Review: Mistress of Dartington Hall by Rosemary Griggs

I'm delighted to welcome back author Rosemary Griggs. I had the pleasure to meet her last year at the Historical Novel Society conference at Dartington Hall in Devon, where she took us on a fascinating tour of the grounds. 

Today, I'm sharing my review of her fabulous new novel, Mistress of Dartington Hall. I previously reviewed the first of these two novels about the remarkable Roberda, The Dartington Bride, which you can find HERE!

Mistress of Dartington Hall is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Find fascinating historical articles, enticing excerpts, and more HERE!  

 

Mistress of Dartington Hall

Daughters of Devon, Book #3

Rosemary Griggs

Review:

 

 The novel opens in 1587, with Roberda, from a French Huguenot family, managing the Dartington estate on behalf of her absent – and estranged – husband, Gawen. The threat of an imminent attack by the Spanish hangs in the air, and people are panicking, sharing false news of Spanish landings.

 

Keeping a cool head, Roberda manages to reassure the people, but the fear is still palpable, and not entirely without reason, as Spanish ships appear along the Devon coast.

 

With Gawen in Ireland on Queen Elizabeth's business, Roberda has managed to run the estate successfully, but with a chance of a Spanish attack, she must see to the safety of her people. Then Gawen returns...

 

Having wanted to divorce her due to non-payment of her dowry by her impoverished family caught up in the French Wars of Religion, Roberda hasn't forgiven him for believing the worst of her, with false rumours demonising her reputation. So she is rightly apprehensive when he returns. But it appears Ireland has changed him, and they slowly reconcile. He takes over the running of the estate, whilst she falls pregnant again, already having a surviving son and a brood of daughters. 

 

Little does she know that handing over the responsibility back to Gawen – she had little choice  – will bring the estate on the brink of ruin. Then tragedy strikes.

 

Can Roberda find a way to save Dartington Hall from disaster? And how will she – a mere woman – cope with the new challenges?

 

Well, read the novel to find out!

 

Mistress of Dartington Hall is an engrossing read, full of tension – the Spanish, her family's fate, her estate – but also full of warmth, resourcefulness, and support from unexpected quarters. Roberda is a woman of her time, aware of her legal limitations, but not adverse to try anything she needs to keep her children, and the people of Dartington, safe.

 

Her husband, Gawen Champernowne, comes across as a sad, at times heartless character. He carries his insecurities like a badge, making life difficult for her, even after their reconciliation. His irresponsible, at times careless actions also lead to her nearly losing everything. (I don't want to give away any spoilers.) 

 

 But it is Roberda's sensibility that drives this story. Her hopes for her husband's affection, her eldest daughter, Lisabeth's continuing coldness towards her, her worry about family in France from whom she hears so little. She has much to cope with, despite the limitations of being a woman – and French at that!

 

At times, I thought her too reliant on others, and this is mentioned later in the novel, when she realises she has to forge her own destiny, or become lost. Her learning curve is steep, but she grows into a formidable woman who is not easily thwarted. And she still has friends.

 

Mistress of Dartington Hall is a moving, heart-wrenching read of a woman's struggles with an uncaring husband, having to face off vultures keen to send her packing. But Roberda is a survivor, and it's wonderful to see her find happiness she craved all her life, in the end. It was a hard road to get there...

 

The Dartington Bride and Mistress of Dartington Hall are well worth a read if you enjoy family history based on real events, set in turbulent Tudor times. I recommend reading the novels in order, to understand Roberda's decisions and actions. You will not be disappointed!

 

A compelling tale about a remarkable woman who defied all the odds. Highly recommended.

~~~

 

Blurb:

1587. England is at war with Spain. The people of Devon wait in terror for King Philip of Spain’s mighty armada to unleash untold devastation on their land.

Roberda, daughter of a French Huguenot leader, has been managing the Dartington estate in her estranged husband Gawen’s absence. She has gained the respect of the staff and tenants who now look to her to lead them through these dark times.

Gawen’s unexpected return from Ireland, where he has been serving Queen Elizabeth, throws her world into turmoil. He joins the men of the west country, including his cousin, Sir Walter Raleigh, and his friend Sir Francis Drake, as they prepare to repel a Spanish invasion. Amidst musters and alarms, determined and resourceful Roberda rallies the women of Dartington. But, after their earlier differences, can she trust Gawen? Or should she heed the advice of her faithful French maid, Clotilde?

Later Roberda will have to fight if she is to remain Mistress of Dartington Hall, and secure her children’s inheritance. Can she ever truly find fulfilment for herself?

Buy Link: Universal Link

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About the Author:

Author and speaker Rosemary Griggs has been researching Devon's sixteenth-century history for years. She has discovered a cast of fascinating characters and an intriguing network of families whose influence stretched far beyond the West Country. She loves telling the stories of the forgotten women of history — the women beyond the royal court; wives, sisters, daughters and mothers who played their part during those tumultuous Tudor years: the Daughters of Devon.

Her novel, A Woman of Noble Wit, set in Tudor Devon, is the story of the life of Katherine Champernowne, Sir Walter Raleigh’s mother. The Dartington Bride follows Lady Gabrielle Roberda Montgomery, a young Huguenot noblewoman, as she travels from war-torn France to Elizabethan England to marry into the prominent Champernowne family. Mistress of Dartington Hall, set in the time of the Spanish Armada, continues Roberda’s story.

Rosemary is currently working on her first work of non-fiction — a biography of Kate Astley, childhood governess to Queen Elizabeth 1, due for publication 2026.

Rosemary creates and wears sixteenth-century clothing, and brings the past to life through a unique blend of theatre, history and re-enactment at events all over the West Country. Out of costume, Rosemary leads heritage tours at Dartington Hall, a fourteenth-century manor house that was home of the Champernowne family for 366 years.

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