Book Review: The Milliner of Bendigo by Darry Fraser

 The Milliner of Bendigo

by

Darry Fraser

Trouble with the law. A missing sister. Evie Emerson has a dangerous adventure ahead of her ...

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

Publication date: 29th November 2023

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

RRP: $32.99AU (paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

Review: The Milliner of Bendigo

Right from the start I was invested in the characters in this story and having characters from a previous book pop into the story gave an added level of connection.

 

Evie is a fabulous character, headstrong and intelligent. She finds herself unduly coerced by her current date who is pushing her to marry him. When Evie says no he sues her for breach of contract and proceeds to sully her reputation.

 

The Milliner of Bendigo is chock full of wonderful characters and one or two not so wonderful. My favourites were; the strong and determined Evie who works for Lucille Downing in her milliner shop, The affable David Kingsley who has his eye on the widow Downing, Fitz the roving reporter who is always after the next big story, and the shy and gallant Raff. 

 

The Milliner of Bendigo is fast paced and rich in mystery and drama. Told through multiple points of view I was totally invested in all the characters' stories and raced through the book.

 

Darry Fraser keenly evokes the atmosphere of the old gold mining towns of country Victoria and her vivid descriptions of the drought conditions left me well imagining the heat and dust. 

 

Set on the verge of federation, themes of water rights, corruption, cover ups and murder make The Milliner of Bendigo a must-read for historical fiction fans.

 

This is my second book by Darry Fraser and I am now keen to read her backlist.

 

my rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐