One of the pleasures of country living is reading in the hammock. The day was warm with a hint of a breeze and the sun was sparkling on the lake. I was reading Lady Franklin of Russell Square, an epistolary novel by Erika Behrisch Elce, published by Stonehouse Publishing. Lady Jane Franklin’s fascinating personality emerges in her letters to her husband, Sir John Franklin, while awaiting his return from the voyage to discover the northwest passage. Interspersed with the letters are actual excerpts from newspapers of the mid-1800s. Although she cannot send the letters, she hopes, upon her husband’s return, to give them all to him as a chronicle of her life during his absence. The tenacious woman alternates between hope and despair as expeditions to find her husband are mounted, and then come to naught.
Reading in the Hammock
A well-written novel, for those who enjoy historical fiction.