The Cornish Captive: A sweeping historical romance for fans of Bridgerton

This is the first book of Nicola Pryce's that I have read. At the start of 'The Cornish Captive' I was struggling to get into the story and considered giving up on the book (something I very rarely do). However, I am glad that I didn't give up as after a while it became clear that there was an interesting set of dark hidden events underlying the story that kept my attention for the remainder of the book. One of the things I struggled with at the start of the book was the writing style but as it got into the swing of things I found the writing style settled and became much easier to keep up with. I thought the book was well balanced and whilst I didn't guess the final element of the book the rest contained twists which were balanced and believable. As the main character pieces together more elements of the history that has been hidden from her it kept a good pace to the book.

The Cornish Captive tells the story of Madeline Pelligrew a woman kept prisoner because of alleged insanity. Initially imprisoned in a mad house after her husband was murdered and grief was mistaken for insanity, Madeline remained a captive for fourteen years being moved every couple of years. Madeline was freed unexpectedly by a fellow French citizen claiming to be sent by her brother who she was told had survived the French Revolution. Madeline was rescued with Rowan an orphan she had befriended and set out to discover more about her husband’s death. Madeline and Rowan set out to discover what had happened to her husband, along the way they are helped by Captain Pierre De la Croix, a Frenchman on parole but are unsure whether to trust him. I found this book quite fast paced, the characters were interesting. I read the book quickly, keen to find out how it all ended. I will look for other books by Nicola Pryce.