Women of Ashdon (Bridges Over Time) [Paperback]

Valerie Anand (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bridges Over Time | Publication Date: June 3, 1993

Married to a man she does not love, Susannah Whitmead, a woman living in the perilous Tudor era, instead falls in love with his house and involves herself in a treasonous plot. By the author of The Proud Villeins.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Moving up in the world, the Whitmead family that struggled as serfs through The Proud Villeins and much of The Ruthless Yeomen , begins to achieve respectability in the third book of The Bridges Over Time saga. Despite inroads into the gentry, though, they still suffer. During the War of the Roses, young Susannah Whitmead is forced to marry neighboring landowner Sir James Weston. She grows to love her husband and his home, Ashdon House, but then Weston is killed at Bosworth while fighting for Richard III. Two more husbands take Susannah through the tumultuous early Tudor years . Her granddaughter, Christina Trefusis, marries a cousin in order to keep beloved Ashdon and leads an uneventful--if not particularly happy--existence until turbulent Elizabethan politics intervene. Anand involves her characters in many of the major events of English history (usually on the losing side). The reader is drawn into the lives and fates of the less than mighty while also enjoying Anand's shrewd and colorful depictions of powerful leaders of the epoch.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-Readers do not need to have read the previous two books in the series to enjoy this historical novel. Set in the late Middle Ages as the Tudor reign begins, it is a well-written, well-researched, and fascinating story that focuses on the lives of Suzanna Whitmead and her granddaughter, Christina. Both are raised to be ladies, married off to suitable men, and live proper lives. Both achieve success, freedom, and property, but Christina does not produce the necessary heir. As the book ends, her nephews are dividing her land. Anand's ability to combine fictional narrative with accurate history is quite remarkable. She writes of Henry VII's pet spider monkey, the minor earthquake in the Reigate area in 1551, Queen Elizabeth's experience with a villager who accidentally startled her horse, and many other true stories of the day.
Linda Vretos, West Springfield High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing; New edition edition (June 3, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747240256
• ISBN-13: 978-0747240259
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,704,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing Historical Read, July 4, 2006

By 

A 23 year old woman (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women of Ashdon (Bridges Over Time) (Paperback)

This is a great novel of a family drama spread across the lavish backdrop of Medival, Tudor, and Elizabethan England. Highly recommended for anyone who loves historical fiction!

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Book #3 in Anand's Bridges Over Time Series, January 24, 2009

By 

Misfit (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Women of Ashdon (Bridges Over Time) (Paperback)

Taking up the story of the Whitmead family several generations after the close of The Ruthless Yeomen, Susannah Whitmead is sent to live with the Hurleighs and be educated as a lady by Mistress Agnes, the lady of the house and all time shrew. Susannah brings with her a family keepsake - a device of a curved bridge across a river - which by this time no one in the family is left who remembers the origin of the device and their ancestral roots in Normandy. In love with up and coming but still penniless Giles Saville, Susannah is forced by Agnes to marry Sir James Weston and she comes to live at Ashdon House, a house she comes to love more than anything else in life. Susannah's second marriage takes her to Cornwall, where her husband becomes involved in the protests against the high taxes imposed on the populace by Henry VII along with the plots to replace Henry with the imposter (or is he an imposter??) Perkin Warbeck.

The second half of the book is the story of Susannah's granddaughter Christina during the reigns of Mary and then Elizabeth Tudor. Christina's never ending obsession with Ashdon House makes for an unhappy marriage that gets her exiled by her husband to Cornwall where she falls into the clutches of a catholic cousin - who does her the "favor" of getting her recalled to Ashdon house by arranging a visit by Elizabeth I. Although in years to come during the plots against Elizabeth by Mary Stuart and her supporters force Christina to repay her old debt at a much higher price than she could ever have dreamed of.

So far of the three in this series, I found this one to be the weakest. While I don't expect these books to be fast paced, page turning reads this one really did drag for me at times. The first part of the book deals with Henry VII and as I've recently read two books on him, I found myself in a been-there-done-that spot. As for the second half dealing with the whole Bloody Mary/Elizabeth I/Mary Stuart business I found to be old news -- there have been too many books in recent years on these ladies and I am just Tudor'ed out. And while I enjoyed Susannah's character (especially the bit of the story with Giles), Christina was just not too likeable as a character, although Anand did give her a very appropriate finish at the end in 1606. I'm sorely torn between three stars for a slow story and four for Anand's excellent writing and call it at 3.5/5 rounded up to four.

The series in order,

The Proud Villeins
The Ruthless Yeomen
Women of Ashdon
The Faithful Lovers
The Cherished Wives
The Dowerless Sisters

Some of these books a bit spendy on the used market, but I'm giving my library's ILL program a whirl and see how lucky I am (or how good they are). The first one came from a Benedictine Abbey outside of Salem Oregon, the second from the Eugene, OR public library, book #3 is the only one my library has - let's see how much my luck continues with the last three.