A great end to a brilliant saga (Into Temptation - Penny Vincenzi)

Member Name: eilidhcatriona

Product:	Into Temptation - Penny Vincenzi
Date:	21/05/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent storytelling

Disadvantages: I'm not as keen on the 50s setting

This is the third and final volume in Penny Vincenzi's Spoils of Time Trilogy, and we are now following the children and grandchildren of Celia Lytton, still the matriarch of the family and still ruling over her brood.

As ever, Vincenzi's storytelling is compelling and the historical detail is excellent. The Lytton family is now very large, but we still follow characters from all branches whose stories are intertwined.

In my reviews for the first two books, No Angel and Something Dangerous, I wrote a lot about Vincenzi's masterful storytelling and the history that each book is set around. I don't want to repeat myself too much, so I will just say that all of that applies to this novel too, except we are now the 1950s and the world has changed, as has the Lytton family publishing house.

This is my least favourite of the thre novels, but by no means does that mean that I dislike it. The reason I say it is my favourite is because of the era that it is set in - I prefer the ones which are set in the first half of the century, and although in this novel the family is still dealing with the after effects of World War II (injury and loss), time has moved on. I think the reason I like the earlier ones is because they really are a different time, values and the class system were different, and of course they deal with the effects of the two World Wars.

That said, I still love this novel. The story is excellent, and the historical detail very well researched. And of course, once you have read the first two novels, you can't help but finish the trilogy!

Summary: Excellent novel, and a must read to complete the trilogy!