Novel Review: A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White

A Name Unknown (Shadows Over England)

Author: Roseanna M. White

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Released: July 4, 2017

She’s out to steal his name.
Will he steal her heart instead?

Rosemary Gresham has no family beyond the band of former urchins that helped her survive as a girl in the mean streets of London. Grown now, they are no longer pickpockets—now they focus on high value items and have learned how to blend into upper-class society. Rosemary’s challenge of a lifetime comes when she’s assigned to determine whether a certain wealthy gentleman is loyal to Britain or to Germany. How does one steal a family’s history, their very name?

Rumors swirl around Peter Holstein. Awkward and solitary, but with access to the king, many fear his influence. But Peter can’t help his German last name and wants to prove his loyalty to the crown—so he can go back to anonymously writing a series of popular adventure novels. When Rosemary arrives on his doorstop pretending to be a well- credentialed historian, Peter believes she’s the right person to help him dig through his family’s past.

Anger and danger continue to mount, though, and both realize they’re in a race against time to discover the truth—about Peter’s past and about the undeniable attraction kindling between them.

AMAZON | GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLE

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REVIEW

A Name Unknown is a book after my own heart for so many reasons. A writer hero; a librarian heroine; an English setting; a cover with books on the front; a wartime background; and two leading characters who are beautifully broken and redeemed by Christ’s love and each other. I could not have asked for a more perfect book, and once again Roseanna White has proven why her stories remain among my favorites.

White’s books are ones I read regardless of whether or not I know what the story will be about, but as I was familiar with the blurb for this story, I was called foremost to it because of its complexity. Each of the three previous stories I’ve read by this author were complex–one of the many reasons I enjoy her books so much–but A Name Unknown upped the ante in how White tied mystery, history, intrigue, romance, and faith into one plot so well. Every piece of backstory, every nuance described in the moment, every thought the characters had to themselves came together to show redemption, solve a mystery, and help the characters grow. I prefer novels that are longer and in-depth, so for A Name Unknown  to be a lengthier story for these reasons pleased me to no end.

My favorite aspect of A Name Unknown is the soft blending of history and romance. I’m an Anglophile, so I was thrilled to come across actual people and historical instances of British history in this book–especially in one scene where the Prince of Wales and hero Peter have a humorous moment with the heroine. I loved being immersed in the fiction world while experiencing through Peter and Rosemary what it must have been like to be in the throes of pre-World War One Britain. As for the romance, I’d yet to read a novel with such a slow burn of attraction and relationship-building until I read A Name Unknown. This romance was beautifully written, and oh how that build up in the scene where the characters experienced their first kiss. That was a perfect example of how a chaste relationship can still be full of attraction and how just a subtle nod to the physical can be satisfactory on the page or screen.

RATING: 4.5 stars

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roseanna M. White pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two children, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna’s fiction ranges from biblical fiction to American-set romances to her new British series. She lives with her family in West Virginia. Learn more at at her website.