Review of No One Must Know

[Kennedy NC]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "No One Must Know" by Susan Frances.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Set in the 1300s, No One Must Know tells the story of Joan de Conteigh and her marriage to Sir John de Chiddleigh. Before her marriage to Sir John, she had fantasies of what being the Lady of the Manor would feel like. She had anticipated the thrill of getting married despite not having seen her husband to be and had worried about whether or not he would find her attractive. After her wedding, Joan discovers that her husband is not a cheerful and loving man, as she would have expected him to be. She finds the maids gossiping about her and discovers that no one among the peasants likes their Lord.

Joan struggles with trying to find her place and getting acquainted with her role as Lady of the Manor, but this might prove difficult as her husband is hardly anywhere around and does not provide any form of company or assistance. As the book progresses, Sir John proves to be more stubborn than she had thought. She works with his bailiff, Carac, to dissuade him from making wrong decisions that could destroy the state of the community. Will Joan manage to find her way around her new position? Will she ever be able to get her Lord’s attention and time or will he remain unkind towards her? Find out by reading this exciting historical fiction.

Written by Susan Frances, No One Must Know is the first book of The Chiddleigh Saga and is a great read. This book has a good number of positive aspects. Firstly, I enjoyed the setting of this historical fiction. It was an aspect of the book that differentiated it from other books, which are readily available to me. I found the setting very intriguing, as I learnt a good deal about how things operated back in the 1300s. I learnt the hierarchy of powers in England at the period ranging from the Earl to the Lords and how people struggled to get to the top and make acquaintance with the king.

The book also possessed strong themes such as love, hatred, deception, murder, betrayal, regret, and so on. This made the book quite captivating and would keep any reader interested in getting to the end of the book. A very noteworthy theme would be the theme of turning points and how these turning points affect the ideology of people as they grow older. Also, the author manages to keep the reader in suspense throughout the book. The reader would yearn to uncover various events, which are carefully left by the author till the very end. The book encompasses a great deal of mystery and surprise. I found the language of the book quite easy despite its setting. I found only one error in this book, which shows that it was very well edited. This contributed a great deal to my appreciation of this book.

I did not find a lot of negative aspects to note about this book, except its lengthy nature. I do not hesitate to give it a four out of four stars rating. I did not give it a lower rating because it was a very interesting book and the negative point mentioned did not interfere with my appreciation of the book. I recommend this book to all lovers of historical fiction with themes centered around family, love, and deception.

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No One Must Know
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[Rimsha Falak]

I absolutely love historical fiction with elements of romance. So, this seems like something right up my alley. I specifically liked the fact that this book seems like a slow-burn romance, with the protagonists having to work through their differences. I can't wait to read it! Thank you for your review!

[Priya_Singh]

This really seems to be my kind of book. Thanks for the review. It is very well structured and informative.

[Ailakhu Yusau Aizhebiomon]

I think the book reveals the importance of courtship before marriage. It helps lovers to know and understand each other before delving into marriage. The mistakes many people make today and of course the cause of many broken homes. Thanks for this great review.

[Mtibza eM]

Thank you for sharing such a beautiful review, I enjoyed reading it. Great job!

[Bigbrains Jose]

I love this book.the story is very interesting. I have never read that book before. It will be amazing for me to read part 2 and 3 of this interesting story.

[marta baglioni]

Seems to me like a real page-turner! Thank you for your review

[Theana De lima Araujo]

I want to know what 'no one must know'. It's a rather clever title on the author's part. Your write up includes a couple aspects I like. I love historical fiction especially if it's set many hundreds of years ago in a time that we can't even imagine with our modern culture. I love that I can't tell if Joan's relationship means romance or a power struggle. Lastly, the idea of a king hated by his people...could mean an uprising which makes things very interesting. Thank you for the fantastic review. Have a lovely day.

[Katie Blackmore]

I can imagine how lonely and isolated those women of those times felt when they left home and their comfort zone to be with a man they hardly knew and presume a new role in an alien environment. The book sounds very intriguing book. Thank you for the review.

[Kennethnairez247]

OK that was very nice that got my attention still waiting for the part 2&3 bouncing back to old culture which is historical and a test of romance which my main problem with the book is that it was carefully edited that I would love it the more thanks for the review

[Tarie07]

Getting married to someone you don't know now that should be a lot of drama. I definitely want to read this book. Great review!

[DTamara]

I am curious to see what you mean by the exceptional setting of the book. I love details, realistic descriptions of how people lived, how their everyday life looked like, social structures, to historical events. It seems this one has it all, along with good storytelling, suspense, and a strong protagonist. Nice review, very detailed as well!

[Precious DA]

This looks like a book I would like to read. Thanks for the amazing review.

[Astral Magi]

Oh wow! Historical fiction with suspense woven in for good measure? I might read this one. And learning more about how the hierarchy worked back in the 1300's sounds quite intriguing. Thank you for a lovely review.

[Mbenma Esther 080]

There is a relationship between the ideal and reality. This happens to be the situation of Joan. Thanks for the review.