The Wonder of It All by Barbara Taylor Bradford – a Review

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Description:
James Falconer–a tycoon and a self-made man, seems to have the world in the palm of his hand. But The Great War looms, and James decides to fight for king and country. The fighting is bloody and brutal, and James returns a changed man, with wounds both physical and mental. His beloved wife is dead, but a new woman returns to help nurse him back to health.

Georgiana Ward once held James in her thrall, but years have passed and bitterness has set in. Still, the old attraction is there and James is determined to make amends to both Georgiana and his child Leonie–now a grown woman and someone he hasn’t seen in decades. Leonie is having none of it, and is embarking on a dangerous journey with a man who might very well destroy her. As James fights to return to the man he once was, he needs to find a way to heal his body, soul, and family.

Told with Barbara Taylor Bradford’s inimitable style and flair for period detail , The Wonder of It All concludes House of Falconer trilogy that has followed the story of this remarkable family from Victorian times to the 20th-century.

Review:

The Wonder of it All by Barbara Taylor Bradford is the 3^rd and final book in her House of Falconer series. The story continues with James Falconer, a self-made business tycoon, who runs Malvern; with the help of his brother and sister. James still grieves the loss of his wife, Alexis, and pushes himself to participate in the WW1 war, Major James Falconer goes to fight for his country, until he is hurt badly with multiple injuries and sent home to a hospital in England; once he is released, he still needs care, and Georgiana Ward returns after many years, to help nurse him back to health.

James has a daughter, Leonie, by Georgiana in the early years, and made sure they lived well. He would see her occasionally, but slowly when his daughter became a teen ager, he was buried with his business and she hardly saw him, eventually cutting her father out of her life. In the present, James wants to get to know his daughter, but Georgiana tells him that Leoni wants nothing to do with him. Once he is well, both Georgianna and James also terminate their relationship.  James did keep an eye on Leonie’s marriage, as he did not like the man she married.

With the war taking its toll on his business, James concentrates on rebuilding his empire, and eliminating some of the smaller stories, with help from Eddie, Rossi, and other partners.   James will be introduced to Annabel, an art connoisseur, and slowly they both become very attracted to each other.  James has feelings for Annabel, but the age gap difference (he is 13 years older than her), pushes him to break it off, and leaves London to work hard in rebuilding his business ventures.  

What follows is both and exciting and sweet final ¼ of the book, with James finally being able to meet his daughter, after her husband abused her, and Leonie realizing that her father was a wonderful man, and would always be there for her. James also realizes that Annabel, even with the age gap, was the woman he loved.  I loved Rossi and Eddie, who were always there for James, and together they brought the business back to the top.

The Wonder of it All was very well written by Barbara Taylor Bradford.  This is the 3^rd and final book in this series, and if you have not read this series, you need to start with the first book in the House of Falconer series.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher