Courtney Ellis - At Summer's End

When an ambitious female artist accepts an unexpected commission at a powerful earl's country estate in 1920s England, she finds his war-torn family crumbling under the weight of long-kept secrets. From debut author Courtney Ellis comes a captivating novel about finding the courage to heal after the ravages of war.
Alberta Preston accepts the commission of a lifetime when she receives an invitation from the Earl of Wakeford to spend a summer painting at His Lordship's country home, Castle Braemore. Bertie imagines her residence at the prodigious estate will finally enable her to embark on a professional career and prove her worth as an artist, regardless of her gender.
Upon her arrival, however, Bertie finds the opulent Braemore and its inhabitants diminished by the Great War. The earl has been living in isolation since returning from the trenches, locked away in his rooms and hiding battle scars behind a prosthetic mask. While his younger siblings eagerly welcome Bertie into their world, she soon sees chips in that world's gilded facade. As she and the earl develop an unexpected bond, Bertie becomes deeply entangled in the pain and secrets she discovers hidden within Castle Braemore and the hearts of its residents.
Threaded with hope, love, and loss, At Summer's End delivers a portrait of a noble family--and a world--changed forever by the war to end all wars.

Comment: The title of this book fit perfectly a theme in a challenge I'm currently doing. I already had my eye on another title by the author as well, and this was a way to check the author's style before attempting the other book, whose premise, I confess, intrigued me more.

In this book we meet artist Alberta "Bertie" Preston who, at 27, is considered a spinster. Bertie doesn't mind it because she dedicated her life to be different and to pursue her dream of being an artist and she is closer to that goal when the earl of Wakeford invites her to paint at his estate. Although her parents aren't keen on the idea, she still goes and hopes this will be the beginning of more commissions and a career which would justify all the things she put aside. At the estate, she finds a gorgeous house and scenery but the inhabitants, the Napier siblings, all seem to struggle with something. The case is especially difficult in regards to the earl, who isn't as old as Bertie imagined, but he suffers with the aftermath of the war, from which he returned disfigured. As the two get closer, can there be any solution to his worries about the estate and to Bertie's doubts on whether she will validate her role as an artist?

I was quite surprised by how much I was enjoying reading this book. I was turning the pages and although this wasn't written in a way I'd deem perfect to my preference, it was still engaging and I liked hoping to see what would happen next.

I think what I missed the most here was a more concise writing or a more romantic perspective, since the author included it as one of the central subjects. The main characters had a romance which developed at a believable pace but at the same time, the setting is 1922, and some personal interactions still felt a little too easy and lacking structure which I'd expect in such a situation as depicted, especially when they come from different backgrounds. Perhaps this wouldn't have been so obvious to me if the romance had been more towards sweet and romantic and not as much like a thing to be included.

I mean, of course I liked they became a couple and they took their time with one another, mostly the earl because of his PTSD, but at the same time there were moments I've felt their connection was too contained. How to properly explain this, I don't know, but part of me hoped that the development of their relationship could have been more organic and not hanging on the issues we learn it was. There's a HEA so no worries on that, and of course I was happy it happened, but the type of emotional developed I wanted wasn't always very well done. Again, perhaps it's because we only have the heroine's POV and while this doesn't have to be an issue, with the book having the historical vibe, I still think third person could have been a much better choice.

The plot is quite simple, in fact, and not as heavy on social or personal conflicts. The main issue is how the earl sees himself and what he can do, how his role and his decision affected the family and the repercussions of certain actions. I think the writing style while competent, wasn't as emotional inductive and all the things the characters were worrying about, didn't really affect me. I was concerned about how things would be solved, but I wasn't as emotionally invested as I think the author could have conveyed things. This doesn't mean the story was badly written, like I said I was positively surprised but after finishing, one can think and now I can say everything could have been done better.

Apparently, this was the author's debut therefore I'm being unfair, but reading things where all the elements fit well kind of makes it more noticeable when they don't. I think the doubts the characters had and the secrets we are supposed to find incredible could have been played out differently, not to make this a drama fest but in ways that would enrich the characters' personality. I liked the fact they are pretty much all likable but then perhaps the author could have used a different motif for the whole story... the way things were developed, I felt the reasons for the secrets started to lack power and importance the more we got to know about them...

The setting is 1922 and I think, in a way, this was achieved well enough, there are several details which can put me in the era. However, at the same time, the story is set in the estate and we don't get to see the characters interact that much outside of that controlled sphere. Then, since the earl is struggling with the war effects and what he had seen and his own personal struggles regarding past choices and his personality, I expected more development for him or more need to deal with what he saw as negative aspects of himself. But this was simply... overlooked and, instead, we had a few flashback chapters where we see things that should have been discussed and dealt with in the present. 

The story wasn't bad, that's true and I liked several passages and situations. But as often is, the idea of this story was more engaging than the actual execution. I liked reading the book but it could have been better, without a doubt.

Grade:7/10