Review: The Cavendon Women by Barbara Taylor Bradford (audio)

Title:The Cavendon Women

Author:Barbara Taylor Bradford

Series:Cavendon Hall, #2

Narrator:Anna Bentinck

Published:March 2015, Macmillan Audio / St. Martin’s Press

Length:14 hours 25 minutes / Hardcover, 448 pages

Source:Personal copy via Audible / Publicist

From the #1 New York Times
bestselling author comes a stunning and dramatic saga of love and
loyalty. The aristocratic Inghams have been served by the Swann family
for centuries. The Cavendon Women follows these two families’
journeys from a weekend in the summer of 1926 through to the devastation
of the financial crash of 1929.

It all begins on a summer
weekend in July of 1926, when, for the first time in years, the Earl has
planned a family weekend. Everyone is intrigued by the invitation, and
everyone has their own reasons for accepting it. As the family members
come together, secrets, problems, joys, and sorrows are revealed. And as
old enemies come out of the shadows and the Swanns’ loyalty to the
Inghams gets tested in ways none of them could have predicted, it is up
to the Cavendon women to band together and bring their family into a new
decade, and a new way of life.

Told with Barbara Taylor Bradford’s trademark attention to detail and passionate prose, The Cavendon Women will grip readers as they follow the beloved characters through times of triumph and turmoil.

My thoughts:This is the second book in Barbara Taylor Bradford’s Cavendon Hall trilogy and focuses on the women of the family, showing just how strong they are and how capable they are at keeping their family together. It spans in time from 1926 to the financial crash in 1929. 

What I love about this series is that there is ample time given to really develop the characters, so that you really feel like you know them. In this particular installment, we follow the daughters finding the men of their dreams and settling into their lives as adults. But their family and the family home always remain front and center. 

Secrets abound in this installment, some threatening and some just silly, and there‘s the case of the missing jewelry that the Ingham children must get back from their mother. Great–Aunt Gwendolyn returns with her words of wisdom – she’s a character that reminds me a little bit of Aunt Violet on Downton Abby! She’s involved with a minor story line that involves a long-buried secret that is just heart-wrenching. 

This series is filled with laughter and sadness, births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and all the drama to go along with it.  And the ending leaves us with just a little bit of a cliff-hanger to set up the final book. Things aren’t looking too good for Cavendon Hall! 

This is a good series and while I am anxious to start the next book, I am also a little hesitant because it will be the final book in the trilogy…don’t you hate that…knowing that a series is coming to an end? Sometimes it’s a good thing, but with trilogies and the shorter series, sometimes you want them to go on for a bit longer, right? That’s how I feel with this one…I want it to go one longer, but I guess all good things must come to an end at some point. Hopefully the next book wraps it all up in a way that is satisfying at least!

Audio thoughts:Once again Anna Bentinck does a great job with this audio, bringing the characters to life. She does a great job giving each character their own voice and personality, using just the right emotion and tone when needed. I am really enjoying listening to her narrate this series and will certainly be checking out what else she has narrated after I finish listening to the final book of this trilogy.

Books in this series: 

1. Cavendon Hall
2. The Cavendon Women
3. The Cavendon Luck