A Similar Devotion

by Susan Bell

Overview

In the North East of England at the dawn of the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries, two women face tragedy and challenges.

Set within the compelling political landscape of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, and the complications and frustrations of the digital age, this dual romantic narrative shows that upheaval and revolution are no match for the constancies of love.

Alternately tense, dramatic and joyful, A Similar Devotion follows two women separated in time, but united in their determination to overcome the obstacles they face throughout the events and relationships that colour their lives.

The intertwining stories reveal that despite the contrasting worlds in which they live, love has a power to heal and bring happiness that neither woman expected.

Susan Bell encapsulates the romantic past with the same vigour as the vibrant present.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781908381590
Publisher:	Sacristy Press
Publication date:	02/01/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Susan Bell trained as a teacher at St Hild’s College, Durham, followed by a Masters Degree in Education from Cardiff University. After teaching for two years, she left to have the first of three sons. As they grew older she resumed teaching, taking a certificate and then a Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language. With her husband John, Susan moved to Botswana in 1994 and taught English, followed by a move to Zimbabwe where she continued to teach English part-time to slow and second language learners, and researched and wrote stories in her spare time.

On returning to the UK, Susan took up the position of Librarian at Durham School for 18 months, leaving in 2003 to concentrate on her writing. In 2007 Susan and John moved to China, staying for three years. During this time she continued to write, and finished a second novel whilst also tutoring English and taking part in a project to improve English in tourist areas, restaurants and information signs in Xi’an. The third year was spent in Nanjing where Susan concentrated on revising and editing her two novels whilst John continued to teach Physics. They returned to Durham in September 2010 and has continued to write and revise her novels. Susan’s husband John sadly died in 2013, just as her first novel, A Similar Devotion, was being prepared for publication.

Susan Bell trained as a teacher at St Hild’s College, Durham, followed by a Masters Degree in Education from Cardiff University. After teaching for two years, she left to have the first of three sons. As they grew older she resumed teaching, taking a certificate and then a Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language. With her husband John, Susan moved to Botswana in 1994 and taught English, followed by a move to Zimbabwe where she continued to teach English part-time to slow and second language learners, and researched and wrote stories in her spare time.

On returning to the UK, Susan took up the position of Librarian at Durham School for 18 months, leaving in 2003 to concentrate on her writing. In 2007 Susan and John moved to China, staying for three years. During this time she continued to write, and finished a second novel whilst also tutoring English and taking part in a project to improve English in tourist areas, restaurants and information signs in Xi’an. The third year was spent in Nanjing where Susan concentrated on revising and editing her two novels whilst John continued to teach Physics. They returned to Durham in September 2010 and has continued to write and revise her novels. Susan’s husband John sadly died in 2013, just as her first novel, A Similar Devotion, was being prepared for publication.

Editorial Reviews

Overall A Similar Devotion is a very satisfying read. There are two stories; one set in the eighteenth century at the time of the 1715 Jacobite rising and the other in the present day. The link between the two is that the heroine of present day tale spends time researching the 18th. century tale while recovering from a family tragedy and taking tentative steps in a relationship with a young doctor.

The novel moves seamlessly between the past and present tales and it is a test of this type of book that the reader is always looking forward to updates on one story while reading the other. That works really well here. In fact, the present day relationship becomes so rocky at times that a break from it is most welcome yet, having slipped back in time, I became anxious to know how the twentieth century would resolve their problems.

The language is refreshingly simple and the eighteenth century sections sound as if they were written in that time, but without the usual padding that frequently characterised novels of that era. The characters are interesting, convincing and well-drawn. The locations, most of which were familiar to me, have been chosen carefully, particularly in the eighteenth century sections to give maximum impact to the action. The end is both exciting and very satisfactory.

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