‘Nethergate’ is set over several decades, starting in the eighteenth century and closing in the early nineteenth, though much of the earliest years are skipped over.

The reason for such an extensive time range is because of the numerous first-person narrators, starting with farmer’s daughter Martha Pratt. Her narration covers the widest span of years.

Her main desire in life is to keep her brother Tom happy and spend time with him whenever possible, which isn’t often, as their poor status means she must work as a servant in the grand house Nethergate to earn more money for the Pratt family. The family is large, with several siblings, and later children and their children in turn.

Martha’s narrative is a little bland, so much so that I didn’t think this book would be a particularly good read. Thankfully, it improves with a change in narrators, and every subsequent narrative is more engaging than the first one. Despite her point of view not being the most enthralling, Martha’s character is vivid and believable.

The central character in the story is Isabella, a French refugee during the Revolution. She seeks help from her uppity cousin Rosaleen, who lives in Nethergate. Isabella in not treated as an equal – she’s set to work alongside Martha as a servant.

If Isabella is the central character, then Nethergate is the central building or fixture in the novel. At times, the reader is transported away from this stately old house for many pages at a time, but it always comes back into focus after a while.

I was drawn to this novel after reading in the synopsis that it’s set in Jassy country. Norah Lofts’s ‘Jassy’, which I read a few months before ‘Nethergate’, is one of the best novels I’ve ever read, and the character Jassy is among my favourite in fiction. It therefore came as a pleasing surprise when Jassy is mentioned by name several times during the story. She doesn’t feature in any scenes, but she is referred to.

What’s more, some of the characters in ‘Jassy’ also feature in some of this book’s later chapters, with two particularly being important to the story. In fact, one narrates the last chapter.

Going into this novel, I hoped it would be close to ‘Jassy’ in terms of quality, and while it doesn’t come close to equalling that brilliant novel, it’s still a compelling read with strong storylines and believable characters.

‘Nethergate’ lacks that unknown magic ingredient that the best novels ever written have. As already touched on, the first chapter is a bit bland, as are sections of other chapters, whereas ‘Jassy’ kept me hooked from start to finish.

Another notable difference between ‘Nethergate’ and ‘Jassy’ is that while the title character never narrates a chapter in the latter book, Isabella does get to express her viewpoint in ‘Nethergate’.

Isabella’s character evolves greatly throughout the story. Seeing her change is one of novel’s most interesting aspects. By the time she begins her narration, Isabella’s main desire is ensuring her daughter Annabelle gets the best out of life.

Annabelle is my favourite character in the novel. We see her for some time as a two-year-old, then aged ten, and gradually we see her pass through her teenage years up to around twenty. She also narrates a chapter, revealing a modest, caring, and charming girl/young woman.

Plot wise, this is essentially an episodic novel, with ‘Nethergate’ and Isabella at its core.

Every character is lifelike, complete with flaws and graces.

The author is masterful in bringing not only characters to life, but buildings and the outdoors too. She doesn’t do this by over describing anything or boring the reader with static descriptions. She paints pictures so vivid that you can see inside the houses and see the people within. These images linger in my mind like memories, almost as if I'd been there.

I wanted to rate this book five stars but, as mentioned, it’s missing some vital ingredient to make it perfect. I wanted more from the ending. Without giving anything away, I felt it finished too soon. The ending itself is strong, and we can assume what’s going to happen to most of the main characters, yet I would still liked to have seen a bit more of Annabelle and Isabella to round things off. Can’t add more without risking a spoiler, but anyone who’s read ‘Nethergate’ will (hopefully) get what I mean.

Still, I enjoyed this historical novel greatly. It’s the third Norah Lofts’s book I’ve read, and I plan to read many more by this talented author, who became one of my favourites after I read ‘Jassy’. ( )

To Isabella de Sevigny, an aristocratic refugee fleeing the French Reign of Terror, her cousin Rosaleen's magnificent English country estate promised sanctuary. But Nethergate soon became a prison to the high-spirited young woman. For its mistress, the cold-blooded and beautiful Lady Rosaleen, treated Isabella like a servant. When Isabella was seduced by Lady Rosaleen's son and discovered she was to have a child, Rosaleen devised a cunning and vicious plot to get rid of her. In her own way, and in her own time, Isabella eventually took her revenge.

I had actually read this book before many, many years ago - maybe about a decade ago. I had absolutely forgotten the plot of this book, even though I vaguely remembered reading it so long ago. So, it was, in a sense, it was like reading an entirely new book for me. This was perhaps not one of Norah Lofts best books in my opinion, but I still give Nethergate by Norah Lofts an A+! and found it to be very good! ( )