Review + Blog Tour: “Isabelle and Alexander” by Rebecca Anderson

Thanks for stopping by my post and review on the blog tour for Isabelle and Alexander by Rebecca Anderson!

Isabelle Rackham knows she will not marry for love. Though arranged marriages have fallen out of fashion, hers has been settled for some time to combine the upper-middle-class wealth of her father’s coal mines with Alexander Osgood’s prospering Northern country textile mills. Though not a man prone to romantic gestures, Alexander is well-known as an eligible bachelor. His good looks have turned more than one head, so Isabelle is content to think of herself as Alexander’s wife.

However, her marriage is not what she expected. Northern England is nothing like her home farther west in the lake country. Cold, dreary, and dark, the soot from the textile mills creates a gray hue that seems to cling to everything in the city of Manchester. Alexander is distant and aloof, preferring to spend his time at the mill rather than with her at home. Their few conversations are brief, polite, and lacking any emotion, leaving Isabelle lonely and desperately homesick.

Sensing his wife’s unhappiness, Alexander suggests a trip to his country estate. Isabelle hopes this will be an opportunity to get to know her new husband without the distractions of his business. But the change of scenery doesn’t bring them any closer. While riding together on horses, Alexander is thrown from his and becomes paralyzed. Tragedy or destiny? The help and care that Alexander now needs is Isabelle’s opportunity to forge a connection and create a deep and romantic love where nothing else could.

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Rebecca Anderson is the nom de plume of contemporary romance novelist Becca Wilhite, author of Wedding Belles: A Novel in Four Parts, Check Me Out, and My Ridiculous Romantic Obsessions. Isabelle and Alexander is her debut historical romance novel.

High school English teacher by day, writer by night (or very early morning), she loves hiking, Broadway shows, food, books, and movies. She is happily married and a mom to four above-average kids.

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Isabelle and Alexander is a gentle and poignant Victorian romance with protagonists facing a situation rarely explored in this genre: one of debilitating disability. While it compares in some ways to the classic North & South in setting and contrasts of the hero and heroine’s personality, its plot is distinct. I think it reads more like the latter half of a marriage of convenience trope when the couple is learning to exist together — in this case, each with little knowledge of the other’s quirks, expectations, and heart.

The story is told entirely from the Isabelle’s point of view. This allows it to be her story in many ways, as she grows more likable and empathetic to the reader along the way. Her change is most dynamic and obvious, and the themes of the story are shown to their best advantage through her eyes. As she comes to know the kindness of Alexander underneath his shuttered heart, her own heart learns to be grateful for simple things in life. These little moments she notices, and the growing tenderness between them, combine to show how love, happiness and a deeper joy cannot always depend on circumstances but can BE in spite of them.

There are many more aspects of this story I like. I appreciate the care with which Alexander’s struggle is portrayed. I think it is underrepresented in Victorian fiction. This unique challenge and the setting of Manchester and a cotton mill (again, think of Thornton’s mill in North & South!) provide a great backdrop to the love story. I especially loved the supporting cast of characters and their roles of encouragement, friendship, and foils to Isabelle and Alexander — Glory is my favorite! And, Anderson’s pen lends an array of realistic emotions to the story and couple, including anger, depression, longing, sacrificial love, joy, and the desire to have a fulfilling life purpose.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy. This is my honest review.

Blog Tour Info

Join the virtual blog tour of ISABELLE AND ALEXANDER (Proper Romance, Victorian), Rebecca Anderson’s highly acclaimed historical romance novel, May 3–16, 2021. Over forty popular blogs specializing in historical fiction, inspirational fiction, and Victorian romance will join in the celebration of its release with spotlights, exclusive excerpts, and reviews of this new Victorian-era novel set in Manchester, England.

May 03           Lu Reviews Books (Review)

May 03           Timeless Novels (Review)

May 03           Our Book Confessions (Review)

May 04           Literary Time Out (Review)

May 04           My Bookish Bliss (Review)         

May 04           The Book Diva’s Reads (Excerpt)         

May 05           Heidi Reads (Review)       

May 05           Laura’s Reviews (Review)           

May 05           Wishful Endings (Review)           

May 05           Gwendalyn’s Reviews (Review)

May 06           Margie’s Must Reads (Review)  

May 06           Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen (Excerpt)

May 06           Relz Reviewz (Review)     

May 07           Randi Loves 2 Read (Spotlight) 

May 07           The Reading Frenzy (Review)    

May 07           Nurse Bookie (Review)    

May 08           The Christian Fiction Girl (Review)      

May 08           The Bibliophile Files (Review)   

May 09           Reading with Emily (Review)     

May 09           Fire and Ice (Spotlight)     

May 10           My Jane Austen Book Club (Excerpt)  

May 10           The Caffeinated Bibliophile (Review)  

May 10           Booked Solid (Review)    

May 10           From Pemberley to Milton (Spotlight)  

May 11           Greenish Bookshelf (Review)    

May 11           Captivated Reading (Review)     

May 11           The Green Mockingbird (Review)         

May 12           For Where Your Treasure Is (Excerpt)

May 12           Bookworm Lisa (Review)

May 13           Books, Teacups & Reviews (Spotlight)

May 13           Library of Clean Reads (Review)          

May 13           Robin Loves Reading (Review)

May 13           So Little Time (Excerpt)   

May 14           Eli’s Novel Reviews (Review)     

May 14           The Lit Bitch (Review)      

May 14           The Bluestocking (Review)         

May 15           Reading Is My Superpower (Review)   

May 15           Christian Chick’s Thoughts (Review)  

May 15           A Darn Good Read (Review)      

May 16           The Silver Petticoat Review (Excerpt)  

May 16           CozyNookBooks (Review)