:

The Early Colonial days of New South Wales is the setting for Carol Preston's latest novel. As such I was not disappointed as the author used interesting historical facts for its background. I love history and it is that particular subject which often attracts my attention when I select a book be it for reviewing or just entertainment.

In this case however I think I should have read first 'Mary's Guardian' to get a feel of the story. It seemed 'Charlotte's Angel', book # 2 in the saga , was missing something in the beginning, and I for one, felt some confusion as to whose story this truly was: Charlotte's, Eliza (her mother) or the Douglass family. 

After reading material such as 'The Fatal Shore' I expected the stark background which is particular to the Australian continent. I also anticipate some colour in Carol Preston's fictional work but instead the pages revealed a very bland setting. There are no description of the extensive fauna or flora, and we are left to imagine if individual characters are either tall, short, fat, blond or black. 

In one instance the early disappearance of one character never offers a closure, leaving the reader to imagine he/she missed something and going back at the beginning yields only frustration. 

I also felt the inspirational part of the story lacked a few sparks!

In the end, you might finish the book and decide all ends well but personally I hoped for more.  There seems to be a vast amount of Inspirational Australian fiction and non fiction available on the market and looking at the catalogue in front of me, I hope to read some of these shortly.

'Charlotte's Angel' is just a nice story aimed perhaps at the Young Adult audience with little to recommend to other readers.

I give it 3 stars.

I received this book free from BOOKCRASH as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not asked to write a positive review and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.