Now Face to Face: A Novel (Tamworth Saga Book 3)

"Now Face to Face" is the sequel to Karleen Koen's wonderful novel "Through A Glass Darkly," and in my opinion it is the weaker of the two. I think one has to read "Through A Glass Darkly," a stand alone book, in order to make sense of this second effort which relies heavily on the characters and storyline of the first novel.Set in Georgian England, at a time when the country is filled with political unrest and economic upheaval, "Now Face to Face" picks up where the prequel ended. A Jacobite conspiracy threatens open rebellion and revolution, and the South Sea Company's disastrous failure has caused the economy to crash. Many investors, from the highest nobles to the poorest commoners with a few guineas to invest in the company, lost huge sums of money. The losses and subsequent impact on the economy are devastating.Barbara MontGeoffry, the Countess Devane, is widowed at age twenty and is desolate at the loss of her beloved husband, Roger. Although the couple's marriage was marred by Roger's shocking betrayal, their relationship was beginning to improve when he died. Barbara finds herself saddled with massive debt and is forced to sell-off almost all of her husbands substantial holdings, as he was partially responsible for the economic catastrophe. Her reputation and future appear to be ruined. Barbara's grandmother, the Duchess of Tamworth, persuades her granddaughter to go to the New World - to the Virginia Colony, where she owns a tobacco plantation - in order to get away from the financial scandal and to heal emotionally.The young aristocratic widow, whose beauty, charm and nobility cause quite a stir in the colony, is determined to make her grandmother's plantation a success. Interspersed with her adventures in Virginia is the narrative set in tumultuous England.Slavery, tobacco growing and plantation work, smuggling, treachery, sedition, love and murder make for much excitement in the multi-faceted plot. Also, many fascinating characters people "Now Face to Face," as they did in "Through A Glass Darkly," including: Hyacinthe, Barbara's small African boy slave whom she treats as a son; Therese, her beloved maid and companion; her extremely eccentric family members; the Virginia colonials; King George I, the Prince, Princess, their courts, mistresses and ministers - many of whom are real life characters; the Jacobite revolutionaries, and their leader, the Bishop of Rochester; and Laurence Slane, the prominent actor, who is all the rage in London. He is to play an important role in Barbara's life when she returns to England after a year in the New World.I would rate this novel 3+ stars because the writing is not as tight as it could be and the plot is somewhat scattered at times. However I will happily give it 4 stars because I was/am so glad to follow the lives of the characters I came to love in "Through A Glass Darkly."Jana Perskie

In 'Through The Glass Darkly', Roger dies, leaving Barbara a widow and responsible for his enormous debt from the South Sea Bubble scandal. 'Now Face To Face' picks up where Barbara flees London and heads to her grandmother's plantation in Virginia. In the isolated wilds of the new world, Barbara learns to carve out a space for herself in spite of her nasty neighbor Bolling. She makes friends, winds out freeing her slaves, looses her personal slave Hyacinthe, and almost finds romance.While Barbara is away, London bustles with activity. The Jacobites are the talk of the town, supporting the return of King James and the overthrowing of King George. Jane's husband Gussy finds himself knee deep in intrigues with newcomer and actor Laurence Slane, who's not who he really says he is. He's a gosling, one of James' most trusted informers. Barbara's grandmother, the Duchess of Tamworth, comes from the country to attend cousin Tony's wedding. Her mother Diana continues her liaison with Robert Walpole, the man responsible for Barbara's debt being unforgiven and a major force for King George.The intrigue becomes, if this is possible, a little too thick, swarming over the storyline and drowning the characters in its overwhelming description. There's a lot of repetitiveness in the intrigues of James vs George and the who's who of the Jacobites. Tony went from simple to cunning, and it wasn't a good transition. No reason for it, nor any rhyme to it until later in the book when he'd already shown his feathers. It was as if a shade had drawn over his innocence in our absence and left a character that little resembled the Tony from the first book.Also, if your expecting a little 'Gone With The Wind' action from Barbara in Virginia, you won't find it. Barbara went from a spirited, saucy personality to a rather droll and reflective one. Between books one and two, she lost much of the spunk that made her so charming. After the tightly woven 'Through A Glass Darkly', 'Now Face To Face' comes off as a thick (733 pages) "middle" book that basically goes nowhere. We're left hanging at the end waiting for the third book in the series.Still, 'Now Face To Face' earns a solid 3.5 stars from me in spite of its obvious faults, because the characters are fleshed out, the times are interesting, and the prose is smoothly woven into a rich, though somewhat slow paced, tale. Faults and all, I still read it through in just a few sittings, finding myself absorbed in the tale. If you're a fan, purchase it, otherwise check it out from the library first. Enjoy!

This book got a bit of a slating for being not as good as Through A Glass Darkly, but I found it a page turner and it had a great plot of political intrigue running through it and wasn't in the least predictable. There are sections that seem to be disjointed, and sounds more like the author's train of thought, but aside from this a great book.

I'd read the previous book, Through a Glass Darkly and wanted the sequel.

Could not wait to read it as I wanted to know what happened to the Barbara

Through a Glass Darkly is a must read before Now Face to Face. Lovely enjoyable reads.

I read this book many years ago and have never forgotten it. I am so glad I bought it as I am loving it all over again. I don’t want to finish it! Lovely condition of book too. Thankyou.