I've read everything by Brenda Jagger that I could lay my hands on and I think the Barforth books are my favorites. In this first of the series, Verity Barforth, elusive, retiring and delicate of character like her mother, falls heir to the Barforth fortune and the woolen mills that go with it, through tragic and unforseen events. At sixteen she is then sold into a loveless marriage to formidable Joel Barforth, her ruthlessly ambitious, hard-headed, handsome, womanizing second cousin. Joel, shrewd and able, but financially strapped, requires only two things of Verity: her mills and heirs, both of which he gets in short order. But then Verity grows up and falls in love with the man she would have been promised to had she been only a daughter and not an heiress, an added complication to her life as a misfit among the vivid, brawling personalities of her family members. The ensuing conflicts lead her to examine her value as a woman both in her own eyes and in the eyes of others.

I liked this book not only for the romance, which is well enough, but for Jagger's panorama of the social, political and economic changes taking place in this setting, Yorkshire during the Industrial Revolution, because I like to be educated as well as entertained. And if you ever feel that today's world treats women unfairly, read this book.

Verity Barforth is the young daughter of a wealthy landowner in late 1800s Britain who grows from the timidity of youth to the strength of womanhood. Through a series of life-shattering events, prompted by the revolts of the weaving class in 18th century Britain as the new factories left them starving, Verity develops a resilience that most of her peers, other young gentry women, could not comprehend. Her new insight feeds her belief of fair treatment for the labor classes, her desire to know the man she was 'supposed' to marry, and her feeling that her arranged marriage could be much more than a business agreement. Her monologue on what marriage 'should be' is the best I've ever read!

This book combines the historical perspectives of all classes during the turmoil in Britain as the textile factories came into existence in the late 1800s. The book delves into political, cultural, and class separatism and discrimination issues. It offers a unique balance of history with fiction to create a compelling story of a woman's personal struggle to transcend the class barrier.

I love everything written by Brenda Jagger, but Antonia is my absolute favorite. I have read this book over and over again, and always refer to it as "My Beloved Antonia." The setting is in Ancient Rome, just after the death of the Emperor Nero. Antonia is a patrician girl, whose marriage prospects change frequently, depending upon who is the current Emperor of Rome. In the end, Antonia takes her fate into her own hands. Just Wonderful!

I read this book out of nothing to do - and was glued to it immediately. Starting as a grim autobiography, it developes itself in so lively a way that, whatever you do, you feel that you cannot leave the life of Olivia. Filled with extremely well worked-through characters, an exciting plot and the ever-lasting feeling that you are going through the same events as the young heroine, this masterpiece deserves to be a classic, and no one should ever live without reading it.

Alternately titled "Flint and Roses" (more apt, I think) this continues the saga of the family, but centers around the Aycliffe sisters, annoyingly strident Prudence, cast much in the mold of her Aunt Hannah, annoyingly persnickety Celia, who thoroughly bought into the teachings and philosophies of her father, and Faith, the narrator, whose cool, serene exterior hides a sensual, passionate rebel and who at one point describes herself as "simply a woman who loves Nicholas Barforth, nothing more". As it turns out, there is considerably more to Faith. If you like Brenda Jagger, you may, as I do, consider this one of her best novels, rife with subtext and rich characters, some of them delightfully irritating. Marriage is again a central theme, featuring some cautionary tales that could bear titles such as: "Too Much Too Soon", "Don't Wait Too Long Or You Might Have To Settle For What's Left" and "Be Careful Of What You Want--You Just Might Get It". As Prudence's situation becomes more comic, Celia's descends into tragedy. And that is to say nothing of Faith's own roller-coaster ride through first love, heartbreak, widowhood, remarriage, and final triumph.

I first read this book, the middle book of a trilogy, about 15 years ago and i still think about it a lot. it has one of the most satisfying explorations of what romantic love is that i have ever read. Unlike most "romance" books, it explores the thoughts of people who are not always either "angry" at each other or in perfect accord; it searches the areas in which each tries to understand, misunderstands, and wonders about the other -- the mental bits of love that go very deep and are almost never explored.

Alternately titled "The Barforth Women", this continues the saga of the family, but is centered around the Aycliffe sisters, annoyingly strident Prudence, cast much in the mold of her Aunt Hannah, annoyingly persnickety Celia, who thoroughly bought into the teachings and philosophies of her father, and Faith, the narrator, whose cool, serene exterior hides a sensual, passionate rebel, and who at one point describes herself as "just a woman who loves Nicholas Barforth, nothing more". As things turn out, there is considerably more to Faith. If you like Brenda Jagger, you may, as I do, consider this one of her best novels, rife with subtext and rich characters, some of them delightfully irritating. Marriage is again a central theme, featuring some cautionary tales that could bear titles such as: "too much too soon", "don't wait too long or you might have to settle for what's left" and "be careful of what you want--you just might get it". As Prudence's situation becomes more comic, Celia's descends into tragedy. And that is to say nothing of Faith's own roller-coaster ride through first love, heartbreak, widowhood, remarriage, and final triumph.

This book the ending of a trilogy was the first one I read passed on to me by a friend. I fell in love witht the characters and immediately rushed to find the rest in the series. The book centers around the character Grace Agbrigg a young heiress who as a young woman is terrified of being married for her money. We follow her triumphs and her failures and ultimately her struggle for independence, something not only unheard of in her society but completely forbidden. Grace is challenged by her desires both for love and for freedom and a way to have both. A wonderful story relating a greater fight for recognition of women in a society created by men.

Alternately titled "The Sleeping Sword", this is the story of brilliant, well educated Grace Agbrigg, who is put off by the implications of sexuality in her father's overtly pragmatic relationship with her stepmother, and mistrustful of men because they might marry her for her inheritance rather than herself. A maneuvered marriage enmeshes her in the pathetic shambles which is the family of Nicholas Barforth, where she falls heavily under the influence of her cousin and sister-in-law, Venetia. Grace finds in herself great talents as hostess and homemaker, traditional women's roles, despite the maelstrom of family dysfunctionality that rages about her. But then the tragedies and betrayals become more than she can bear and she takes the unthinkable step to extricate herself and become--an independent woman.

Grace is feistier and has more attitude than the previous two central characters in the Barforth series, if also rather naive.

This installment continues an interesting background chronicle of social, political and economic developments in 19th century England.