In honor of the first day of Spring I wanted to shine a spotlight on a book series that I feel is perfect to read in the spring – the Tales from Ivy Hill series by Julie Klassen. This series has everything you could ask for in the spring – the English countryside, an inn, a cottage, friendship, and love.
Each book takes place in the fictional village of Ivy Hill located in Wiltshire England and it follows the lives of different women who call it home. I found reading each one like putting on a soft, cozy cardigan because Julie Klassen’s writing transports you into the setting seamlessly.
The first book – The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill – introduces you to Jane Bell, a widow who reluctantly teams up with her not-so-inviting mother-in-law, Thora, to save Ivy Hill’s coaching inn, which she becomes owner of after her husband’s death. With the town’s livelihood in the balance, Jane has to learn how to become a business owner and how to trust the newfound community she becomes a part of. Along the way two men from her past step back into her life and Jane is forced to reexamine her future and her heart.
In the second book – The Ladies of Ivy Cottage – you meet a character named Rachel Ashford, a gentlewoman who’s fallen on hard times financially. Forced to live with two spinsters, the Grove sisters, Rachel is not sure which direction her life is headed until she opens a subscription library. While going through the books she received in donations and inherited from her father, she stumbles across not one but two mysteries. With help from a man who broke her heart years before, she unravels more secrets than she bargained for.
As for the last book – The Bride of Ivy Green – it’s probably my personal favorite in the series because it focuses on Mercy Grove, one of the spinster Grove sisters, who runs the all girls’ school in the village. When she loses control of her school, Mercy is forced to make a decision – move away from Ivy Hill to become a governess to a former student or stay and see if she has a future with a man who might be just out of reach. The last book is really special because it ties all of the plotlines from the previous books together nicely.
Tales of Ivy Hill is a book series that you don’t want to miss anytime of the year, but especially in the springtime.
Verse of the Day: For since the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. – Isaiah 64:4
