Day's Dying Glory by Virginia Crow

Day's Dying Glory Reviews

• 
  Abigail Shepherd

  
  I found this to be a very enjoyable read. I was expecting a romance, instead I got a gripping family saga, which was a pleasant surprise. The characters were generally multi-faceted and likeable, and it was fast moving, keeping me turning the pages. The style is heavily old fashioned, which suits the period the book is set in. It reminded me of the style of Fanny Burney's 'Evalina' and also Ann Radcliffe's 'Mysteries of Udolpho'. It also has a strong vein of sentimentality not unlike these books. Perhaps a little too much for me, but that's just my personal taste. In fact, had I not know that this was a book by a modern author I could easily have taken it to be by a contemporary of these writers. The only criticism I have is that there was rather too much explaining of each characters thoughts and feelings. But this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story and I look forward to reading more from Virginia Crow.
  
  
• 
  Judy T.

  To say this book is a romance is probably underselling it a little bit. In many ways, it is an adventure story: just the kind of adventures that the average person can accidentally find themselves in!
  
  The characters of the three sisters are developed very quickly and very well, and by the end of the first chapter I had a pretty good idea of which one would be my favourite (I’m Team Imogen, by the way!). These are very strong female characters, which is always a turn-on for me in books.
  
  I suppose that I’m a romantic at heart, as I was rooting for the girls to find their perfect matches from the men that their father tries to set them up with, but that doesn’t work out in the way you think it will. It’s a bit weird that I still felt everything finished in a very satisfactory way, even though it wasn’t in the way that I was hoping for!
  
  I think I may have read this a bit fast, as I was pretty emotional by the end! The author has dealt well with the passage of time, so time passes in such a way that you don’t feel that the book covers years until you think of everything the characters have found and lost in that time.
  
  I really liked the way that the chapters were set out – having days and dates as the chapter titles seems to make it more realistic. I was tempted to let the book lose a star because I couldn’t jump from chapter to chapter on the Kindle, which bothered me because I’m someone who likes to pop back to different sections to check what has been said. Presumably that won’t be a problem with a hard-copy though!
  
  In conclusion, a beautiful and very well written debut novel, but just a suggestion for the author/publisher to look into formatting.
  
• 
  Clemency

  It’s always a bit of a gamble reading a new author’s book – but I’m so pleased I bought this one. The plot focusses around three sisters who are as different from each other as they possibly can be. One of the great things about this story is that you can identify with each character, even the minor ones. The author creates a sense of empathy which enhances the character development throughout the book – almost as if you are learning alongside each of them – and there is a lot of character development! Every single one of the characters go on a journey and you get the feeling that the journey will continue beyond the end of the book, just like in real life.
  
  It is a really gripping plot as well. Part of me was expecting a run-of-the-mill romance novel but the unexpected twists and turns got my heart thumping in suspense and the book can get quite dark and gritty after a seemingly peaceful beginning.
  
  I wish I could have a bit more background on some of the characters (Hamish, for example, has a very distant but enigmatic past). The characters develop throughout the story but some of their pasts are enveloped in mystery. This could be further explained in future books.
  
  Would I recommend it? Definitely! Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable book and I can’t wait for the next one!
  
• 
  David

  This is totally different to the previous books I have read of Virgina Crow though I still enjoyed it. Three daughters of differing character still manage to hold the family together after the death of their Mother and the detached relationship with their gambling, military father, which was pretty common for the era. Virginia is able to write in a manner and style that exudes a Pride and Prejudice setting, though earlier, and enables the reader to accept the time piece readily. The character of all three Sisters, and their relationships with an adopted brother and Military life made an enjoyable read.