The Tale of Hawthorn House (Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Series #4) by Susan Wittig Albert

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(Hardcover)

Pub. Date: September 2007
336pp

Reader Rating: (6 ratings)

Detailed Rating: "Touching" See All

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Product Details

Pub. Date: September 2007
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Format: Hardcover, 336pp

Series: Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Series, #4
ISBN-13: 9780425216552
ISBN: 0425216551

Synopsis

Susan Wittig Albert delights mystery lovers with this series based on the life and stories of beloved English children's author Beatrix Potter. When Beatrix finds an abandoned infant, Captain Woodcock and Dimity care for the child as Beatrix and her furry and feathered friends search for its mother.

Publishers Weekly

Albert's charming fourth Beatrix Potter mystery (after 2006's The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood) finds our heroine unexpectedly in possession of a foundling child, Baby Flora. The reader knows the mysteriously twinkly Mrs. Overthewall stole Flora from her teenage mother, Emily, a maid at the gloomy and possibly haunted Hawthorn House, and left her on the Potter doorstep, but Beatrix-not having read the prologue-suspects the child of having gypsy origins. Capt. Miles Woodcock and his sister, Dimity, gladly give Flora a new home, leaving Beatrix to solve the mystery of her old one. Other thoughts of families and youngsters abound: Jemima Puddleduck broods over a nest of long overdue eggs; Reynard the Fox struggles with his unnatural fondness for Jemima; and the village gossips bring all their matchmaking powers to bear on Beatrix and the highly eligible Captain Woodcock. The whimsical blend of romance, mystery and nostalgia will keep cozy fans happily entertained. (Sept.)

More Reviews and Recommendations

Biography

One of the book world's most respected authorities on herbs and their uses, Susan Wittig Albert is beloved by fans the world over for her mystery series starring herb-growing sleuth China Bayles -- as well as the Victorian Mysteries series she coauthors with husband Bill, under the pen name Robin Paige.

More About the Author

Customer Reviews

Reader Rating:
Ratings: 6Reviews: 1

a reviewerby harstan

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July 08, 2007: The Tale of Hawthorn House Susan Wittig Albert Berkley, Sept 2007, $25.95, 336 pp. ISBN: 9780425216552 Beatrix Potter loves her home in the Lake District village of Near Sawrey even though she can only get away from her family?s London mansion for a few weekends at a time. Her parents expect her to take care of them in their old age and her mother wants her around all the time to cater to her whims. She is there for the summer fete and is very surprised to find a baby in a box with a scarab ring left by her door. She sees an elderly woman walking away and levitating over her wall. She is unable to keep the baby because her brother is coming for a visit and then she has to go to London on business. She gives the baby to Dimity Woodcock who falls in love with baby Flora. Her brother captain Miles Woodcock is the justice of the peace for the Sawrey district and is determined to find the mother and hold her accountable for abandoning the baby. In the meantime, Major Christopher Kitteredge, who had a scandal attached to him, asks Dimity to marry him. Dimity doesn?t want to go against her brother who opposes the relationship but she has loved the major all her life. She asks Beatrix for advice and the lonely spinster is determined to help her friend as well as find out who the mother of baby Flora is so that the major and Dimity can adopt her. --- Fans of Rita Mae Brown?s Mrs. Murphy series will thoroughly enjoy this book in which the animals talk to each other in a totally hilarious subplot about who steals egg and sits on them for two months when they are supposed to hatch in twenty-eight days. This is a gentle whimsical tale with a nice dose of a mystery mixed into the cozy storyline. ---Harriet Klausner

Fact File

Name:
Susan Wittig Albert

Also Known As:
Robin Paige

Date of Birth:
1940

Place of Birth:
Danville, Illinois

Education:
Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley

Biography

Susan Wittig Albert grew up on a farm in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley. A former professor of English and a university administrator and vice president, she now lives with her husband, Bill, in the country outside of Austin, Texas. In addition to the China Bayles mysteries, she writes the Victorian Mysteries series, along with her husband, under the pseudonym of Robin Paige.

Author biography courtesy of Penguin Books, LTD.

Good to Know

In our exclusive interview with Albert, she revealed some fun facts about herself:

"My first job was selling ladies' undies at Woolworth's for 35 cents an hour in Danville, Illinois."

I learned to garden from my mother, who thought that the most important thing you did every spring was to plant the potatoes. I learned to read from my father, who never planted a potato in his life. Somehow, I managed to create a life and make a living between these two extremes. Happily, I haven't had to go back to selling undies. Not yet, anyway."

"I love living in the country with Bill, two black Labs, and a black cat. I'd rather read a book or write one than do just about anything else in the world, except maybe for gardening and sitting in a bathtub full of hot, hot water and bubbles. Or knitting, spinning, weaving, dyeing -- I'm a fiber-arts fanatic."

"You can find out what I'm doing today (or what I did yesterday) by checking out my web log, at susanalbert.typepad.com/lifescapes (but there's no web cam, so don't look for me in the bathtub)."

Feature Interview

In the summer of 2004, we asked authors featured in Meet the Writers to give us a list of their all-time favorite summer reads, and tell us what makes them just right for the season. Here's what Susan Wittig Albert had to say:

What makes a good summer read? For most of us, summer is time for a vacation, time to take off for the beach or head to the mountains, and summer reading is traditionally light and fun. So what better reading than books set in places you'd like to visit -- especially when they have a woman's touch? All in paperback, of course, so you won't have to weep if you accidentally drop your book into the pool.

Alaska: Death Trap by Sue Henry

Arkansas: Arkansas Traveler by Earlene Fowler

Colorado: The Grilling Season by Diane Mott Davidson

Florida: Flashback by Nevada Barr

Georgia: To Live and Die in Dixie by Kathy Hogan Trocheck

Nevada (Las Vegas, of course!) Cat with an Emerald Eye by Carole Nelson Douglas

North Carolina: Slow Dollar by Margaret Maron

South Caroline: Engaged to Die by Carolyn Hart

Virginia: The Tail of the Tip-Off by Rita Mae Brown

Wyoming: The Shadow Dancer by Margaret Coel

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In the fall of 2003, Susan Wittig Albert took some time to talk with us about some of her favorite books, authors, and interests:

What was the book that most influenced your life or your career as a writer -- and why?
Oh, golly. I started reading when I was 4, and you expect me to remember one? Well, Nancy Drew mysteries, maybe? When I was 12, if you'd asked me who I'd like to be when I grew up, I would've said Carolyn Keene. But hey, it happened! It took a while (ran into some detours along the way), but I in 1985, I was invited to join the Nancy stable and become one of the Carolyn Keenes. I thought the heavens had opened and all the writing gods were smiling down on me.

What are your favorite books and authors, and what makes them special to you?

Stephen King's Salem's Lot, because it showed me how to shift points of view from one character to another, seamlessly, effectively, and suspensefully. I admire the deft way in which King turns ordinary life into something extraordinarily other, astonishingly evil. What a talent.

Sue Grafton's mysteries, because they demonstrate that it is possible (although definitely not easy, and not necessarily recommended) to write a long-running series in first person.

Rex Stout's mysteries (when I was a kid), because I loved smart-mouth Archie Goodwin and went around trying to mimic him, to my mother's dismay. She was trying to teach me to be a lady.

John D. McDonald, because I was smitten with Travis McGee in 1964, when Deep Blue Goodbye appeared (in �64, I was smitten with life and living). I also admire the first-person narration, very wryly self-ironic, and the great use of dialogue. Never could figure out why Robert Redford didn't make a Trav movie. Wouldn't that have been something?

The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy L. Sayers, because of her skill in managing setting and mood, color and emotion. (I read this at least once a year, just to taste it again.)

The Franchise Affair, by Josephine Tey, because of the book's taut suspense. Classic, magnificent -- I wouldn't change a word of it.

I devoured John le Carr�'s work in the �70s: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is still a favorite, for its complex intrigue.

I admire Elizabeth George's American grasp of Brit language and culture -- love her smooth style, too. A writer's writer, in my opinion.

I enjoy Sheila Radley's British village mysteries -- quirky characters, strong settings.

What are some of your favorite films, and what makes them unforgettable to you? ?
I adore any film with Robert Redford in it. Otherwise, I don't bother.

What types of music do you like? Is there any particular kind you like to listen to when you're writing?
I like classical music because there aren't any lyrics to distract me.

What are your favorite kinds of books to give -- and get -- as gifts?
If I'm on the receiving end, please send me Stephen King's latest.

Do you have any special writing rituals? For example, what do you have on your desk when you're writing?
No rituals, I just write. On my desk? Post-its, used dental floss, nail clippers, a broken pencil, yesterday's crackers, this morning's coffee, and the cat.

Many writers are hardly "overnight success" stories. How long did it take for you to get where you are today? Any rejection-slip horror stories or inspirational anecdotes?
I started out in 1984 writing young adult books -- romances, mysteries -- some of them with my husband. I did that through 1990, when I wrote (and sold) a nonfiction book about women's work lives. Started the China Bayles series that same year, and was lucky enough to sell a three-book contract right away. Bill wanted to continue to write together, so we started the Robin Paige series in 1994. I've always felt that you have to bring some talent, a lot of work, and a pot-load of stubborn determination to the table -- then you have to wait for luck to strike. In my case, I found a wonderful editor (Natalee Rosenstein at Berkley).

What tips or advice do you have for writers still looking to be discovered? ?
Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Then hope for luck.

The Tale of Hawthorn House (Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Series #4) by Susan Wittig Albert

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The Tale of Hawthorn House (Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Series #4) by Susan Wittig Albert

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Customers who bought this also bought

Product Details

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

Biography

Customer Reviews

a reviewerby harstan

Fact File

Biography

Good to Know

Feature Interview

From the Publisher

Publishers Weekly

Product Details

Related Subjects

More by This Author

Related Authors

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