Ben (Bennet) Fitzwilliam is an accomplished journalist who experienced the horror of 9/11 firsthand. His marriage is failing and he is no longer what one would consider young. With just the clothes on his back, Ben leaves his job and apartment in New York City and returns to his childhood home hoping for some relief from his troubled past where he discovers a cache of letters hidden in his father’s long abandoned desk. Always a journalist, Ben settles on the idea of writing a family memoir of sorts. He uncovers some startling truths about his family including untold love stories. In the process, Ben finds that his own troubled heart can love again.
The Colonel is a companion book to Longbourn’s Songbird. Although I haven’t read the latter, the former is a lovely novel on it’s own. Ben is a charming man who has been through one of the most traumatic events in our modern history. His father, the aforementioned Colonel, led a life of love and loss that his son was wholly unaware of. Ben spends his time adding context to the mysterious and sometimes scandalous unearthed letters. Reconnecting with his past is therapeutic for Ben and satisfying for the reader. A unexpected romance proves to be heartwarming and gratifying. The story is divided between the early 2000’s and the 1940’s. Both time periods demand attention from fans of love stories, Jane Austen novels, post-war drama, and filthy rich people. The Colonel: A Longbourn’s Songbird Novel is a pair of bittersweet stories that are both utterly tender and achingly raw. Beau North is an undeniably talented writer with a bright career ahead of her.
